Hiranyakshahari (हिरण्याक्षहर, IAST: Hiraṇyākṣahara) is a Sanskrit-origin Hindu boy-name meaning “The slayer of the demon Hiranyaksha”. From 'hiraṇya' (gold), 'akṣa' (eye), and 'hara' (one who removes or destroys), this name immortalises Vishnu's feat in His Varāha (boar) incarnation when He slew the golden-eyed demon who had plunged the Earth into the primordial ocean.

Meaning, etymology & significance

Hiraṇyākṣa — literally 'he of golden eyes' — was the mighty asura whose conquest of the cosmos compelled Vishnu to descend as the divine boar Varāha; hara derives from the root hṛ meaning to take away or destroy, and as a suffix denotes the victorious destroyer. The name thus encapsulates one of the most dramatic episodes of divine intervention in Puranic mythology, wherein the Lord retrieved the Earth herself from the depths of the cosmic sea. It stands as testimony to Vishnu's unconquerable might when dharma is imperilled.

This epithet is cherished in Vaishnava devotional circles as a celebration of the Varāha avatara and is recited in Sahasranama parayana to invoke the Lord's protective power against adharmic forces. Pronounced hi-ran-yaak-sha-ha-ra, it can serve as a meaningful boy's name, though its compound nature makes it more common as a stotra name.

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Scriptural source

Hiranyakshahari appears in the Vishnu Sahasranama, among the sacred names of Vishnu.

Astrology — nakshatra, rashi & numerology

By the standard Vedic correspondence between a name’s first syllable and the lunar mansion, Hiranyakshahari aligns with the Punarvasu nakshatra, under the Karka rashi (Moon sign). Its Chaldean name-number is 9.