Daksha is a Prajapati in Hindu mythology, known for his protective nature towards his daughters. He had many daughters who married various Hindu gods, and his daughter Sati’s marriage to Shiva caused a bitter enmity. Daksha was beheaded by Shiva but later restored and became one of his most devoted servants. The site of Daksha’s sacrifice is marked by a temple called Kottiyur in Kerala.
In Hindu religion, Daksha is a son of Brahma. His name translates loosely to mean “capable,” “competent,” or “intelligent.” He is one of the Prajapati, divine creatures said to have been born from the mind of Brahma. He is also identified with the Rishis, the seven legendary seers and sages of Hindu mythical times.
According to the Mahabharata, Daksha was born from the right thumb of Brahma. His wife Prasuti bore him numerous daughters, the number recorded ranging from twenty-four to sixty depending on the source. Many of these daughters married various Hindu gods, with at least ten becoming the wives of Dharma and thirteen the wives of Kasyapa. Twenty-seven daughters were married to Soma, the god of the moon, and came to represent the twenty-seven stages of the moon.
Daksha was known to be overprotective of his many daughters, often to the detriment of his sons-in-law. When it seemed that Soma was favoring one of his daughters, Rohini, over all the others, she became enraged and cursed the moon god to wither and die. Fortunately for Soma, his wives appealed to his father to show mercy on him. Moved by his daughters’ pleas, he agreed to reduce Soma’s sentence. Wasting wouldn’t kill him, but he would come and go in cycles. In Hindu myth, this explains the monthly waxing and waning moon.
Another of Daksha’s daughters, Sati, wished to marry Shiva. Her father did not approve of the match, but Sati ignored her wishes and married Shiva anyway. As a result, a bitter enmity arose between Daksha and Shiva. This antagonism was brought to a head when he forbade his son-in-law to witness a sacred sacrifice to the god Vishnu. Ashamed of her husband’s exclusion from the ritual, Sati committed suicide by throwing her body into the fire.
Shiva was enraged by his wife’s death and sent an army of demigods to destroy the sacrifice, resulting in the mutilation of countless gods and others present. Daksha himself was beheaded in the attack, his head hurled into the sacrificial fire. Later he restored the ones he had injured after being calmed down by Vishnu. When Daksha’s head was not found, Shiva replaced it with the head of a goat or a ram. Ashamed of his own ignoble deeds and humiliated by Shiva’s act of mercy, Daksha became one of Shiva’s most devoted servants.
According to the Sthala Purana, the site of Daksha’s sacrifice was a forested area of Kannur district of Kerala. Today the place is marked by a temple called Kottiyur.
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