Sage Narada, who was endowed with knowledge, devotion, and dispassion, and a great devotee of Sri Hari, felt immense sorrow upon witnessing the tyranny of the demon king Hiranyakashipu. He was deeply concerned about the troubles that would befall the gods, sages, Brahmins, the practice of dharma, study, sacrifices, and other righteous deeds. To achieve this, Hiranyakashipu will become more arrogant and his violence will escalate. His heart swelled with compassion and he contemplated, 'To stop the demon's rampage, the Lord's attention must be drawn to him. O Divine Sri Hari! I am ready to provoke this demon for the welfare of the world. Merciful One! Bless my efforts to save the righteous.'
Narada then visited the palace of the demon king. Hiranyakashipu welcomed and honored Narada respectfully. After the exchange of pleasantries, Narada instigated Hiranyakashipu and encouraged him to seek the boon of invincibility from Lord Brahma. Hiranyakashipu, yearning for supreme power and immortality, conveyed his intentions to his wife and then set off for his harem to bid her farewell.
Kayadhu, overjoyed at her husband's arrival, welcomed him with reverence and care. Hiranyakashipu shared his plans and Narada's advice with Kayadhu and told her about his impending penance. Despite being worried about the prolonged separation, Kayadhu agreed to send him off happily for the prosperity of the demon race and his own advancement.
Understanding his wife's concerns but determined to undergo the hardships for the betterment of his people, Hiranyakashipu reassured her and departed for the Mandara Mountain to commence his penance, which would last for approximately ten thousand years (note: the years mentioned here is relative and is mentioned in human years and not calendar years. For example, an average human takes 4 seconds for one breath, i.e. 4 seconds for inhaling and 4 seconds for exhaling. So, if a human lives for a hundred calendar years (i.e. approximately 52,596,000 minutes in 100 years or 3,155,760,000 seconds in 100 years), he/she breathes, i.e. 788,940,000 breathes. Now if a human slows his breath and instead of taking 4 seconds to inhale and 4 seconds to exhale takes 8 seconds for inhale and 8 seconds to exhale, technically although it is 100 calendar years it is 200 human years, similarly if one takes 400 seconds to inhale and 400 seconds to exhale, it is 100 calendar years but 10,000 human years. Now if Hiranyakashipu takes 4,000 seconds to inhale and 4,000 seconds to exhale, then it will be 10 calendar years and 10,000 human years. In olden days the age of the individual was calculated by the number of breaths he/she takes and one could have lived 10,000 human years. Another perspective is that people lived longer in prior yugas e.g., Satya Yuga)
Kayadhu, though distressed by the thought of enduring her husband's absence for such a long duration, prepared herself to face the challenge for the sake of her husband's success and the demon kingdom. She performed a ritual farewell, applied tilak, offered aarti, and sent him off with blessings.
Hiranyakashipu, after bidding farewell to his wife, embarked on his journey to the Mandara Mountain to perform the penance.
