At a glance
- Name & meaning: Kashyapa (कश्यप) — the word means “tortoise” in Sanskrit; the Shatapatha Brahmana plays on this, linking kashyapa with kurma (tortoise) and Prajapati.
- Other names: Kashyapa Marichi / Maricha (son of Marichi), Prajapati Kashyapa; the Ramayana calls him Arishtanemi.
- Category: One of the Saptarshi; a Prajapati (progenitor).
- Father: Marichi, a mind-born son of Brahma.
- Mother: Kala, daughter of the sage Kardama, in Puranic genealogies.
- Spouses: Daughters of Daksha — thirteen in the Vishnu Purana and Mahabharata (the names differ between the two), eight in the Ramayana. Chief among them are Aditi, Diti, Danu, Kadru and Vinata.
- Children: the Adityas (including Indra, Surya and Vamana) by Aditi; the Daityas such as Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha by Diti; the Danavas by Danu; the Nagas by Kadru; Garuda and Aruna by Vinata; and many more beings.
- Lineage / gotra: Kashyapa gotra, one of the most widespread.
- Era: A seer of the Rigvedic age by tradition; in the Puranas he stands at the beginning of creation in the present (Vaivasvata) manvantara. The name was clearly borne by several figures across the texts.
- Places: Kashmir (“Kashyapa-mira”, by tradition); Kashyapa's hermitage appears in many Puranic settings.
- Major works: Rigveda 1.99 (the one-verse Jatavedase hymn) and hymns in Mandala 9; the Ayurvedic Kashyapa Samhita and the Kashyapa Shilpa carry his name.
- Best known for: being the “father of all beings”, father of Vamana, and the draining of the Kashmir lake.
Birth and family background
Puranic genealogies make Kashyapa the son of the sage Marichi, one of Brahma's mind-born sons, and of Kala, daughter of Kardama. The creator Daksha gave many of his daughters to Kashyapa in marriage, and it is through these marriages that the Puranas populate the universe. That is why Kashyapa is often called the father of all living beings.
The details, however, vary from text to text. The Vishnu Purana lists thirteen wives — Aditi, Diti, Kadru, Danu, Arishta, Surasa, Surabhi, Vinata, Tamra, Krodhavasha, Ira, Vishva and Muni. The Mahabharata also gives thirteen, but with a partly different list, and the Ramayana names eight. These differences are old and are best read as different family traditions rather than contradictions to be resolved.
Life and key episodes
The father of gods and asuras
By Aditi, Kashyapa fathered the Adityas, among them Indra and Vivasvan — Surya, the sun. By Diti he fathered the Daityas, including Hiranyakashipu, the father of Prahlada (see the story of Prahlada), and Hiranyaksha. The endless struggle between devas and asuras is therefore, in Puranic terms, a quarrel between half-brothers, sons of one father.
Kadru, Vinata and the birth of Garuda
The Adi Parva of the Mahabharata tells how Kashyapa granted boons to two of his wives: Kadru asked for a thousand serpent sons, Vinata for two sons greater than Kadru's. Kadru's sons became the Nagas; Vinata's became Aruna, the charioteer of the sun, and Garuda, the eagle who later became Vishnu's mount after winning the amrita to free his mother from Kadru's servitude.
Father of Vamana
When the asura king Bali had driven the devas from heaven, Aditi turned to her husband. In the Bhagavata Purana, Kashyapa teaches her the payovrata, a vow of worship of Vishnu, and Vishnu is born to them as the dwarf Vamana, who wins back the three worlds in three strides. See Lord Vishnu.
Kashmir
Kashmiri tradition, preserved in the Nilamata Purana, tells that the valley was once a great lake, and that Kashyapa had it drained so that people could live there. The name Kashmir is often explained as “Kashyapa-mira” (Kashyapa's lake) or “Kashyapa-meru”, though linguists also propose other origins.
Recipient of the earth from Parashurama
The Mahabharata tells that after Parashurama had subdued the kings of the earth, he performed great sacrifices and gave the entire earth as a gift to Kashyapa, then withdrew to tapas.
Rebirth as Vasudeva
The Devi Bhagavata Purana (fourth book) tells that Kashyapa kept a wish-granting cow of Varuna after his sacrifice was over. For this, he was cursed to be born on earth as a cowherd, with Aditi and Surasa as his wives. So he became Vasudeva, father of Krishna, and his wives were reborn as Devaki and Rohini.
Achievements and contributions
- Vedic seer: Rigveda 1.99 — a single verse, the shortest hymn in the Rigveda — is credited to Kashyapa Marichi. Opening “jatavedase sunavama somam”, it later became the first verse of the Durga Sukta in the Mahanarayana Upanishad. He and his school are also credited with hymns to Soma Pavamana in Mandala 9.
- Among the oldest named sages: the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad names him among the seven seers (2.2.4) and places him at the head of a teaching lineage (6.5.3). The Buddha, in the Pali Tevijja Sutta, names Kassapa among the ancient makers of the Vedic verses.
- Progenitor of beings: in Puranic cosmology he is the channel through which Brahma's creation becomes families, species and peoples.
Writings attributed to him
- Rigvedic hymns: 1.99 and several hymns in the Soma mandala.
- Kashyapa Samhita (Vriddha Jivakiya Tantra): a classical Ayurvedic text on the care of children, pregnancy and childbirth, framed as teaching from the sage Kashyapa to his student Vriddha Jivaka and later revised by Vatsya.
- Kashyapa Shilpa: a Sanskrit treatise on temple architecture and iconography, probably completed around the 11th century.
- Kashyapa Jnanakanda: a Vaishnava text of the Vaikhanasa tradition, which counts Kashyapa among its four founding sages.
- Lost works quoted by later writers include a Kashyapa Dharmasutra and a treatise on music cited by Abhinavagupta. As with most such texts, these are named in his honour rather than composed by the Vedic seer.
Why he is revered today
- Kashyapa gotra: one of the most common gotras. A widespread custom holds that a person who does not know their gotra may use Kashyapa's, since he is the father of all beings.
- Rishi Panchami: Kashyapa heads the traditional list of seven sages — Kashyapa, Atri, Bharadvaja, Vishvamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni and Vasishtha — worshipped on Bhadrapada Shukla Panchami.
- In daily worship: every prayer to Surya — such as the Aditya Hridaya Stotra — is addressed to a son of Aditi and Kashyapa, and the Durga Sukta that opens with his verse is widely chanted.
- In Kashmir: he is remembered as the founder of the valley's settled life.
Variant traditions and a historical note
Scholars have long noted that the stories about Kashyapa are inconsistent and often allegorical: the number and names of his wives, and even which Daksha fathered them, vary from text to text. It is likely that several people named Kashyapa — a Vedic seer, a Prajapati of Puranic cosmology, an Ayurvedic teacher, a writer on architecture — have been merged into one revered figure. The Kashmir etymology is traditional and popular, but not settled. The Vasudeva story belongs to the Devi Bhagavata specifically and is not found in the Vishnu Purana or Harivamsha accounts of Krishna's birth.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Kashyapa called the father of all beings?
Because in the Puranas the devas, asuras, nagas, birds, animals and many other beings descend from his marriages with Daksha's daughters.
Which gotra should I use if I don't know mine?
A widely followed custom says to use Kashyapa gotra. Family elders or the family purohit may also know the correct gotra from old records.
Is Kashmir really named after Kashyapa?
That is the traditional explanation (“Kashyapa-mira”, the lake of Kashyapa), supported by the Nilamata Purana's story of the drained lake. Scholars also suggest other possible origins for the name.