Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
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God name "AGNI (fire)" | Hindu / India | God of fire. God of the sacrificial fire and the intercessor between gods and mankind, Agni is the son of KASYAPA and ADITI or, alternatively, of Dyaus and PRTHIVI. Color: red. Attributes: seven arms and sometimes the head of a goat, carrying a wide variety of objects.... |
Goddess name "Aditi (the free one)" | Hindu / Vedic | Archaic mother goddess. According to the Rg Veda Aditi is said to be the wife of KASYAPA or of BRAHMA and mother of the ADITYAS, a group of minor gods including MITRA, ARYAMAN, BHAGA, VARUNA, DAKSA and Anisa. No other consort is mentioned in the literature. She is also accounted as the mother of HARI. Other legends account her as the mother of the Rain god INDRA. No human physical features are drawn, though she is sometimes identified in the guise of a cow. Aditi is also perceived as a guardian goddess who brings prosperity and who can free her devotees from problems and clear away obstacles. She disappears largely from later Hindu traditions.... |
Demon name "Andhaka" | Hindu | Son of Kasyapa and Diti, a demon with a thousand arms and heads, two thousand eyes and feet. Though he walked like a blind man he could see very well. Hindu |
Goddess name "Diti" | Hindu / Vedic, Epic / Puranic | Goddess. The daughter of DAKSA, a consort of ADITI (in the Rg Veda) or KASYAPA and the mother of a race of demons. Attributes: blue lotus, child and fruit.See also Aditi.... |
Demon name "Garuda (the devourer)" | Hindu / Vedic | Archaic Sun god and Divine vehicle. Originally depicted as a solar deity, Garuda evolved into a bird-like human hybrid who became the deified mount of VIS'NU. Also a chief adversary of nagas (snake-like demons), which he devours. In early depictions Garuda has a parrot's beak. Said to have been born from an egg, the son of Vinata and KASYAPA. Epithets include Amrtaharana, Garutman, Tarksya. Attributes: conch, club, lotus and nectar, but may also bear the attributes of Vis'nu.(2) Mount or vahana of VAJRAPANI. Buddhist. Attributes: flower, horse-head, noose, skin and staff. Three-eyed and three-headed.... |
Goddess name "Kadru (russet)" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | Goddess. One of the daughters of DAKSA, consort of KASYAPA and mother of the nagas (snake demons).... |
"Kalaka" | Hindu | A daughter of Daksha, married to Kasyapa, and bore him 60,000 distinguished Danavas, called Paulomas and Kalakanjas, who were powerful, ferocious, and cruel. Hindu |
"Kasyapa" | Hindu | Having åśśumed the form of a tortoise, Prajapati created offspring. That which he created he made; hence the word kurma (tortoise). Kasyapa means tortoise; hence men say, 'All creatures are descendants of Kasyapa.' This tortoise is the same as Aditya. Hindu / Puranic / Vedic |
Demon name "Kasyapa (deriving from the Sanskrit for tortoise)" | Hindu / Vedic / Puranic | Primordial god. In Vedic literature a Divine demiurge and father of mankind, snake demons, DEVAS etc. His name stems, arguably, from the notion of the cosmos as a giant tortoise. He has had thirteen consorts. In other texts he is the father of the god NARADA who consorted with one of the daughters of DAKSA. Also PRAJAPATI.... |
Goddess name "Khasa (itch)" | Hindu / Vedic | Minor goddess. Daughter of DAKSA, consort of KASYAPA and a deity controlling spirits of Forests.... |
Goddess name "Manasa" | Hindu | Snake goddess. The daughter of KASYAPA and KADRU and the sister of the lord of serpents, Vasuki. She is also a gracious aspect of PARVATI. Known particuarly from Bihar, Bengal and Assam. She stands upon, or is shaded by, a seven-headed snake. Attributes: snake and waterjar.... |
Goddess name "Matara" | Hindu | Mother goddess. Applied collectively to groups of deities, the Divine mothers, also more specifically to the consort of the god KASYAPA. As Divine mothers they are also regarded as SAKTIS. The numbers vary according to separate traditions and they are therefore identified as the SAPTAMATARAS (seven), ASTAMATARAS (eight) and NAVASAKTIS (nine). Less commonly there may be up to fifty mataras in a group. Their images are normally carved in stone (very few exist in metal) and they are depicted seated, often upon a corpse, and may be of terrifying appearance.... |
Deity name "Rahu (seizer)" | Hindu | Primordial cosmic deity. The son of KASYAPA or RUDRA, according to legend he seizes the Sun and moon to generate eclipses. Rahu is depicted with four hands and a tail, or as a head alone, his body having been destroyed by VISNU. He stands upon a lion or in a chariot drawn by eight black horses. Color: dark blue. Attributes: half moon, knife, sword and trident.... |
God name "Sesa(naga) (remainder)" | Hindu / Vedic, Epic / Puranic | Snake god or naga. The great serpent lying in the primeval sea and encircling the world. The son of KASYAPA and KADRU. A many-headed attendant on VIS'NU who uses the snake as a couch on which to rest between cycles of the universe. Its many hoods overshadow and protect him. Not technically a deity but important enough in literature to be included here. Also Adisesa; ANANTA.... |
Goddess name "Vac (speech)" | Hindu / Vedic | Goddess of the spoken word. In some texts she is a daughter of DAKSA and consort of KASYAPA. Alternatively she is the daughter of Ambhrna. Also known by the epithet queen of the gods, Vac is the personification of the phenomenon of speech and oral communication. She gives the boon of hearing, speech and sight and she can lead a man to become a Brahman. She also personifies truth and sustains somathe liquid essence of vision and immortality. She is said to have created the four Vedas, the basis of the earliest Hindu mythology.... |