The serpents said to the sovereign of the Daityas—"Our fangs are broken; our jewelled crests are shattered; our hoods are burning; Our hearts are trembling; but the skin of this body is unhurt; O king of Daityas, resort to some other expedient". Hiranyakashipu said—"O Elephants of the spheres, unite your tusks and slay this deserter of his own family and the supporter of our enemy; sometimes our own descendants bring about our own destruction as the fire consumes the wood from which it proceeds".

In plain words: The snakes tell the king that their own fangs broke and their hoods burned, yet the boy's skin has no wound. The king then orders the giant elephants that guard the directions of the world to crush Prahlada. He says one's own children can sometimes destroy a family, like fire burning the wood it comes from.