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.
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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.
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• 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.
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  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.
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• 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.
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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.
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• 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.
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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.
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• Defeated gods beginning with Indra and also Vishnu as per Skanda Purana.
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  As per Padma Purana instead of Vishnu, he is said to defeat Shiva.
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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.
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• All the gods needed to accumulate their energies and manifest the goddess in order to kill him.
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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.
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  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.
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• 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 🐚

In Hinduism, who is the strongest demon? I mean with boon and without boon, and why?

 In Vedas, Vritra is the strongest demon and its not even close .He was a threat which was devouring the cosmic order RTA .

In ithihasas its easily Madhu and kaitabha . No asuras comes close to them in power. They operate on much higher cosmic scale

Earth was created from using their fat .

• In those ancient times, I (Brahma) was born from you. You used your maya to generate the handsome serpent Ananta who lies down in the water and two extremely strong creatures. They were Madhu and Kaitabha and their bones covered everything and constituted mountains. The earth was formed from their fat. I was also born from a divine lotus, as resplendent as the sun, originating in your navel. You said that creation was my task and invested everything in me. O lord of the universe! Having taken up the burden invested on me, I worshipped you.

Valmiki Ramayana (7–94)

2: Hiranyakashipu was the strongest with boons. Since he literally became the universe as per Mahabharata/harivamsa

• भवेयमहमेवार्कः सोमो वायुर् हुताशनः ।
• सलिलं चान्तरिक्षं च नक्षत्राणि दिशो दश ॥
• IAST:
• bhaveyam aham evārkaḥ somo vāyur hutāśanaḥ |
• salilaṃ cāntarikṣaṃ ca nakṣatrāṇi diśo daśa ||
• Literal:
• “May I alone become the Sun, the Moon, Wind and Fire, Water and the atmosphere, the stars and the ten directions.”

All the other fodder rakshasas haven't showed any power anywhere near cosmic scale even with boons which makes all of their accomplishment such as defeating gods useless in comparison to shere power possessed by hiranyakashipu. Any random devata like Vayu would instantly kill them easily if they are allowed to

• ततः स दृष्ट्वा निहतं हनूमन्तं महाबलम् ।
• वायुः प्रचण्डः प्रज्वाल्य जगाम त्रिदिवं तदा ॥
• Vāyu became extremely angry and ceased to blow in the three worlds, causing the gods and living beings to suffer.

Who were the top 10 strongest warriors of Treta Yuga?

 10# Vali :

• Vali was strongest Vanara after Hanumana ji.
• Vali once defeated Ravana in physical bout.
• Vali killed a buffalo demon named Dundubhi in a fierce battle and lifted Dundubhi's gigantic corpse and threw it hundred yojanas away.
• Vali also killed Dundubhi's brother Maayaavi including all of his relatives after a fierce battle in a cave near his Kishkindha Kingdom.
• When Sugreeva came to fight him, he thrashed Sugreeva effortlessly.

9# Kumbhakarna :

• Kumbhkarna was strong even without any boon.
• Kumbhkarna defeated Indra, the eleven rudras and all the devas in Swaraga.
• Kumbhkarna had pulled Airavat’s tusk and struck it on Indra’s chest.
• Indra’s Vajra could do no harm to Kumbhakarna.
• Devas , Brahmarishis and Rakshashas feared Kumbhakarna.
• Kumbhakarna even injured Hanuman.
• Kumbhakarna defeated many Vanara cheifs and captured Sugriva.
• Kumbhakarna literally ate 7,8,10,20,30,etc., Vanaras at a time.

8# Atikaya :

• Atikaya was known for his counselling , horse-riding and elephant-riding skills , swordsmanship , archery , strategies of dissention among enemies through bribes and leading the army.
• Atikaya defeated Devas , Rakshashas and Yakshas many times and defended his people .
• Atikay neutralized the vajra of Indra with his normal arrows. He also countered noose of Varuna.
• Atikay effortlessly defeated 5 Vanara chiefs name Mainda, Dvivida, Sharabha, Nila and Kumuda.

