Who is the most powerful negative character in Hindu mythology?

 Most here are saying Ravana because they are either not aware of other Asuras or simply because Ravana is the most infamous cause of the popularity of Ramayana.......

I would say Hiranyaksha was the most powerful Asura in Hindu mythology cause of following reasons
1. He took the earth or (embodiment of earth) and hid her at the bottom of the 'Cosmic Ocean' or Primordial Ocean, this Primordial Ocean is what existed before creation of the Universe. Most other Asuras or Rakshasas were at best able to rule the earth and some defeated devas, but none is ever known to have taken earth to the bottom of Cosmic Ocean or Patala.
2. Lord Vishnu had to take birth as a Gigantic Varaha in order to Lift earth out and kill Hiranyaksha, this is the first time Lord Vishnu had to incarnate to kill a demon
3. The Varaha avtara and Hiranyaksha fought for over a 1000 years before Hiranyaksha was finally defeated. No other demon thereafter was able to fight either Vishnu or Shiva for so long.
4.If we were to take a closer look at Hindu scriptures all races become weaker with time or as time passes from Satya Yuga to Kaliyuga. Hiranyaksha was an Asura of Satya Yuga. Ravana was a very powerful Asura of Treta Yuga. Lord Rama had to fight and kill him as a human by means that were possible for humans to achieve without using his divine powers.
Other powerful Asuras were Andhakasura (son of Hiranyaksha), Hiranyakashipu( brother of Hiranyaksha), Mahishasura and Raktabeeja

How strong was Hanuman in the Hindu mythology Ramayanam?

 Hanuman is physically the strongest vanara and his strength and speed exceeded even that of Garuda according to Valmiki Ramayana

1. Hanuman was unfazed by the sunrays of Suryadev and about to devour him thinking it as a fruit
2. Indra furiously attacked Hanuman with his Vajra
3. Indra was impressed by Hanuman's strength after seeing him unfazed by the vajra and granted him a boon
4. Hanuman defeated Ravan in their first encounter but spared him
5. Then he lifted the cosmic body of Lakshmana which weighed more than Three worlds combined
6. Hanuman also broke the divine spear of Kumbhakarna which he used to crush the gods like Indra and Yama . Kumbhakarna was frightened seeing his spear getting broken like a twig
7. Hanuman lifted the celestial mountain Sanjeevani and revived the dead vanaras and healed both Rama and lakshmana . Loud angry roar from Hanuman shooked the three worlds and terrified gods like Indra
8. Hanuman once again brought the same mountain in less than an instance to heal lakshmana .
9. Hanuman helped Lord Rama's army in defeating the Ksatriyas around the earth
10. Hanuman defeated nandi in the encounter and fought lord Shiva and impressed him .
11. Hanuman once again defeated Garuda and Sudarshan chakra in Parashara Samhita .
12. Hanuman broke the pride of Arjuna in Mahabharata narrated in Bengali manuscripts .
13. Hanuman was blessed with immortality by Lord Rama

What can you tell me about Kansa from Hindu mythology?

 Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya!

According to Vedic history, he was a demonic character.

Once upon a time, Kansa became king of Mathura and, as a result, became increasingly tyrannical.

At his sister Devaki's wedding, a divine prophecy announces that Devaki's eighth son will kill Kansa.

Terrified, Kansa threatens and imprisons Devaki and her newly-wedded husband Vasudeva and kills their newborn children one after another because he fears the prophecy.

Krishna is eventually born as Devaki's eighth child, and Vasudeva secretly carries Krishna across the Yamuna River to Gokula, where Krishna is raised by Nanda and Yashoda.

Kansa learns that the eighth child Krishna has been born and repeatedly sends demons to kill Krishna, but Krishna defeats them all.

Eventually, Kansa decides to summon Krishna and his step-brother Balarama to Mathura.

Krishna defeats Kansa's wrestlers and ultimately kills Kansa and rightfully restores Ugrasena, Kansa's father, to the throne.

Hare Krishna

Which are the top 10 strongest demons in Hindu mythology with their powers explained?

 This would be a ranking of ascending order. The texts considered will be Puranas and Itihasas.

