Daksha
| Daksha | |
|---|---|
God of ritual skill | |
Two depiction of Daksha in Puranic tradition — One with ordinary human features (left) and another with a goat face (right) | |
| Affiliation | Vedic: Adityas
Itihasa-Puranic: Prajapati, Manasaputra |
| Texts | Rigveda, Brahmanas, Taittiriya Samhita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Purana |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | Vedic: Aditi
Itihasa-Puranic: Brahma |
| Consort | Itihasa-Puranic: Prasuti and Asikni |
| Children | Vedic: Aditi
Itihasa-Puranic: |
Daksha (Sanskrit: दक्ष, lit. 'able, dexterous, or honest one' IAST: Dakṣa,) is a Hindu god whose role underwent a significant transformation from Vedic to Itihasa-Puranic mythology. In the Rigveda, Daksha is an aditya and is associated with priestly skills.
In the epics and Puranic scriptures, he is a son of the creator-god Brahma and one of the Prajapati, the agents of creation, as well as a divine king-rishi. He is the father of many children, who became the progenitors of various creatures. According to one legend, a resentful Daksha conducted a yajna (fire-sacrifice), and deliberately did not invite his youngest daughter Sati and her husband Shiva. In the Linga Purana, for insulting Shiva during this event, which caused Sati to self-immolate in fury, he was beheaded by Virabhadra, an attendant of Shiva. He was later resurrected with the head of a goat. Many Puranas state that Daksha was reborn to Prachetas in another Manvantara (age of Manu).
His iconography depicts him as a man with a stocky body and a handsome face or the head of a goat.