7# Indrajita :

• Mēghanāda a.k.a Indrajita like his father was a very powerful warrior and second strongest warrior of the Rākṣasas. One can say he is a true prodigy.
• He perfomed a great Yajña known as Mahēśvara Yajña and got a rare boon from Rudra (probably his Māyā as the text does not mention what the rare boon was).
• Though Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa defeated Indra, Mēghanāda was the only one to successfully capture him. Mēghanāda also was very skilled in using Māyā.
• It is also stated that he defeated the Rudras, Vasus and Ādityas also.
• He killerd 63 crore Vānaras with the Brahmāstra and killed many Vāranas using his serpents.
• He through his boons captured Hanumana , and knocked Rama and Lakshman.
• Mēghanāda’s greatest advantage and disadvantage was his Nikumbila ritual. The one who disturbs it would cause his death.

6# Kartiveerya Arjuna :

• Kartiveerya Arjuna was an extremely strong warrior.
• Kartiveerya Arjuna earned his boons through his merit.
• Kartiveerya Arjuna got thousand arms and stopped the flow of rivers and oceans.
• Kartiveerya Arjuna conquered whole earth.
• Kartiveerya Arjuna defeated Indra .
• Kartiveerya Arjuna defeated a young Rāvaṇa.

5# Lakshmana :

• Lakshman was the right hand of Bhagwan Sri Ram.
• Lakshman was greater archer than Kartiveerya Arjuna.
• Lakshman helped Sri Ram defeating Viradha and Kabandha.
• Lakshman could destroy whole Rakshasha clan through his Brahmastra.
• Lakshman easily defeated Surpanakha .
• Lakshman was so fearsome that when he arrived in Kishkinda to confront Sugriva , that all Vanaras started running away from him.
• Rama and Lakshmana together wiped out 1/3rd army of rakhasas on day one completely at night time .
• Lakshmana stalemate Kumbhkarna.
• Lakshmana defeated Indrajita .
• Lakshman killed Rakshashas Indrajita , Atikaya and Virupaksha.

4# Bhargava Parshuram :

• Parshuramaji is one of the greatest warriors of Sanatan Dharma.
• Parshuramaji is an Amsha avatar of Sri Hari Vishnu himself.
• Bhargava Ram was trained by none other than Devo ke Dev Mahadev.
• He fought a duel with Mahadev himself and even scratches Bhagwan Shiva in forehead.
• In the form of Gurudakshina to Mahadeva , he destroyed many Daityas that were against Indra .
• Parshuramaji had devine Parshu of Mahadeva .
• Parshuram killed a tiger easily to save a boy Akritverma , who became his most devoted follower .
• Parshuram killed 100 Akshouhinis of Kartiveerya Arjuna.
• Parshuramaji cut down each arm of Sahastrabahu Arjuna .
• As per Mahabharata, he killed Kartiveerya Arjuna through his Parshu while as Brahmananda Puran he killed him through Pashupastra.
• He killed 100 sons of Kartiveerya Arjuna.
• He destroyed evil Kshatriyas 21 times and conquered whole earth . He donated the Earth to Rishi Kashyap.
• He through his Vishnu Teja saved the world from Brahmastra.
• The only warrior who could properly defeat him was Maryada Purushottam Prabhu Sri Ram.
• After being defeated by Kaushalyanandan's Vaishnavastra , Renukanandan transferred his Teja to him and blessed him with Saranga bow .
• His student list is incredible : Akritverma, Pravara, Mahamahim Bhishma, Dronacharya, Radheya Karna , Rukmi , Malaydhwaja Pandya. He is also going to train Kalki ji.
• As per Shiva Dhanurveda, Parshuramaji is foremost of Gurus .
• In his battle against Bhishma Pitahmah, he literally fired , thousands, then millions, then billions , and at last literally trillions of arrows.
• At the last days of his battle against Bhisma ji , Jagdamanya Ram was dominating the fight .
• Bhishma Pitahmah not knowing how to defeat Parshuramaji, prayed to devas and through Devas , he got Prashwapna astra , with which he could finally prevail over Bhargava Ram .

