Brahma willed the Prajapatis and sages into existence from his mind at the dawn of creation — Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Vasishtha, Bhrigu, Daksha, Narada, Kamadeva, Agni, Kashyapa, Manu, and the Four Kumaras — each charged with populating and ordering the cosmos, though the Kumaras refused and chose eternal renunciation instead.
⚠ Lists of Brahma's manasaputras vary across Puranas. Vishnu Purana 1.7 lists the Saptarishis (Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Vasishtha) plus Bhrigu and Daksha. Bhagavata Purana 3.12 adds Narada and the Kumaras. Kashyapa is listed as Marichi's son in Vishnu Purana 1.15 but appears as a direct manasaputra in other Puranic lists. Kamadeva's parentage varies between Brahma (Shiva Purana) and Vishnu or Dharma in other traditions.
Kashyapa wed Kadru, one of Daksha's daughters, and from their union sprang a thousand serpents — the Nagas who inhabit Patala, with Shesha the eldest, Vasuki the king, and Takshaka the most wrathful among them.
Aditi and the sage Kashyapa begot the twelve Adityas — Indra, Surya, Varuna, and their brothers — the sovereign gods of Vedic heaven who uphold cosmic order, with Indra celebrated in the Rig Veda as seizing the soma immediately upon birth.
⚠ Rig Veda 4.17.4 may reference Dyaus Pita as Indra's father; the Puranic tradition names Kashyapa instead.
Kashyapa and Diti conceived the twin Daitya brothers Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha, whose tyranny over gods and men would require Vishnu to descend twice as Varaha and Narasimha to destroy them.
Kashyapa and Vinata are parents of Garuda, the divine eagle, and Aruna, charioteer of the sun. Vinata's first egg hatched prematurely, producing the incomplete Aruna; the second egg yielded the fully formed and blazing Garuda.
When the Asuras drove the Devas from heaven, Aditi performed severe penance and prayed to Vishnu, who agreed to be born as her son Vamana through Kashyapa, entering the world as a dwarf brahmin to reclaim the three worlds from the demon king Bali.
Kashyapa wed Danu, another of Daksha's daughters, and from their union arose the Danavas — a vast host of demons who rivaled the Daityas in their enmity toward the gods and their ceaseless campaigns to unseat Indra from heaven.
The sage Marichi, eldest of Brahma's mind-born sons, wed Kala and fathered Kashyapa, who would surpass even his father in progeny by begetting the gods, demons, serpents, and all manner of living creatures through Daksha's daughters.
⚠ Vishnu Purana 1.10-15 consistently names Kashyapa as Marichi's son through Kala, while some Puranic lists (e.g., Brahma Purana) include Kashyapa among Brahma's direct manasaputras.
The Saptarishis — Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, and Vasishtha — are the seven mind-born sages of Brahma who preserve the Vedas and guide humanity through each cosmic age, their forms set among the stars as the constellation of the Great Bear.
⚠ Puranic lists of the Seven Sages vary: Vishnu Purana 1.7 gives Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Vasishtha. Other recensions substitute Kashyapa or Bhrigu for one of the standard seven. The roster also changes across different Manvantaras.
After slaying the world's Kshatriyas twenty-one times over, Parashurama performed a great sacrifice and gifted the entire earth to Kashyapa as dakshina, then withdrew to Mahendra mountain at the sage's command to leave the land he had given away.
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