10.) Kumbhakarna

• He was a walking giant of destruction. As soon as he was born he started consuming all the beings in the three worlds. He had no boons from anyone but still defeated Yama, Varuna etc in battle.
• When he was consuming many creatures, Indra became angry and he struck Kumbhakarna with Vajra but nothing happened and the enraged Kumbhakarna uprooted a tusk of Airavata and struck Indra with it and defeated him.
• The gods fled to Brahma and complained about Kumbhakarna and Brahma nerfed him by cursing him to be asleep all the time.
  [1]

9.) Ravana

• Practicing severe penances for 10,000 years got invincibility against all beings except humans as a boon from Brahma. Also got a divine armor, spear, chariot from Brahma.
  [2]
• Defeated all the gods beginning with Indra, Kubera, Yama and Varuna multiple times and lifted up Shiva and Kailasa and was undefeatable until he met Rama as per Ramayana.
  [3]
  He commanded all the deities to work as per him yet made them retain their powers.

8.) Jalandhara

• Received a boon from Brahma that he’d be undefeatable against gods, defeated all the devas beginning with Indra taking a huge army consisting of many asuras like Kalanemi, Shumba-Nishumba etc.
  [4]
• Fought neck to neck with Vishnu and pleased him. Shiva admitted that he has no weapon to kill him due to which all the gods beginning with Vishnu gave their energies with which Vishwakarma made the Sudarshana Chakra and Shiva killed him with it.
  [5]

7.) Hiranyaksha

• Again a demon with no special boons and defeated the hosts of gods including Ganesha and Kartikeya along with devas beginning with Indra.
  [6]
• Covered the three worlds and then took the entire earth to Patala and was ultimately killed by Vishnu.

6.) Andhakasura

• Possessed an ability to generate clones of himself for each drop of blood spilled down.
• Attacked and oppressed Shiva with this ability and makes him retreat as per Matsya Purana. To counter this ability, Vishnu had to create Matrikas to drink his blood and prevent his clones from being generated and Shiva kept him on his trident. As per Skanda Purana, he wrestled with Shiva and made him swoon.
  [7]

5.) Tarakasura

• Was born to Vajranga as a blessing of Brahma. Tarakasura pleased Brahma and attained the boon of having death only at the hands of a seven days old infant.
  [8]
• Defeated gods beginning with Indra and also Vishnu as per Skanda Purana.
  [9]
  As per Padma Purana instead of Vishnu, he is said to defeat Shiva.
  [10]

4.) Mahishasura

• Got a boon from Brahma that he should not be killed by male species of any kind. Defeated the gods with Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva as per Skanda Purana and has shapeshifting abilities.
  [11]
• All the gods needed to accumulate their energies and manifest the goddess in order to kill him.
  [12]

All the asuras mentioned until now just tried to rule the three worlds by defeating the devas. But the top 3 ones literally became the entire universe. These three are of a different tier altogether.

3.) Hiranyakashipu

• The only demon who attained the rarest of the rare boons despite having limitations initially like every other living being. Performed severe penance for pleasing Brahma and attained the boons which no Asura attained.
• He became Surya, Chandra, Indra, Varuna, Kubera, Yama, Vayu, Agni etc all by himself and became the Panchabhutas implying he literally became the entire universe.
  [13]
  This boon is the most powerful that Brahma admitted that such a boon is very difficult to give and also Lord Narasimha after killing him warns Brahma to not give such boons thereafter.
• Due to this he didn’t even have to fight with the Devas and made them abdicate without a word or resistance. Also he had all the divyastras existing in this world.

2.) Madhu-Kaitabha

• The demons who existed before the creation even started. They were born from Vishnu’s earwax and started torturing Brahma as soon as they were born.
• Vishnu killed them and their body fat became the earth which is why earth is called “Medhini” which proves their potency without any boons.

1.) Vritra

• The demon who doesn’t have any kind of boons and was a result of Yajna conducted by Tvastha. He literally pervaded the entire universe with his energy placing him in a different tier compared to all others.
  [14]
• Indra had to make a special weapon like Vajra and even then fell short of energy and Vishnu entered his Vajra and Indra was empowered by all the devas and rishis with their energies and only then did he kill Vritra.

|| Namō Veṅkaṭeśāya || 🛞 U 🐚

Which is the most overrated character in the Hindu mythology?

