Brahma: Difference between revisions

Brahma
God of Creation, Knowledge, Vedas; Creator of the Universe
Member of Trideva
A roundel with a depiction of Brahma, 19th century CE
Other names	Svayambhu, Virinchi, Prajapati, Hiranyagarbha, Vedanatha
Devanagari	ब्रह्मा
Sanskrit transliteration	Brahmā
Affiliation	Trideva, Deva
Abode	Satyaloka
Mantra	ॐ वेदात्मनाय विद्महे हिरण्यगर्भाय धीमही तन्नो ब्रह्मा प्रचोदयात् ।। Oṃ vedātmanāya vidmahe hiraṇyagarbhāya dhīmahī tanno brahmā pracodayāt
Weapon	Brahmastra, Brahmashirsha astra, Brahmanda astra
Symbol	Lotus flower, Vedas, 'Japamala, Kamandalu
Mount	Swan
Festivals	Kartik Purnima, Srivari Brahmotsavam
Genealogy
Consort	Sarasvati
Children	Angiras, Atri, Bhrigu, Chitragupta, Daksha, Jambavan, Kratu, Sanatkumaras, Marichi, Narada, Pulaha, Pulastya, Shatarupa, Svayambhuva Manu, Vasishtha

Brahma (Template:Lang-sa) is one of the principal deities of Hinduism, though his importance has declined in recent centuries. He is also referred to as Svayambhu (lit. 'self-born')^[1] and is associated with creation, knowledge, Vedas.^[2][3][4][5]

Brahma is the Vedic god Prajapati.^[6] During the post-Vedic period, Brahma was a prominent deity and his cult existed; however, by the 7th century CE, he was frequently attacked and lost his significance. He was also overshadowed by other major deities like Vishnu, Shiva, Devi.^[7] Along with other such Hindu deities, Brahma is sometimes viewed as a form (saguna) of the otherwise formless (nirguna) brahman, the ultimate metaphysical reality in Vedantic Hinduism.^[8][6]

Brahma is referred to as the creator within the Tridevas, the trinity of supreme Hindu gods that also includes Vishnu, the preserver, and Shiva, the destroyer.^[9][8][10] Brahma is prominently mentioned in creation legends, though there are many varying versions. In Brahma-focussed Puranas, he created himself in a golden egg known as Hiranyagarbha and then created the entire universe along with Vishnu and Shiva. According to Vaishnava accounts of creation, Brahma was born in a lotus, emerging from the navel of Vishnu along with Shiva, who was born in a fire, emerging from the forehead of Vishnu. According to Shaiva accounts of creation he is born from Shiva along with Vishnu from right and left sides of his waist. According to Shakta accounts of creation, states that Devi created the universe, including Brahma from her powers throughout her body.^[11][12][13]

Brahma is commonly depicted as a red complexioned man, with four heads and hands. His four heads represent the four Vedas and are pointed to the four cardinal directions. He is seated on a lotus and his vahana (mount) is a hamsa (swan). The goddess Sarasvati is Brahma's wife and she represents his creative energy (shakti) as well as the knowledge which he possesses. According to the scriptures, Brahma created his children with Sarasvati from his and her minds and thus, they were referred to as Manasputras.^[14][15]

In present-age Hinduism, Brahma does not enjoy popular worship and has lesser importance than the other two members of the Tridevas, namely Vishnu and Shiva. Brahma is revered in ancient texts, yet rarely worshiped as a primary god in the Indian subcontinent.^[16] Very few temples dedicated to him exist in the Indian subcontinent, the most famous being the Brahma Temple, Pushkar in Rajasthan.^[17] Brahma temples are also found outside of the Indian subcontinent, such as at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok.^[18]

The origins of the term brahmā are uncertain, in part because several related words are found in the Vedic literature, such as brahman for the 'Ultimate Reality' and brāhmaṇa for 'priest'. A distinction between the spiritual concept of brahman and the god Brahmā is that the former is a genderless abstract metaphysical concept in Hinduism^[19] while the latter is one of the many masculine gods in Hinduism.^[20] The spiritual concept of brahman is quite old and some scholars suggest that the god Brahma may have emerged as a personification and visible icon of the impersonal universal principle brahman.^[21] The existence of a distinct god named Brahma is evidenced in late Vedic texts.^[21]

Grammatically, the nominal stem brahma- has two distinct forms: the neuter noun bráhman, whose nominative singular form is brahma (ब्रह्म); and the masculine noun brahmán, whose nominative singular form is brahmā (ब्रह्मा). The former, neuter form has a generalised and abstract meaning^[22] while the latter, masculine form is used as the proper name of the god Brahma.

