Trimurti

Trimurti or the Hindu Trinity (triad of Gods), comprising Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the Preserver; and Shiva, the Destroyer, proceeded from the world-egg deposited by the supreme First Cause.

Brahma, the creator, is the senior most member of the trinity and the supreme eternal deity. Brahma is said to have grown in a lotus out of the navels of the sleeping Vishnu. The light and dark of the days are attributed to the activities of Brahma. In order to create the world and the human race, Brahma made a female form out of his own self. This female form was known as Gayatri. Brahma has four heads and the four Vedas (Hindu scripture) are said to have sprung from his heads.

Vishnu is a major god of the Hindu Pantheon. He is regarded as the preserver of the Universe and his consort is Lakshmi. Vishnu is portrayed as blue or black skinned and has four arms. He has a thousand names and their repetition is an act of devotion. In the ancient Vedas, the sacred literature of the Aryans, Vishnu is ranked among the lesser gods. With the development and growth of this literature Vishnu is raised to prominence and becomes the second god of the Trimurti. The concept of Vishnu as the preserver of the universe came much later in the history of Hinduism. It has its roots in two beliefs: men attain salvation by following predetermined paths of duty, and that powers of good and evil (gods and demons) are in contestation for domination over the world. When these powers are upset and the equilibrium disturbed, then Lord Vishnu descends to earth, in one of his Ten Incarnations (Dasavatar), to equalise the powers and bring back the equipoise. Of the ten Incarnations, Nine descents are said to have already occurred, the tenth is yet to come.

Avatars of Vishnu: Firstly, Matsya, which appeared as a fish, to the good king Satyavrata and his family, and seven sages and their families who escaped the terrible flood which deluged the world, drowning all its wickedness. The whole incident mirrors the Great Flood of Christian myth. Like Noah, Satyavrata escaped the alluvion in a great ark, filled with the beasts of the earth, and the birds of the sky. The second Avatar, Kurma, appeared as a tortoise, supporting Mount Mandara on his back, while the gods churned the sea for the divine nectar. Varaha, the third Avatar, appeared as a boar, to save the Earth when it had been drowned a second time. The boar went into the sea and fished the Earth out on its tusks. Narasinha (Nar i.e. man + Sinha i.e. lion) was the fourth, manifesting himself as a man-lion, to save the world from a monarch who, for his asceticisms, had been endowed with universal dominion by the gods. The subsequent Avatars were Baman, a dwarf, then Ram, hero of the Ramayan, then Krishna himself. Buddha is another Avatar of Vishnu. The tenth avatar is to be called Kalki Avatara. He will appear armed with a scimitar, riding on a white horse, and he will end the present age. After that, a whole new world will be created.

The third of the Hindu trinity of Gods or Trimurti, is the Destroyer Shiva, also known as Maheshwar. Shiva is depicted as white, with a dark-blue throat, with several arms and three eyes. He carries a trident and rides a white bull. His consort is Parvati (mother goddess). He is the fearsome naked deity accompanied by a hideous train of demons and ghosts, girdled by a serpent and a necklace of human skulls. In destruction lies the germ of new birth. Shiva - the divine creator, performs his intoxicating dance of origin, destroys all that is old and dying, and creates life afresh. As an auspicious power of creation and regeneration, he is also symbolised by and worshipped as the 'Linga' or phallus.