 

All the asuras are overrated characters. All of them be it Mahishasura, Tarakasura, Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashipu, Ravana, Tripurasuras, Madhu-Kaitabha, Andhakasura, Bhandasura etc . The texts mention that they defeated some xyz gods and also deities beginning with Indra. Those references are taken literally ignoring what the devas are capable of doing.

The air that is inside beings is always in motion. If I have committed an evil act, let it free my breath of life. If I have committed an evil act, let fire, water, space, earth and air free my breath of life.’ Then a sacred voice spoke from the firmament. It echoed in all the directions and gladdened the great-souled monkeys. Vayu said, ‘O Raghava! This is the truth. I am the wind that is always in motion. O king! Maithili is without taint. Unite with your wife.’ Agni said, ‘O descendant of the Raghu lineage! I am the wind that resides in the bodies of all beings. O Kakutstha! Maithili has not committed a crime, even in the slightest way.’ Varuna said, ‘O Raghava! The juices in the bodies of beings owe their existence to me. I am asking you to accept Maithili back.’

-Mahabharata, Draupadi-Harana Parva, Chapter 572(275)

So, the gods like Agni, Vayu and Varuna control the inner organs of all the beings including the Asuras. If they get serious, no asura I repeat no asura would’ve been the victors on the gods of heaven (not even speaking of tridev). One such act was done by Vayu

When you fell down on the summit of the mountain, your left cheekbone was shattered. Because of this, you have been known by the name of Hanumat. On seeing that you had been struck, Vayu, the bearer of scents, was himself extremely enraged and the wind ceased to blow in the three worlds. All the gods were terrified and the three worlds were agitated. The lords of the worlds sought the favours of the enraged wind god.

-Ramayana, Kishkinda-Kanda, Chapter 65

So if they desire Agnic an burn any asura from inside, Varuna can manipulate his body fluids and kill him, Vayu can choke him airless etc. Indra, Surya etc are the presiding deities of parts of body and they can manipulate them as well. So the Asuras are the most overrated characters across the texts.

What are some interesting lesser known tales from Hindu religion?

 There is very vivid description of growth of body in mother’s womb in Srimad Bhagavatam canto 3 chapter 31 from verse 1_and onward as below:

The Personality of Godhead said:

1. Under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and according to the result of his work, the living entity, the soul, is made to enter into the womb of a woman through the particle of male semen to assume a particular type of body(3.31.1)
2. On the first night, the sperm and ovum mix, and on the fifth night the mixture ferments into a bubble. On the tenth night it develops into a form like a plum, and after that, it gradually turns into a lump of flesh or an egg, as the case may be.3.31.2)
3. In the course of a month, a head is formed, and at the end of two months the hands, feet and other limbs take shape. By the end of three months, the nails, fingers, toes, body hair, bones and skin appear, as do the organ of generation and the other apertures in the body, namely the eyes, nostrils, ears, mouth and anus.3.31.3)
4. Within four months from the date of conception, the seven essential ingredients of the body, namely chyle, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow and semen, come into existence. At the end of five months, hunger and thirst make themselves felt, and at the end of six months, the fetus, enclosed by the amnion, begins to move on the right side of the abdomen.3.31.4)
5. Deriving its nutrition from the food and drink taken by the mother, the fetus grows and remains in that abominable residence of stools and urine, which is the breeding place of all kinds of worms.3.31.5)
6. Bitten again and again all over the body by the hungry worms in the abdomen itself, the child suffers terrible agony because of his tenderness. He thus becomes unconscious moment after moment because of the terrible condition.(3.31.6)
7. Owing to the mother’s eating bitter, pungent foodstuffs, or food which is too salty or too sour, the body of the child incessantly suffers pains which are almost intolerable.(3.31.7)
8. Placed within the amnion and covered outside by the intestines, the child remains lying on one side of the abdomen, his head turned towards his belly and his back and neck arched like a bow.(3.31.8
9. The child thus remains just like a bird in a cage, without freedom of movement. At that time, if the child is fortunate, he can remember all the troubles of his past one hundred births, and he grieves wretchedly. What is the possibility of peace of mind in that condition?(3.31.9)
10. Thus endowed with the development of consciousness from the seventh month after his conception, the child is tossed downward by the airs that press the embryo during the weeks preceding delivery. Like the worms born of the same filthy abdominal cavity, he cannot remain in one place.(3.31.10)
11. The living entity in this frightful condition of life, bound by seven layers of material ingredients, prays with folded hands, appealing to the Lord, who has put him in that condition.(3.31.11)
12. The human soul says: I take shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who appears in His various eternal forms and walks on the surface of the world. I take shelter of Him only, because He can give me relief from all fear and from Him I have received this condition of life, which is just befitting my impious activities.(3.31.12)

All the above description of embryo development can be seen in real pictures as below:

Inside the Fallopian tube

A human egg

The moment before fertilization

Sperm fuses with the egg

Spermatozoon carries genetic material into the egg

A newly-formed embryo floats through the fallopian tube

One week later...

