Kashyapa

Kashyapa (Sanskrit Kaśyapa) was an ancient sage (rishi) who is counted as one of the Saptarishis in the present manvantara (the others are Atri, Vashistha, Vishvamitra, Jamadagni, Bharadwaja and Gautama Maharishi).
Kashyapa is also mentioned as one of the Prajapatis in the Mahabharata.
Kashyapa is the claimed author of the treatise Kashyapa Samhita, or Jivakiya Tantra, which is considered a classical reference book on Ayurveda especially in the fields of Ayurvedic pediatrics, gynecology and obstetrics.

The Prajapati Daksha gave his thirteen daughters (Aditi, Diti, Kadru, Danu, Arishta, Surasa, Surabhi, Vinata, Tamra, Krodhavasha, Ira, Vishva and Muni) in marriage to Kaśyapa^.
Kashyapa is a manasputra (wish-born-son) of Lord Brahma. However, according to [Rama:1.70.20], he is the grand son of Lord Brahma, being the son of Marichi, a wish-born son of Lord Brahma. Kashyapa had many wives, most of them the daughters of Daksha prajapathi. His wives (who are daughters of Daksha) are : Aditi mother of the Devas, Diti the mother of the Daityas, Arishta, the mother of the Gandharvas, Kadru, the mother of the Nagas (snakes), Vinata the mother of Aruna (Charioter of Lord Surya's chariot-time right before surnrise) and Garuda, Danu the mother of the Danavas (who are generally considered part of the Asuras), Kalaka the mother of the monster Kalkanja, Khasa, the mother of the Yakshas, Krodhavasa the mother of the Pishachas (flesh eating monsters), Muni the mother of Maumeya, Puloma the mother of the monster Pauloma, Somathi the mother of Sumathi (who married Sagara).
In addition to the daughters of Daksha he also married Syeni who had a son (a great bird) named Jatayu, and Unmathi who had a son (also a great bird) called Sampati. Vali and Sugreeva are also said to be the sons of Kashyapa. He also had a wife named Surabhi, who gave birth to the Rudras and a wife named Rohini, who gave birth to the cattle.

Children of Kashyapa

Kashyapa was the father of the devas, asuras and nāgas. He married Aditi, with whom he fathered Agni, the Adityas, and most importantly Vamana, who was the fifth Avatar of Lord Vishnu, in the seventh Manvantara.^[4] With his second wife, Diti, he begot the Daityas. Diti and Aditi were daughters of King Daksha Prajapati and sisters to Sati, Shiva's consort. Kashyapa received the earth, obtained by Parashurama's conquest of King Kartavirya Arjuna and Kshatriyas henceforth, earth came to be known as "Kashyapai".

• His sons from Aditi or Adityas were Aṃśa, Aryaman, Bhaga, Dhatr, Mitra, Pūṣan, a daughter Bhumidevi, Śakra, Savitṛ, Tvaṣṭṛ, Varuṇa, Viṣṇu, and Surya or Vivasvat or Vivasvan, who went on to start the Solar Dynasty (Suryavansha), which later came to be known as Ikshvaku dynasty, after his great grandson, King Ikshvaku, whose subsequent kings were, Kukshi, Vikukshi, Bana, Anaranya, Prithu, Trishanku, and finally King Raghu, who gave it the name, Raghuvansh (Dynasty of Raghu), and then further leading up to Lord Ram, the son of Dashrath.
• His sons from Diti were Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha and a daughter Sinhika, who later became the wife of Viprachitti. Hiranyakashipu had four sons, Anuhlada, Hlada, Prahlada, and Sanhlada, who further extended the Daityas
• Garuda and Aruna are the sons of Kashyapa from his wife Vinata.
• The Nāgas (serpents) are his sons from Kadru and Surasa.
• The Danavas are his sons from Danu.
• The Bhagavata Purana states that the Apsaras were born from Kashyapa and Muni.
• Uttar Ramayana says Diti had a son named Maya who was the lord of Daityas.

In the family line of Kashyapa, along with him there are two more discoverers of Mantras: his sons Avatsara and Asita. Two sons of Avatsara, Nidhruva and Rebha, are also Mantra-seers. In the Manvantara period named 'Svarochisha', Kashyapa was one of the seven sages (saptarishi) for that manvantara.
The Indian valley of Kashmir in the Himalayas is named after him.
 In Brahm Avtar composition present in Dasam Granth, Second Scripture of Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh mentioned Rishi Kashyapa, as second avtar of Brahma. According to him, Rishi Kashyapa had great knowledge of Vedas and interpreted it very thoughtfully to whole world which bring them internal relief .He married with four wives, Banita, Kadru, Diti and Aditi and have many children out of them some remain religious (Deities) and other became irreligious (Demons).

Kashyapa and Kashmir

The Valley of Kashmir got its name from Kashyapa Rishi. According to a legend, the Kashmir valley was a vast lake called Satisaras, named after Sati or Parvati the consort of Shiva. The lake was inhabited by the demon Jalodbhav. The Nilamat Puran of the 7th century mentions the region being inhabited by two tribes — the Nagas and the Pisachas. The lake was drained off by leader of the Nagas called Ananta (Anantnag region of Kashmir is named after him) to capture and kill the demon. Ananta later names the valley as Kashyapa-mira after his father Kashyapa. Kalhana in Rajatarangini (The River of Kings) also mentions Prajapati Kashyapa killing Jalodbhava with the help of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The lake was then drained and comes to be known as Kash-mira after the Rishi Kashyapa