ORIENTAL SERIES.

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DAITYAS DAKSHA.
destruction of Yn'tra and the Asuras. According to one account
he was iastrumental 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.
DAKTNX A kind of female imp or fiend attendant upon
Kali and feeding on human flesh. The Dakinls are also called
Asra-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 sometimes
regarded as their chief. There is a great deal of doubt
and confusion about him, which of old the sage Parasara could
only account for by saying that " in every age Daksha and
the rest are born and are again destroyed." In the J&g-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 Satapatha 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, Daksha sprang from the right
thumb of Brahma, and his wife from that deity's left thumb.
The Pura?ias adopt this view of his origin, but state that he
married Prasuti, daughter of Priya-vrata, and grand-daughter of
Manu. By her he had, according to various statements, twentyfour,
fifty, or sixty daughters. The Bamayam. and Mahabharata
agree in the larger number and ; according to Manu and
the Maharbharata he gave ten of his daughters to Dharma and
thirteen to Kasyapa, who became the mothers of gods and de-
mons> men, birds, serpents, and all living things. Twenty-seven