Brahma

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Brahma
Creator of the Universe
God of Creation, Knowledge, and the
Oṃ vedātmanāya vidmahe hiraṇyagarbhāya
dhīmahī tan no brahmā pracodayāt' ॐ ब्रह्मणे नम:
Om Brahmane Namah
Weapon
Vashishtha

Brahma (

Puranas, he created himself in a golden embryo known as the Hiranyagarbha
.

Brahma is frequently identified with the Vedic god Prajapati.[9] During the post-Vedic period, Brahma was a prominent deity and his sect existed; however, by the 7th century, he had lost his significance. He was also overshadowed by other major deities like Vishnu, Shiva, and Mahadevi[10] and demoted to the role of a secondary creator, who was created by the major deities.[11][12][13]

Brahma is commonly depicted as a red or golden-

Manasaputra.[15][16]

In contemporary Hinduism, Brahma does not enjoy popular worship and has substantially less importance than the other two members of the Trimurti. Brahma is revered in the ancient texts, yet rarely worshipped as a primary deity in India, owing to the absence of any significant sect dedicated to his reverence.[17] Few temples dedicated to him exist in India, the most famous being the Brahma Temple, Pushkar in Rajasthan.[18] Some Brahma temples are found outside India, such as at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, which in turn has found immense popularity within the Thai Buddhist community.[19]

Origin and meaning

The origins of the term brahmā are uncertain, partly 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 deity Brahmā is that the former is a genderless abstract metaphysical concept in Hinduism,[20] while the latter is one of the many masculine gods in Hindu tradition.[21] The spiritual concept of brahman is quite old and some scholars suggest that the deity Brahma may have emerged as a personification and visible icon of the impersonal universal principle of brahman.[22] The existence of a distinct deity named Brahma is evidenced in late Vedic texts.[22]

Grammatically, the nominal stem Brahma- has two distinct forms: the

masculine noun brahmán, whose nominative singular form is brahmā (ब्रह्मा). The former, the neuter form, has a generalized and abstract meaning[23]
while the latter, the masculine form, is used as the proper name of the deity Brahma.

However, Brahman was sometimes used as a synonym for Brahma's name during the time the Mahabharata was written.[24]

Literature and legends

Vedic literature

An early depiction of Brahma, on the Bimaran casket, early 1st century CE. British Museum.[25][26]
Chennakesava Temple, Somanathapura; Right: Brahma at a 6th/7th-century 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 the late 1st millennium BCE. Brahma is first discussed in verse 5,1, also called the Kutsayana Hymn, and then expounded in verse 5,2.[27]

Sculpture of Brahma in Prambanan, Java Indonesia

In the pantheistic Kutsayana Hymn,[27] 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 and various alternate manifestations of Brahman, as follows, "Thou art Brahma, thou art Vishnu, thou art Rudra (Shiva), thou art Agni, Varuna, Vayu, Indra, thou art All."[27]

In verse (5,2), Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are mapped into the theory of

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 (sattva).[27][28] Of these three qualities, rajas are then mapped to Brahma, as follows:[30]

Now then, that part of him which belongs to tamas, that, O students of sacred knowledge (Brahmacharins), is this Rudra.
That part of him which belongs to rajas, that O students of sacred knowledge, is this Brahma.
That part of him which belongs to sattva, that O students of sacred knowledge, is this Vishnu.
Verily, that One became threefold, became eightfold, elevenfold, twelvefold, into infinite fold.
This Being (neuter) entered all beings, he became the overlord of all beings.
That is the

Atman
(Soul, Self) within and without – yea, within and without!