3# Ravana :

• Rāvaṇa has a lot of achivements some which are positive and others which are negative.
• Rāvaṇa conquered the Nāgas in a battle.
• Kubera ,the Lord of Yakṣas, accompanied with 60,000 warriors, was subdued by the might of Rāvaṇa and also stole his Puṣpaka Vimāna.
• Rāvaṇa killed his own brother-in-law Madhu, Kumbhīnasa's husband, another ruler of demons, in a duel.
• Rāvaṇa conquered and captured Takṣaka, Śankha, and Jaṭī when he conquered the Rasatala.
• Rāvaṇa subdued the Nivātakavacas after a year of battle. He was unable to kill them due to their boon.
• Rāvaṇa also defeated the sons of Varuṇa in a battle.
• Rāvaṇa also defeated Yama and his forces in a battle.
• Rāvaṇa also killed many Kṣatriyas including Rāma's ancestor Anāraṇya.
• Indra and the Dévas together were unable to subdue Rāvaṇa in a battle.
• Rāvaṇa lifted Kailāśa with Lord Śiva sitting on top. He killed those who were arrogant and shook the entire universe.
• Rāvaṇa had conquered all three worlds .
• Rāvaṇa also killed Jatayu.
• Rāvaṇa was physically powerful enough to have ability to lift Mountains such as Meru , Mandara and Himalaya , lift three lokas with Devas and exhaust Hanumana in physical duel.
• Rāvaṇa defeated Lakshman ji twice , once when Lakshmana fought him together with Vibhishana.
• Rāvaṇa defeated each Vanara general Sugriva . Jambavat , Nila etc., with the sole exception of Hanuman.
• Rāvaṇa through his Tamasastra killed crores of Vanaras.
• Rāvaṇa did most damage to Sri Rama’s army.

2# Hanumana :

• Hanuman ji was extremely powerful warrior in ramayana. Perhaps physically he was most powerful warrior in Ramayana.
• He was son of Vayu as per Valmiki Ramayan and Valmiki Ramayan addresses him only as Son of Vayu.
• Survived the Vajra of indra in childhood and traveled nearly 300 yojanaa towards sun.
• Was blessed With a boon of indestructibility by any divine missile by Brahma. Indra and Rama gave him boon of immortality.
• Killed the sea demoness Simhika.
• Conquered the city of Lanka which was herself in form of demoness.
• Killed the 80,000 Kinkara demons in the Lanka with iron rod.
• Killed Jambumali and 7 sons of Prahasta as well as several generals of Lanka.
• Killed son of Ravana Akshaya Kumar.
• Survived Infallible Brahmastra of Meghnad twice.
• Burnt the city of Lanka.
• Killed several demons like Dhumrakasha, Akampana, Devantaka, Trishira,Nikumbha and many others.
• Brought Sanjeevani Herbs twice;once healed whole vanara army and Rama and lakshman and second time for Lakshman.
• Defeated Ravana with a blow of his fist. It was so strong that ravana had blood coming out of his mouth and swooned.

1# Sri Rama :

• No one in the entire epics has ever fought fiercely like Sri Rama .
• In his youth , Sri Rama killed demons such a Tadaka , Subahu and his other warriors and defeated Maricha .
• Easily broke the Shiva Dhanusha to win Maa Sita and defeated Bhargava Parshurama.
• Killed Rakshasas like Viradha , Kabandha and Maricha .
• He destroyed 14000 rakshashas including Khara and Dushana, single handedly.When Rama was fighting, rakshasha could not even see Sri Rama, because of his swiftness in martial arts. So swift was Rama in fighting skill, that rakshhasha were confused and started to kill one another.One Rama appeared to be 1000, when rakshasha saw him because of his swiftness of killing. One moment they see Rama, one moment they get killed, such was their condition.
• When Indra’s son Jayanta(in crow form) in lust was pecking on Mata Sita,seeing his dear wife in pain Lord Rama threw the grass blade to Jayanta, turning it to Brahmastra.
• Such momentum he had, such force he had, that through one arrow he was able to tear 7 sal trees apart. Also tossed around Dundubhi’s corpse through his toe and fairly killed Vali.
• Sri Rama’s arrow made ocean tremble.
• Shri Rama defeated Ravana during their 1st encounter and spared his life.
• Rama and Lakshmana together wiped out 1/3rd army of rakhasas on day one completely at night time .
• Sri Rama singlehandedly killed ten thousand chariot warriors, eighteen thousand elephants, fourteen thousand horses and two lakhs foot soliders, in span of 3 hours.
• Sri Ram killed nearly invincible Rakshashas Ravana, Kumbhakarana and Makrasksha.

