In Hinduism, Daksha is an ancient creator god, one of the Prajapatis, one of the Rishis and a son of Aditi and Brahma.

With Prasuti, he is the father of twenty-seven daughters, all of whom were married to Soma. Daksha thought Soma favored one daughter, Rohini, and Daksha cursed him to wither and die. The daughters intervened and made his death periodic, symbolized by the waxing and waning of the moon. One of the other daughters was Sati, who wanted to marry Shiva. Daksha forbade it, but she disobeyed him and did so anyway. Daksha decided to get revenge by sacrificing a horse to Vishnu and not inviting Shiva. Sati killed herself and an angry Shiva came to the sacrifice. Shiva killed many of the guests and decapitated Daksha, though he later calmed down and replaced Daksha's head with that of a goat.

Some of Daksha's daughters, including Bharani and Anuradha, married Chandra. Another, Rati, married Kama.