Daksha

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Daksha
God of ritual skill
Danu, Kadru, Vinata, Rohini, Revati, Rati and other daughters
  • Haryashvas and Shabalashvas
    • (sons)

    In

    IAST: Dakṣa,[2]) is one of the prajapati
    , the agents of creation, as well as a divine king-rishi. His iconography depicts him as a man with a stocky body and a handsome face or the head of a goat.

    In the

    Puranas state that Daksha was reborn to Prachetas in another Manvantara (age of Manu
    ).

    Etymology and textual history

    The meaning of the word "Daksha" (दक्ष) is "able", "expert", "skillful" or "honest".[4][5] According to the Bhagavata Purana, Daksha got this name as he was expert in begetting children.[6] The word also means "fit", "energetic" and "fire".[4] Daksha also has another name "Kan".[7]

    Daksha finds mentions in the ancient scripture

    Brahmanas (900 BCE - 700 BCE), he is identified with the creator deity Prajapati.[9][10] Key elements of Daksha including his yajna and ram head, which later became a key feature in the Puranic iconography, are first found in the Taittariya Samhita.[9][11] The epics—the Ramayana and the Mahabharata—also mention Daksha. Most of the stories about Daksha are found in the Puranas (3rd - 10th century CE).[11][10]

    Legends

    A sculpture of the goat-faced Daksha with his wife.

    Birth

    The epic

    Rig Veda states that Daksha and the goddess Aditi emerge from one another, thus he is both her son and father.[8]

    Consorts and children

    According to many Puranic scriptures, Daksha married

    Vindhyas, the god Vishnu granted Asikni as his wife and urged him to engage in sexual union.[7][17][18]

    Sons

    Main article: Haryashvas and Shabalashvas
    Daksha (right) cursing Narada, an illustration from a 20th-century book.

    According to the Puranas, Daksha and Asikni first produced five thousand sons, who were known as Haryashvas. They were interested in populating the Earth but upon the advice of Narada, took to discovering worldly affairs instead and never returned. Brahma to have consoled a grievous Daksa after this loss. Daksha and Asikni again produced another thousand sons (Shabalashvas), who had similar intentions but were persuaded by Narada to the same results. An angry Daksha cursed Narada to be a perpetual wanderer.[7]

    Daughters

    Main article: List of Daksha's daughters

    The Puranic scriptures differ in the number of Daksha's daughters. They were married to different deities, sages and kings, and became the progenitors of various kinds of creatures.[7]

    According to the Mahabharata (Harivamsa), the Devi Bhagavata Purana, Brahma Vaivarta Purana and the Vishnu Purana, Daksha fathered 60 daughters from Asikni:[7]

    • 10 of those daughters—Maruvati, Vasu, Jami, Lamba, Bhanu, Urjja, Sankalp, Mahurath, Sadhya, Vishva—were married to
      Angiras
    • 2 were married to Krisasva

    The number of Daksha's daughters from Prasuti varies—24 daughters are mentioned in the Vishnu Purana,[19][7] while the Linga Purana and Padma Purana list 60 daughters.[20] All of Prasuti's daughters represent the virtues of mind and body.[20] The names of these daughters and their spouse, according to the Vishnu Purana, are:

    • Sraddha, Lakshmi, Dhriti, Thushti, Pushti, Medha, Kriya, Buddhi, Lajja, Vapu, Shanti, Siddhi and Kirti married the god
      Sati married Shiva

    Along with these daughters, the goddess of love, Rati, is also considered an offspring of Daksha. The Shiva Purana and Kalika Purana narrate that she emerged from the sweat of Daksha after he was asked by Brahma to present a wife to the love god Kama.[21]

    Cursing Chandra

    The Puranas portray Daksha as being responsible for the waning and waxing of the Moon. The moon god

    Nakshatras (or constellations). Among them, Chandra favoured Rohini and spent most of his time with her. The other 26 sisters became jealous and complained to their father. Daksha initially tried to persuade Chandra, but after seeing his efforts fruitless, he cursed the lunar deity to become ill and lose his brightness. Since Chandra was also the god of vegetation, the vegetation began to die. The devas pacified Daksha, and upon their request, he told Chandra that he would suffer from his illness each fortnight and recover from it gradually. This leads to the waning and waxing of the moon each month.[7] In another version, it was the god Shiva (Sati's husband) who partially cured Chandra's illness.[22]

    Daksha Yajna

    Main article: Daksha yajna
    Daksha insults Shiva while arguing with Sati.

