In Buddhist and Hindu mythology, birth from the female body brought one into the circle of life and death, or samsara. So, the womb-born, or yonija, experience birth as well as death. Ram is born from the womb of Kaushalya, Krishna is born from the womb of Devaki, and, therefore, both of them experience death.

In Puranic literature, we come across the concept of ayonija, someone who is not born from the womb, and consequently, is able to bypass or rise above the cycle of birth and death. The story of Ganesha is a case in point. Ganesha is not born from a mother's womb. He is born when his mother moulds him from the ointments of her body and his head is replaced with the head of an elephant by his father Shiva. Similarly, Shiva's other son Kartikeya is not born from a mother's body. Shiva's seed first falls in fire, then in wind, and finally, in the river, Ganga, setting the riverbank reeds aflame. From the ashes emerges Kartikeya, as the six-headed warlord. Thus, he is born outside the womb and is called ayonija. Another son of Shiva, who is ayonija, is Ayyappa. He is born when Shiva merges with Vishnu to become Harihara. Two male gods thus come together and a child is created.
There are other such characters in mythology that are born outside the womb. There is the famous story of Mandhata. A king called Yuvanashwa accidentally drinks a magic potion meant to make his wife pregnant and, in doing so, becomes pregnant himself. The child, Mandhata, is born from his side, because Yuvanashwa does not have a womb or a womb passage. Mandhata, thus, becomes a special king, having being born in a special way.