Jai Sri Rama .

Who are the top 10 strongest people in the Satya Yuga by brute strength?

 10. Asur Raj Bali : He was a very powerful warrior. He was very generous and used to donate a lot of wealth to people. His only flaw was that he was very proud of his strength. He was a great opposer of the Devtas. He had conquered all the three lokas. He had led the asuras during the Samudra Manthan. Later he donated everything to the Vaman Avatar of Bhagwan Vishnu and settled in Patal Loka and in return , he received a boon from Bhagwan Vishnu to be the next Indra.

9. King Prahlada : He was the son of Hiranakashiyapu. He wanted the asuras to rule over all the three worlds. He had succeeded in conquering heaven by defeating Devraj Indra.Prahlada too had conquered all the three lokas. This is mentioned in Santi Parva of Mahabharata.

In days of yore, the Daitya Prahlada, by the merit of his behaviour, snatched from the high-souled Indra his sovereignty and reduced the three worlds to subjection.

Source : Santi Parva : Rajadharmanusasana Parva : Section CXXIV.

8. Dambhodava: He had conquered the whole world and was very proud of his strength. He used to ask people , if there was anyone in this world who could match his strength? With passing of each day, his pride kept on swelling and he started thinking that there was no one equal to him. Finally he was defeated by Nara Narayana. Even Udyoga Parva of Mahabharata mentions about Dambhodava.

There was a king of yore named Dambhodbhava, who was the Head of the earth. It hath been heard by us that his sovereignty extended over the whole world. And that mighty car-warrior, rising every morning after the night had passed away, called the Brahmanas and the Kshatriyas unto himself and asked them, saying, 'Be he a Sudra, a Vaisya, a Kshatriya, or a Brahmana, is there any one who is superior or even equal to me in battle?' And uttering these words that king wandered over the earth, intoxicated with pride and thinking of nothing else.

Source : Udyoga Parva : Bhagwat Yana Parva : Section XCVI.

7. Vritrasura : Vritrasura had become very powerful and had even defeated Devraj Indra and had driven him out from Swargaloka. He had a boon which had made him invulnerable to any weapon. Then Sage Dadichi his life and then a weapon was made out of his bones which came to be known as Vajra. Devraj Indra then successfully managed to kill Vritasura with the help of Bhagwan Vishnu. Then Devraj Indra became famous as the slayer of Vritasura. The Udyoga Parva of Mahabharata mentions about the killing of Vritasura by Devraj Indra.

Image Source : Bhanu Kiran bhaiya.

And as Indra thought of all this, bearing Vishnu in mind he beheld at that instant in the sea a mass of froth as large as a hill. And he said, 'This is neither dry, nor wet, nor is it a weapon; let me hurl it at Vritra. Without doubt, he will die immediately.' And he threw at Vritra that mass of froth blended with the thunderbolt. And Vishnu, having entered within that froth, put an end to the life of Vritra. And when Vritra was killed, the cardinal points were free from gloom; and there also blew a pleasant breeze; and all beings were much pleased.

Source : Udyoga Parva : Section X.

6. Hiranyaksha : He was the elder brother of Hiranakashiyapu. He was very powerful. He had conquered the whole world. Even the Gods feared him. Finally Bhagwan Vishnu had took Varaha avatar and killed him.

