Who is Brahma? Indian foldlore
Brahma is the
first god in the Hindu
triumvirate, or trimurti. The triumvirate consists of three
gods who are responsible for the
creation, upkeep and destruction of the world. The other
two gods are
Vishnu
and
Shiva
.
Vishnu is the preserver of the universe, while
Shiva's role is to destroy it in order to re-
create.
Brahma's job was
creation of the world and all creatures. His name should not be confused
with
Brahman
, who is the supreme God force present within all things.
Brahma is the least worshipped god in Hinduism today. There are only two temples in the
whole of India devoted to him, compared with the many thousands devoted to the other two.
What does Brahma look like?
Brahma, 1820 British engraving
©
Brahma has four heads and it is believed that from these heads came the
four
Vedas
(the
most ancient religious texts for Hindus). Some also believe that the
caste system
, or four
varnas, came from different part of Brahma's body.
He has f
our arms and is usually depicted with a beard.
Brahma's consort is
Saraswati, goddess of knowledge. (after Shatarupa)
Why is Brahma not worshipped so much?
There are a number of stories in the Hindu mythology which point to why he is rarely
worshipped. These are two of them.
The first view is that Brahma
created a woman in order to aid him with his job of creation.
She was called
Shatarupa. #1 first love was his creation
She was so beautiful that Brahma became infatuated with her, and gazed at her wherever
she went. This caused her extreme embarrassment and Shatarupa tried to turn from his
gaze.
But in every direction she moved, Brahma sprouted a head until he had developed four.
Finally, Shatarupa grew so frustrated that she jumped to try to avoid his gaze. Brahma, in his
obsession, sprouted a fifth head on top of all.
It is also said in some sources that Shatarupa kept changing her form. She became every
creature on earth to avoid Brahma. He however, changed his form to the male version of
whatever she was and thus every animal community in the world was created.
Lord Shiva admonished Brahma for demonstrating behaviour of an incestuous nature and
chopped off his fifth head for 'unholy' behaviour. Since Brahma had distracted his mind from
the soul and towards the cravings of the flesh, Shiva's curse was that people should not
worship Brahma.
As a form of repentance, it is said that Brahma has been continually reciting the four Vedas
since this time, one from each of his four heads.
A second view of why Brahma is not worshipped, and a more sympathetic one, is that
Brahma's role as the creator is over. It is left to Vishnu to preserve the world and Shiva to
continue its path of cosmic reincarnation.
Who is Vishnu?
Vishnu is the second god in the Hindu triumvirate (or
Trimurti
). The triumvirate consists of
three gods who are responsible for the creation, upkeep and destruction of the world. The
other two gods are
Brahma
and
Shiva
.
