Daityas
The Daityas (Sanskrit: दैत्य) are a clan or race of Asura as are the Danavas. Daityas were the children of Diti and the sage Kashyapa. They fought against the Devas because they were jealous of their Deva half-brothers. Manu Smriti (XII - 48) classifies Daityas as ones possessing the quality of goodness but places them at a level lower than Devas: "Hermits, ascetics, Brahmanas, the crowds of the Vaimanika deities, the lunar mansions, and the Daityas (form) the first (and lowest rank of the) existences caused by Goodness."
Some of the notable daityas mentioned in the Indian mythology include:
- Hiranyakashipu - eldest son of Kashyapa and Diti
- Hiranyaksha - second son of Kashyapa and Diti
- Holika - daughter of Kashyapa and Diti
- Simhika - daughter of Hiranyakashipu
- Prahlada - son of Hiranyakashipu
- Virochana - son of Prahlada, father of Bali
- Devamba - mother of Bali
- Bali - son of Virochana
- Banasura - son of Bali
- Kaikesi - mother of Ravana
- Narakasura - son of Hiranyaksha