Left: Brahma at the 12th century CE Chennakesava Temple, Somanathapura; Right: Brahma at a 6th century CE Aihole temple.

One of the earliest mentions of Brahma with Vishnu and Shiva is in the fifth Prapathaka (lesson) of the Maitrayaniya Upanishad, probably composed around late 1st millennium BCE. Brahma is first discussed in verse 5,1, also called the Kutsayana Hymn, and then expounded in verse 5,2.^[25]

In the pantheistic Kutsayana Hymn,^[25] the Upanishad asserts that one's Soul is Brahman, and this Ultimate Reality, Cosmic Universal or God is within each living being. It equates the atman (Soul, Self) within to be Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Indra, all the total other gods and various alternate manifestations of Brahman, as follows, "Thou art Brahma, thou art Vishnu, thou art Shiva, thou art Agni, thou art Varuna, thou art Vayu, thou art Indra, thou art all."^[25]

In the verse (5,2), Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are mapped into the theory of Guṇa, that is qualities, psyche and innate tendencies the text describes can be found in all living beings.^[26][27] This chapter of the Maitri Upanishad asserts that the universe emerged from darkness (tamas), first as passion characterized by innate quality (rajas), which then refined and differentiated into purity and goodness (sattvas).^[25][26] Of these three qualities, rajas is then mapped to Brahma, as follows:^[28]

Now then, that part of him which belongs to tamas, that, O students of sacred knowledge (Brahmacharis), is this Shiva.
That part of him which belongs to rajas, that O students of sacred knowledge, is this Brahma.
That part of him which belongs to sattvas, that O students of sacred knowledge, is this Vishnu.
Verily, that One became threefold, became eightfold, elevenfold, twelvefold, into universal fold.
This being entered all beings, it became the overlord of all beings.
That is the Atman (Soul) within and without – yea, within and without!

— Maitri Upanishad 5.2, ^[25][26]

While the Maitri Upanishad maps Brahma with one of the elements of guṇa theory of Hinduism, the text does not depict him as one of the trifunctional elements of the Hindu Tridevas idea found in later Puranic literature.^[29]

During the post-Vedic period, Brahma was a prominent god and his sect existed during 2nd century CE to 6th century CE. The early texts like Brahmanda Purana describe that there was nothing, but an universal ocean. From which, a golden egg, called Hiranyagarbha, emerged. The egg broke open and Brahma, who had created himself within it, came into existence (thus gaining the name Svayambhu). Then, he created the universe, the earth and other things. He also created deities, people, other deities, organisms, other organisms to populate and live on his creation.^[31][32][7] However by the 7th century CE, Brahma lost his importance. Various Puranic legends mention various reasons for his downfall from popularity. For example, according to the Shaiva Puranas, Shiva cursed Brahma to be not worshipped for his deceitfulness and blessed Vishnu to be worshipped for his honesty after he cheated both of them during a competition for testing their superiority, in which Vishnu tried to but couldn't go to the bottom of the giant fire pillar which was Shiva because it occupied the entire universe while Brahma lied that he had reached its top when he couldn't go there but tried to do to it because it occupied the entire universe but Brahma told it in order to claim his superiority over Vishnu to Shiva.^[33] Historians believe that some of the major reasons of Brahma's downfall were the rise of Vaishnavism and Shaivism, replacement of him with Devi in Smartism, the frequent attacks by Buddhists, Jains, Hindus who were Vaishnavas, Shaivas, Smartas, other Hindu deities's devotees.^[7][32]

The post-Vedic texts of Hinduism offer multiple theories of cosmogony, many involving the Brahma. These include Sarga (primary creation of universe) and Visarga (secondary creation), ideas related to the Indian thought that there are two levels of reality, one primary that is unchanging (metaphysical) and other secondary that is always changing (empirical), and that all observed reality of the latter is in an endlessly repeating cycle of existence, that cosmos and life we experience is continually created, evolved, dissolved and then re-created.^[34] The primary creatos are extensively discussed in Vedic cosmogonies with names of Purusha, Prakrti, Deva, Devi, Brahman, Parabrahman and is different gods and goddesses who have these terms used for them as the primary creators (often Vishnu, Shiva, Devi in post-Vedic texts),^[34][35] while the Vedic and post-Vedic texts name different gods and goddesses as secondary creators (often Brahma in post-Vedic texts), and in some cases a different god or goddess is the secondary creator at the start of each cosmic cycle (kalpa, that is aeon).^[12][34]

