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But Chyavana was not to be refused ; he stayed the arm of Indra as he was about to launch a thunderbolt, and he created a terrific demon who was on the point of devouring the king of the gods when he submitted. According to the Maha-bharata, Chyavana was husband of Arushi or Su-kanya and father of Aurva. He is also considered to be the father of Harita. The name is Chyavana in the jR?g-veda, but Chyavana in the BrahmaT^a and later writings. DADHYANCH, DADHlCHA (Dadhicha is a later form.) A Vedic itishi, son of Atharvan, whose name frequently occurs. The legend about him, as it appears in the ^^g-veda; is that Indra taught him certain sciences, but threatened to cut off his head if he taught them to any one else. The Aswins prevailed upon Dadhyanch to communicate his knowledge to them, and, to preserve him from the wrath of Indra, they took off his own head and replaced it with that of a horse. When Indra struck off the sage's equine head the Aswins restored his own to him. A verse of the itig-veda says, " Indra, with the bones of Dadhy- anch, slew ninety times nine Vritras ;" and the story told by the scholiast in explanation is, that while Dadhyanch was living on earth the Asuras were controlled and tranquillised by his appear- ance ; but when he had gone to heaven, they overspread the whole earth. Indra inquired for Dadhyanch, or any relic of him. He was told of the horse's head, and when this was found in a lake near Kuru-kshetra, Indra used the bones as weapons, and with them slew the Asuras, or, as the words of the Vedic verse are explained, he " foiled the nine times ninety stratagems of the Asuras or Vritras." The story as afterwards told in the Maha-bharata and PuraTias is that the sage devoted himself to death that Indra and the gods might be armed with his bones as more effective weapons than thunderbolts for the 76 DAITYAS—DAKSHA. destruction of Y^i'tra and the Asuras. According to one account he was instrumental in bring about the destruction of "Daksha's sacrifice." See Daksha. DAITYAS. Titans. Descendants from Diti by Kasyapa. They are a race of demons and giants, who warred against the gods and interfered with sacrifices. They were in turn victorious and vanquished. They and the Danavas are generally associated, and are hardly distinguishable. As enemies of sacrifices they are called Kratu-dwishas. i)AKIXl. A kind of female imp or fiend attendant upon Kah and feeding on human flesh. The Dakinis are also called A^ra-pas, ' blood drinkers.' DAKSHA. 'Able, competent, intelligent.' This name generally carries with it the idea of a creative power. Daksha is a son of Brahma; he is one of the Prajapatis, and is some- times regarded as their chief. There is a great deal of doubt and confusion about him, which of old the sage Parasara could oidy account for by saying that " in every age Daksha and the rest are born and are again destroyed." In the itig-veda it is said that " Daksha sprang from Aditi, and Aditi from Dak- sha." Upon this marvellous mutual generation Yaska in the Nirukta remarks, " How can this be possible % They may have had the same origin ; or, according to the nature of the gods, they may have been born from each other, and have derived their substance from each other." Eoth's view is that Aditi is eternity, and that Daksha (spiritual power) is the male energy which generates the gods in eternity. In the *S'atapatha Brah- mawa, Daksha is identified with Prajapati, the creator. As son of Aditi, he is one of the Adityas, and he is also reckoned among the Yiswadevas. According to the Maha-bharata, Dakslia sprang from the right thumb of Brahma, and his wife from that deity's left thumb. The Purfmas adopt this view of his origin, but state that he married Prasiiti, daughter of Priya-vrata, and gi'and-daughter of Manu. By her he had, according to various statements, twenty- four, fifty, or sixty daughters. Tlie Rrimaya??a and Maha- bharata agree in the larger number ; and according to Manu and the Maha-bharata he gave ten of his daughters to Dharma and thirteen to Ka.syapa, who became tlie mothers of gods and de- mons, men, birds, serpents, and all living things. Twenty-seven DAKS HA, yj "were given in marriage to Soma, the moon, and these became the twenty-seven Nakshatras or lunar mansions. One of the daughters, named Sati, married >Siva, and killed herself in con- sequence of a quarrel between her husband and father. The Kasi Kha7ic?a represents that she became a sati and burnt herself. Another legend of the Maha-bharata and Purawas represents Daksha as being born a second time, in another Manwantara, as son of the Prachetasas and Marisha, and that he had seven sons, "the allegorical persons Krodha, Tamas, Dama, Viknta, Angiras, Kardama, and Aswa." This second birth is said to have happened through his having been cursed to it by his son-in-law >S'iva. Daksha was in a certain way, by his mother Marisha, an emanation of Soma, the moon ; and as twenty-seven of his daughters were married to that luminary, Daksha is sometimes referred to as being both the father and the offspring of the moon, thus reiterating the duality of his nature. In the Hari-vansa Daksha appears in another variety of his character. According to this authority, Yish?iu himself became Daksha, and formed numerous creatures, or, in other words, he became the creator. Daksha, the first of males, by virtue of yoga, himself took the form of a beautiful woman, by whom he had many fair daughters, whom he disposed of in marriage in the manner related by Manu and above stated. An important event in the life of Daksha, and very fre- quently referred to, is " Daksha's sacrifice," which was violently interrupted and broken up by /S'iva. The germ of this story is found in the Taittiriya Sanhita, where it is related that the gods, having excluded Rudra from a sacrifice, he pierced the sacrifice with an arrow, and that Piishan, attempting to eat a portion of the oblation, broke his teeth. The story is found both in the Ramaya?ia and Maha-bharata. According to the latter, Daksha was engaged in sacrifice, when ^S'iva in a rage, and shouting loudly, pierced the ofi'ering with an arrow. The gods and Asuras were alarmed and the whole universe quaked. The ii/shis endeavoured to appease the angry god, but in vain. " He ran up to the gods, and in his rage knocked out the eyes of Bhaga with a blow, and, incensed, assaulted Piishan with liis foot and knocked out his teeth as he was eating the offer- 78 DAKSHA. ing." The gods and itishis humbly propitiated him, and when he was appeased " they apportioned to him a distinguished share in the sacrifice, and through fear resorted to him as their refuge. " In another part of the same work the story is again told with considerable variation. Daksha instituted a sacrifice and appor- tioned no share to Kudra (S'iva). Instigated by the sage Dad- hlchi, the god hurled his blazing trident, which destroyed the sacrifice of Daksha and fell with great violence on the breast of Narayawa (Yishwu). It was hurled back with violence to its owner, and a furious battle ensued between the two gods, which was not intermitted till Brahma prevailed upon Eudra to propitiate Karayawa. That god was gratified, and said to Rudra, " He who knows thee knows me ; he who loves thee loves me." The story is reproduced in the Purawas with many embellish- ments. Daksha instituted a sacrifice to Yish7^u, and many of the gods repaired to it, but iS'iva was not invited, because the gods had conspired to deprive him of sacrificial ofi'erings. The wife of >S'iva, the mountain goddess Uma, perceived what was going on. Uma was a second birth of Sati, daughter of Daksha, who had deprived herself of life in consequence of her father's quarrel with herself and her husband, /S'iva. Uma urged her husband to display his power and assert his rights. So he created Vira-bhadra, " a being like the fire of fate," and of most terrific appearance and powers. He also sent with him hundreds and thousands of powerful demigods whom he called into exist- ence. A terrible catastrophe followed ; " the mountains tottered, the earth shook, the winds roared, and the depths of the sea were disturbed.