
Shiva (centre) and Daksha
Daksha was the son of Brahma and ancestor of many deities and kings.
Of his 86 daughters, 13 are married to the sage Kashyap, amongst them Aditi and Diti, 11 are wed to the sage Bhrigu, 1 (Sati) to Shiva, 1 to Agni, 27 are wed to Chandra and 1 (Rati) married Kama. The others are married to other sages and kings.
After insulting Shiva, he was decapitated and his head replaced with that of a ram. Daksha also cursed Chandra, the moon god, to lose his lustre after finding that his son-in-law favoured Rohini over all his other wives. He eventually granted that Chandra regain his luminosity for 15 days and then lose it again, thus causing the moon to wax and wane.
Amongst his descendants are Surya, Indra, Agni, Varuna, Bali, Ravana and the Kuru dynasty. He is the ancestor of the Solar dynasty in the male line and the Lunar dynasty (twice) in the female line.