Brahma is a "secondary creator" as described in the Mahabharata and Puranas, and among the most studied and described creator deities in Hinduism.^[36][37][38] Vishnu-focussed Puranas describe Brahma and Shiva to be born from a lotus and a fire emerging from the navel and forehead of the god Vishnu respectively.^[39][40]Shiva-focussed Puranas describe Brahma and Vishnu be born from the right and left sides of the waist of Shiva. Brahma-focussed Puranas describe that Brahma created Shiva and Vishnu from his left and right sides of his waist, or Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma creating each other cyclically in different aeons (kalpa).^[12][41] Yet others say that Devi created Brahma from her powers throughout her body,^[42] and these texts then go on to state that Brahma is a secondary creator of the world working respectively on all of their behalf.^[42][43] Brahma creates all the forms in the universe, but not the primordial universe itself.^[30] Thus in most Puranic texts, Brahma's creative activity depends on the presence and power of a higher god or goddess.^[44] Further, the medieval era texts of these major theistic traditions of Hinduism assert that the saguna (representation with face and attributes)^[45] Brahma is Vishnu,^[46] Shiva,^[47] Devi^[48] respectively.

In the post-Vedic Puranic literature,^[49] Brahma creates but neither preserves nor destroys anything. He is envisioned in some Hindu texts to have emerged from the metaphysical Brahman along with Vishnu (preserver), Shiva (destroyer), Indra, all the total other gods, matter and other beings. In theistic schools of Hinduism where deity Brahma is described as part of its cosmology, he is a mortal like all the Hindu gods and dissolves into the abstract immortal Brahman when the universe ends, then a new cosmic cycle (kalpa) restarts with all of them emerging from it immediately then.^[49][50]

In the Bhagavata Purana, Brahma is portrayed several times as the one who rises from the Causal Ocean.^[51] Brahma, states this Purana, emerges at the moment when time and universe is born, inside a lotus rooted in the navel of Vishnu along with Shiva who emerges from a fire rooted in Vishnu's forehead (the god Hari, whose praise is the primary focus in this Purana). The scriptures assert that Brahma and Shiva are drowsy, errs, are temporarily incompetent as they puts together the universe.^[51] They then becomes aware of their confusion and drowsiness, meditates as an ascetic, then he along with Shiva realizes Vishnu in his mind, sees the beginning and end of the universe, and then his creative powers are revived. Brahma and Shiva, states Bhagavata Purana, thereafter combine Prakriti (nature, matter) and Purusha (spirit, soul) to create a dazzling variety of living creatures, and tempest of causal nexus together .^[51] The Bhagavata Purana thus attributes the creation of Maya to Brahma along with Shiva, wherein they creates for the sake of creation, imbuing everything with both the good and the evil, the material and the spiritual, a beginning and an end.^[52]

The Puranas describe Brahma as the god creating time and the universe. They correlate human time to Brahma's time, such as a mahākalpa being a large cosmic period, correlating to one day and one night in Brahma's existence.^[44]

The stories about Brahma in various Puranas are diverse and inconsistent. In Skanda Purana, for example, the goddesses Parvati and Lakshmi are both called as Devi and they are called as the "mothers of the universe", and they is credited with creating Brahma and Sarasvati, all the total other gods and goddesses, the three worlds with their husbands, Vishnu and Shiva. They are the ones, states Skanda Purana, who combined the three Gunas - Sattvas, Rajas, Tamas - into matter (Prakrti) to create the empirically observed world with them here also now.^[53]

The Vedic discussion of Brahma as a Rajas-quality god expands in the Puranic and Tantric literature. However, these texts state that his wife Sarasvati has Sattvas (quality of balance, harmony, goodness, purity, holisticness, constructive, creative, positive, peaceful, virtuous), thus complementing Brahma's Rajas (quality of passion, activity, neither good nor bad and sometimes either, action qua action, individualizing, driven, dynamic).^[54][55][56]

Left: 17th century CE painting of four-headed Brahma as an aged man, holding manuscript (Vedas), a ladle and a kamandalu; Right: 6th century CE Brahma in Badami cave temples holding a writing equipment, ladle, and mala.