    The

    Daksha Yajna is regarded as an important turning point in the creation and development of a number of sects in Hinduism. The story describes the circumstances that replaced Sati with Parvati as Shiva's consort and later led to the story of Ganesha and Kartikeya
    .

    One of the daughters of Daksha, often said to be the youngest, was Sati, who had always wished to marry Shiva. Daksha forbade it, but later reluctantly allowed her and she married Shiva.

    Once, Daksha organised the Brihaspatistava

    Kailasa
    , along with his hordes.

    Later, Shiva was pacified. He forgave Daksha and resurrected him, but with a goat's head.[25] Bhrigu and the others were restored their respective parts. With Vishnu as the chief priest, Daksha offered a share of the oblations to Shiva, and the sacrifice was successfully completed.

    See also

    References

    1. ISBN 978-0-19-533261-2
      .
    2. ^ Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary
    3. ISBN 978-0-19-533261-2
      .
    4. ^
      ISBN 978-0-14-012841-3
      .
    5. ISBN 978-81-208-3105-6
      .
    6. ISBN 978-91-7149-639-3
      .
    7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Mani, Vettam (1975). "Daksha". Puranic Encyclopedia: a comprehensive dictionary with special reference to the epic and Puranic literature. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi. pp. 193–194.
    8. ^
      ISBN 978-0190633394
      .
    9. ^ a b Dowson, John (1870). A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature.
    10. ^
      ISBN 978-1-135-96390-3
      .
    11. ^
      ISBN 978-1-78074-680-7
      .
    12. ISBN 978-1-135-96390-3
      .
    13. ISBN 978-91-7149-637-9
      .
    14. ^ Purāṇam. All-India Kasiraja Trust. 2001.
    15. ^ Vishnu Purana, Vol-I, H.H. Willson. Book-I,Ch-#7, Page 109
    16. ISBN 81-246-0234-4
      .
    17. ^ the Horse-sacrifice of the Prajapati Daksha The Mahabharata translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli (1883–1896), Book 12: Santi Parva: Mokshadharma Parva: Section CCLXXXIV. p. 317. “I am known by the name of Virabhadra’’ and I have sprung from the wrath of Rudra. This lady (who is my companion), and who is called Bhadrakali, hath sprung from the wrath of the goddess.”
    18. ^ "The Hindu : Kerala / Kannur News : Huge crowd at Kottiyur temple". www.hindu.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
    19. ^ Sen, Ramendra Kumar (1966). Aesthetic Enjoyment; Its Background in Philosophy and Medicine. University of Calcutta.
    20. ^
      ISBN 978-81-241-0938-0
      .
    21. ISBN 978-0-8426-0822-0
      .
    22. ISBN 978-0-14-341421-6
      .
    23. ^ Chopra, Omesh K. (2 March 2020). History of Ancient India Revisited, A Vedic-Puranic View. BlueRose Publishers. p. 199.
    24. ^ Chopra, Omesh K. (2 March 2020). History of Ancient India Revisited, A Vedic-Puranic View. BlueRose Publishers. p. 200.
    25. ISBN 978-0-226-61857-9
      .

    Explanatory notes

    1. ^ The Rigveda mentions Daksha as one of the Adityas (son of goddess Aditi). According to the Puranas, Daksha was born from Brahma and later reincarnated as the son of Prachetas and Marisha.
    2. ^ Brahmanda Purana and Vayu Purana give a longer list of creations inc. plants, human beings, ghosts, serpents, deer, flesh-eating demons, and birds. Va. P. also mentions that Mahadeva had rebuked him, after the mind-created species failed to propagate.

    External links

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