Three weeks later...

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The first heart beat

Four weeks after fertilization

Fetus in the fifth week

Placenta formation in the sixth week

Two months later...

Eyes start forming at 10 weeks

The embryo has little hands at this point

Four months in...

The limbs develop

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The fetus hears sounds

Nails develop on the fingers

Hair cells begin to form

Six months in...

Human features start to become more pronounced

One month before birth...

Source and courtesy :

1.Nilsson's book, A Child is Born(1975).

2.Srimad Bhagavatam by Srila Prabhupada

So descriptions of human birth is very similar as described in the Srimad Bhagavatam.

So we should appreciate our ancestors who wrote the exact description of child growth in womb.

We should be proud to our ancestors and the God who has created all of us and He is same for everybody.

Thanks for reading.Thanks for your up votes and support .

Edit 1.One nice person asked about the cause of pain of embryo in the womb .The answered is also given in the next slokas as under:

The soul of the womb tells :

1. the pure soul, appearing now bound by my activities, am lying in the womb of my mother by the arrangement of māyā. I offer my respectful obeisances unto Him who is also here with me but who is unaffected and changeless. He is unlimited, but He is perceived in the repentant heart. To Him I offer my respectful obeisances. 3.31.13
2. I am separated from the Supreme Lord because of my being in this material body, which is made of five elements, and therefore my qualities and senses are being misused, although I am essentially spiritual. Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is transcendental to material nature and the living entities, because He is devoid of such a material body, and because He is always glorious in His spiritual qualities, I offer my obeisances unto Him.
3. The human soul further prays: The living entity is put under the influence of material nature and continues a hard struggle for existence on the path of repeated birth and death. This conditional life is due to his forgetfulness of his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, without the Lord’s mercy, how can he again engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord?
4. No one other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as the localized Paramātmā, the partial representation of the Lord, is directing all inanimate and animate objects. He is present in the three phases of time—past, present and future. Therefore, the conditioned soul is engaged in different activities by His direction, and in order to get free from the threefold miseries of this conditional life, we have to surrender unto Him only.
5. Fallen into a pool of blood, stool and urine within the abdomen of his mother, his own body scorched by the mother’s gastric fire, the embodied soul, anxious to get out, counts his months and prays, “O my Lord, when shall I, a wretched soul, be released from this confinement?”
6. My dear Lord, by Your causeless mercy I am awakened to consciousness, although I am only ten months old. For this causeless mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the friend of all fallen souls, there is no way to express my gratitude but to pray with folded hands.
7. The living entity in another type of body sees only by instinct; he knows only the agreeable and disagreeable sense perceptions of that particular body. But I have a body in which I can control my senses and can understand my destination; therefore, I offer my respectful obeisances to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by whom I have been blessed with this body and by whose grace I can see Him within and without.
8. Therefore, my Lord, although I am living in a terrible condition, I do not wish to depart from my mother’s abdomen to fall again into the blind well of materialistic life. Your external energy, called deva-māyā, at once captures the newly born child, and immediately false identification, which is the beginning of the cycle of continual birth and death, begins.
9. Therefore, without being agitated any more, I shall deliver myself from the darkness of nescience with the help of my friend, clear consciousness. Simply by keeping the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu in my mind, I shall be saved from entering into the wombs of many mothers for repeated birth and death.
10. Lord Kapila continued: The ten-month-old living entity has these desires even while in the womb. But while he thus extols the Lord, the wind that helps parturition propels him forth with his face turned downward so that he may be born
11. Pushed downward all of a sudden by the wind, the child comes out with great trouble, head downward, breathless and deprived of memory due to severe agony( Froanksm 3.31.13 to 24)

Thanks.

We should be happy now to find our real purpose of life of happiness.