Brahma is traditionally depicted with four faces and four arms and is red coloured.^[57] Each face of his points to a cardinal direction. His hands hold no weapons, but rather, the symbols of knowledge and creation. In one hand, he holds the sacred texts of the Vedas, in the other hand, he holds the mala (rosary beads) symbolizing time, in the another hand, he holds a shruka — a ladle symbolizing the means to feed the sacrificial fire with ghee, and in the an another hand, he holds a kamandalu — a pot with water symbolizing the means where all creation emits from, the primordial ocean.^[58][59] His four mouths are credited with creating the four Vedas.^[4] He is often depicted with a white beard, implying his sage-like experience. He sits on lotus, dressed in white clothes, with his vehicle (vahana) – hamsa, a swan – nearby.^[57][60]

The chapter 51 of the Manasara-Silpasastra, an ancient design manual in Sanskrit for making murtis and temples, states that a Brahma statue should be gold in color.^[61] The text recommends that the statue have four faces and four arms, have jata-mukuta-mandita (matted and plaited hair of an ascetic) on his head, and wear a diadem (crown).^[61] Two of his hands should be in refuge granting and gift giving mudra, while he should be shown with kundika (water pot), akshamala (rosary), a small and a large shrukas (laddles used in yajna ceremonies for pouring ghee in sacrificial fires).^[61] The text details the different proportions of the murti, describes the ornaments, and suggests that the idol wear chira (bark strip) as his lower garment, either be alone or be accompanied with goddess Sarasvati. Brahma is associated largely with the Vedic culture of yajna and knowledge. In some Vedic yajna, Brahma is summoned in the ritual to reside and supervise the ritual in the form of Prajapati.

Brahma's wife is the goddess Sarasvati.^[62][63] She is considered to be "the embodiment of his power, the instrument of creation and the energy that drives his actions".

Very few temples in India are primarily dedicated to Brahma and his worship.^[16] The most prominent Hindu temple for Brahma is the Brahma Temple, Pushkar.^[17] Other temples include a temple in Asotra village, Balotra taluka of Rajasthan's Barmer district known as Kheteshwar Brahmadham Tirtha.

Brahma is also worshipped in temple complexes dedicated to the Tridevas: Thanumalayan Temple, Uthamar Kovil, Ponmeri Shiva Temple, in Tirunavaya, the Thripaya Trimurti Temple and Mithrananthapuram Trimurti Temple. In Tamil Nadu, Brahma temples exist in the temple town of Kumbakonam, in Kodumudi and within the Brahmapureeswarar Temple in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu.

There is a temple dedicated to Brahma in the temple town of Srikalahasti near Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. A Brahma temple exists in Chebrolu, Andhra Pradesh, and a seven feet tall statue of Brahma having four heads is kept in a Brahma temple at Bengaluru, Karnataka. In the coastal state of Goa, a shrine belonging to the fifth century, in the small and remote village of Carambolim, Sattari Taluka in the northeast region of the state is found.

A famous statue of Brahma exists at his Brahma temple in Mangalwedha, 52 km from the Solapur, Maharashtra and it is close to Sopara near Mumbai. There is a 12th-century CE temple dedicated to him in Khedbrahma, Gujarat and also a Brahma Kuti Temple in Kanpur. Temples of Brahma also exist in Khokhan, Annamputhur, Hosur.

1: The four-faced Brahma (Phra Phrom) statue, Erawan Shrine, Thailand
2: 12th-century Brahma with missing book and water pot, Cambodia
3: 9th-century Brahma in Prambanan temple, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

A shrine to Brahma can be found in Cambodia's Angkor Wat, directly opposite to a shrine to Shiva and both these shrines are directly adjacent to the main shrine of Vishnu. The temple is mainly dedicated to Vishnu but Brahma and Shiva feature in it also there. One of the three largest temples in the 9th-century CE Prambanan temples complex in Yogyakarta, central Java (Indonesia) is dedicated to Brahma, the other two to Shiva (largest of three) and Vishnu respectively.^[64] The temple dedicated to Brahma is on the southern side of Shiva temple and the Vishnu temple is situated on its northern side.

A statue of Brahma is present at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand and continues to be revered in modern times.^[18] The golden dome of the Government House of Thailand houses a statue of Phra Phrom (a Thai representation of Brahma). An early 18th-century CE painting at Wat Yai Suwannaram in Phetchaburi city of Thailand depicts Brahma.^[65]

The another name of the country Myanmar, Burma is derived from Brahma. In medieval texts, it is referred to as Brahma-desa.^[66][67]

Brahma is known in Chinese as Simianshen (四面神, "Four-Faced God") and Fantian (梵天), Tshangs pa in Tibetan and Bonten (梵天) in Japanese.^[68] In Chinese Buddhism, he is regarded as one of the Twenty Devas (二十諸天 Èrshí Zhūtiān) or the Twenty-Four Devas (二十四諸天 Èrshísì Zhūtiān), a group of protective dharmapalas.^[69]

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• Brahma at Encyclopædia Britannica
• Hinduism - Brahma And The Trimurti
• Hindu Brahma in Thai Literature - Maneepin Phromsuthirak