Hindu Gods Family Tree

From the Trimurti to the Navagraha

Hindu mythology does not come from one book but from layers piled up over more than a thousand years. The Indra, Agni and Varuna of the Rigveda stand in the same world as the Vishnu and Shiva of the Puranas, but in different generations. This chart begins with Brahman and Purusha, descends through Brahma's mind-born sons to Kashyapa, and arrives at the point where gods and asuras turn out to be brothers.

Tap a name and its parents, partners, children and the chain running back to the first principle open up. For readers who work with Vedic astrology, the lineages of the nine grahas and the twenty-seven nakshatras are gathered in groups of their own.

167 gods and figures9 grahas27 nakshatras21 lineages and groups

Key facts

Main line: from Brahman to the avatars

The chart runs left to right: the first principles, the Trimurti, Brahma's mind-born sons, Kashyapa and the daughters of Daksha, the Adityas and the daityas, the Navagraha, and then the Solar and Lunar dynasties. At the right edge the lines of Rama and Krishna stand side by side, because both descend from those two dynasties. Large clans appear as dashed group boxes; tap a box to open its list below. Drag to pan, Ctrl/⌘ + wheel or the buttons to zoom.

First principlePrajapati / AdityaGreat godDevaWater / riverAsura / rakshasaNature spiritPersonificationSage / mortalGroup (opens list)

Gods and asuras share one father, Kashyapa, and differ only in their mothers. Surya, Indra and Vishnu in his Vamana form are also Adityas, but the chart shows them in their own groups. Where the sources disagree, the note says so plainly.

Lineage explorer: who is whose child?

Type a name or tap a box in the chart. The card that opens shows the parent, partner and child links recorded in the Vedas and the Puranas. "Not recorded" means no link is drawn for that figure in this chart, not that none exists in the sources.

Lineages and groups

All 167 figures in the chart are listed here by lineage and group. The chips above filter by type; tap a name and the explorer opens that figure.

First principles 6
The Trimurti and their consorts 10
Brahma's mind-born sons and the Saptarishi 10
Kashyapa and the daughters of Daksha 7
The Adityas 7
Navagraha: the nine planets 9
Nakshatras: the twenty-seven wives of Chandra 7
The line of Surya 6
The Vedic gods 8
The family of Shiva 8
The avatars of Vishnu 11
The line of Rama (Solar dynasty) 11
The vanaras 4
The Lunar dynasty (Chandravansha) 7
The line of Krishna (Yadavas) 9
Asuras and Daityas 11
Rakshasas and Yakshas 9
Sages and their wives 10
River and earth goddesses 4
Nagas, apsaras and celestial beings 8
Personifications 5

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the first god in Hindu mythology?

There is no single answer, because the texts come from different layers. The Upanishads put the impersonal Brahman at the source of everything. The Purusha Sukta of the Rigveda has the world built by the sacrifice of a cosmic man, while another hymn in the tenth book describes the golden egg, Hiranyagarbha, rising from the waters. The creator Brahma is born from that egg, whereas the Puranas show him on the lotus that rises from Vishnu's navel.

Who are the Navagraha and which planets do they stand for?

The Navagraha are nine celestial influences. Surya is the Sun, Chandra the Moon, Mangala Mars, Budha Mercury, Brihaspati Jupiter, Shukra Venus and Shani Saturn. The remaining two are not planets but the nodes of the Moon's orbit: Rahu is the North Node and Ketu the South Node. Both come from the severed body of the asura Svarbhanu, which is why they are associated with eclipses.

Where do the twenty-seven nakshatras come from in myth?

The Puranas say that Daksha married twenty-seven of his daughters to Chandra, and that each of them is a nakshatra, a lunar mansion. In one circuit the Moon lodges a night in each of their houses. Because Chandra favours Rohini alone, the other daughters complain to their father, and Daksha curses him to waste away. The waxing and waning of the Moon is explained by that curse, and the system of twenty-seven mansions is tied to the same story.

Why are the gods and the asuras related?

In the Puranas both have the same father, Kashyapa, and differ only in their mothers. Aditi bears the gods, the Adityas, Diti bears the daityas and Danu the danavas. This is why an asura in Hindu mythology is not simply a demon but the brother and rival of a god. Their churning the ocean of milk together rests on the same shared origin.

What sources is this family tree based on?

The Vedic layer follows the Rigveda, and the Puranic layer the Vishnu Purana, the Bhagavata Purana, the Shiva Purana and the Devi Mahatmya section of the Markandeya Purana. The epic material comes from Valmiki's Ramayana and from the Mahabharata. For the grahas and nakshatras the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra has been used. The sources disagree on the birth of Ganesha, the parentage of Kartikeya and the origin of Lakshmi, and those differences are recorded in the notes.

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Calculate your Vedic chart as well

The nine grahas and twenty-seven nakshatras in this chart are the skeleton of Vedic astrology. To see which graha sits in which nakshatra in your own chart, use the Vedic chart tool.

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