5. Hiranakashiyapu : He had obtained a very powerful boon from Brahma Deva, which had made him invincible and thus he had become a nightmare for Gods. Harivamasa Purana mentions about the boon of Hiranakashiyapu. Due to this boon he had become very proud and had demanded that people should worship him as God. When his son Pralahada refused to obey him, then he tried to kill his son several times but he failed due to the grace of Bhagwan Vishnu on his son . He was finally killed by the fierce Narasimha avatar of Bhagwan Vishnu.

May gods, asuras, gandharvas, humans and pishachas be unable to kill me. O grandfather of the worlds! May rishis not be able to curse me in rage, even when their austerities enable them to curse me in this fashion. This is the boon that I wish for. Let my death not come from any weapon, anything used to strike, a mountain, a tree, anything dry, anything wet, or any other object. Let me be the lord of the sun, the moon, wind, fire, the water, the firmament, the nakshatras, the ten directions, ego, anger, desire, Varuna, Vasava, Yama, the granter of riches, the supervisor of riches,yakshas and kimpurushas.” Brahma said, “O son! This is a divine and extraordinary boon and I am conferring it on you. O son! There is no doubt that you will obtain everything that you desire.”

Source : Harivamsa Purana Ch 31 translated by Bibek Debroy.

4. Mahisasura : He is one of the strongest demons of all time . He had defeated the Devas including Devraj Indra and had conquered Swarga Loka. Then all the Devas had gone to Brahma Deva to find a solution. Then from the combined energies of Brahma Deva, Bhagwan Vishnu and Bhagwan Shiv , Devraj Indra and all the other Devas together Ma Ambika was manifested. Then all the Devas gave their best weapons to Ma Ambika. Mahisasura had the ability to change himself to any form he desired. He had turned into a lion to fight Ma Ambika. He then converted himself into a man, held a sword and disappeared. Afterwards the goddess pierced him with her arrows, he with his sword and shield turned into a mighty elephant. The elephant pulled Goddess Ambika's lion with his trunk. Afterwards Mahishasura assumed the form of a buffalo. Ma Ambika finally struck him with her Shula(Trident) and then beheaded him with her sword.

Source : Markandeya Purana.

3. Nara Narayana : Nar and Narayan defeated a mighty king Dambhodbhava who was the head of the earth. Dambhodbhava fell at the feet of Nar and Narayan and accepted his defeat.

Dambhodbhava with all his troops, desirous of slaying that ascetic, covered all sides with a shower of arrows. That ascetic, however, by means of those blades of grass, baffled all those terrible shafts of the king that were capable of mangling the bodies of hostile warriors. The invincible Rishi then let off towards the king his own terrible weapon made of grass-blades and which was incapable of being counteracted

Source : Udyoga Parva : Bhagwat Yana Parva : Section XCVI.

2. Bhagwan Varaha : Bhagwan Varaha rescued mother earth(Bhu Devi) from Hiranyaksha. The war went on for many years and finally Hiranyaksha was brought down by Varaha avatar of Bhagwan Vishnu.

1. Bhagwan Narasimha / Ma Ambika :

(i) Bhagwan Narasimha : Bhagwan Vishnu took the form of Narasimha and killed Hiranakashiyapu. Hiranakashiyapu had fired Pashupatastra, Sudarshan Chakra etc at Bhagwan Narasimha but they had no effect on him. Bhagwan Narasimha finally killed him with his bare hands. He tore the stomach of Hiranakashiyapu and then garlanded himself with his intestines.

(ii) Ma Ambika : She manifested by recombining the energies of Brahma Deva, Bhagwan Vishnu , Bhagwan Shiv , Devraj Indra and other Devas. She killed Mahisasura after a fierce fight. She pierced him with her sula and then finally beheaded him with her sword. Thus she came to be known as Mahisasura Mardini after killing Mahisasura , who is one of the strongest demons of all times.

Image Courtsey : Pinterest.