While the Maitri Upanishad maps Brahma with one of the elements of the guṇa theory of Hinduism, the text does not depict him as one of the trifunctional elements of the Hindu Trimurti idea found in later Puranic literature.[31]

Post-Vedic, Epics and Puranas

During the post-Vedic period, Brahma was a prominent deity and his sect existed during the 2nd to 6th century CE. Early texts like

Svayambhu). Then, he created the universe, the earth, and other things. He also created people to populate and live on his creation.[32][33][10]

However, by the 7th century, Brahma lost his importance. Historians believe that some of the major reasons for Brahma's downfall were the rise of Shaivism and Vaishnavism, their replacement of him with Shakti in the Smarta tradition and the frequent attacks by Buddhists, Jains, and even by Hindu followers of Vaishnavas and Shaivites.[10][33]

Puranic legends mention various reasons for his downfall. There are primarily two prominent versions of why Brahma lost his ground. The first version refers to the Shiva Purana, where Brahma and Vishnu argued about who was the greatest among them. While they debated, they saw a huge column of fire piercing through the sky. They decided to locate the source and extent of this column. Vishnu assumed the form of a boar and journeyed towards the netherworld and Brahma mounted a goose and travelled towards the heavens. Vishnu accepted his defeat, declaring that he had been unable to locate the source. However, Brahma recruited the ketaki flower as a false witness to support his lie that he had located the source. Shiva emerged from the fire in his bodily form and cut off one of Brahma's heads for his dishonesty, proclaiming that he would no longer receive worship. Pleased with Vishnu, Shiva offered him a high status and an active following dedicated to his worship.[34]

The post-Vedic texts of Hinduism offer multiple theories of cosmogony, many involving Brahma. These include Sarga (primary creation of the 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.[35] The primary creator is extensively discussed in Vedic cosmogonies with Brahman or Purusha or Devi among the terms used for the primary creator,[35][36] In contrast 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, aeon).[12][35]

Brahma is a "secondary creator" as described in the

kalpa).[12][42] Yet others suggest the goddess Devi created Brahma,[43] and these texts then state that Brahma is a secondary creator of the world working respectively on their behalf.[43][44] Brahma creates all the forms in the universe, but not the primordial universe itself.[45] Thus in most Puranic texts, Brahma's creative activity depends on the presence and power of a higher god.[46] Further, the medieval era texts of these major theistic traditions of Hinduism assert that the saguna (representation with face and attributes)[47] Brahma is Vishnu,[48] Shiva,[49] or Devi,[50]
respectively.

In the post-Vedic Puranic literature,[51] 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), all other deities, matter and other beings. In theistic schools of Hinduism where the deity Brahma is described as part of its cosmology, he is a mortal like all deities and dissolves into the abstract immortal Brahman when the universe ends, A new cosmic cycle (kalpa) restarts.[51][52]

Sculpture of Brahma flanked by Yama and Chitragupta, Tamil Nadu, 10th century

In the

Maya to Brahma,[citation needed] wherein he 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.[54]

The Puranas describe Brahma as the deity creating time.[

mahākalpa being a large cosmic period, correlating to one day and one night in Brahma's existence.[46][citation needed
]

The stories about Brahma in various Puranas are diverse and inconsistent. In Skanda Purana, for example, goddess Parvati is called the "mother of the universe", and she is credited with creating Brahma, gods, and the three worlds. She is the one, states Skanda Purana, who combined the three Gunas - Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas - into matter (Prakrti) to create the empirically observed world.[55]

The Vedic discussion of Brahma as a Rajas-quality god expands in the Puranic and Tantric literature. However, these texts state that his wife Saraswati has Sattva (quality of balance, harmony, goodness, purity, holistic, 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).[56][57][58]

Sangam literature

Silappathikaram also has several mentions of Brahma as the four-faced god.[62]

Iconography

Left: 19th century painting of four-headed Brahma as an aged man, holding lotus, manuscript (Vedas) and a ladle; Right: 6th century Brahma in Badami cave temples holding a writing equipment, ladle, and mala.

Brahma is traditionally depicted with four faces and four arms.[63] Each face of his points to a cardinal direction. His hands hold no weapons, rather symbols of knowledge and creation. In one hand he holds the sacred texts of Vedas, in second he holds mala symbolizing time, in third he holds a sruva or shrukladle types symbolizing means to feed sacrificial fire, and in fourth a kamandalu – utensil with water symbolizing the means where all creation emits from.[64][65] His four mouths are credited with creating the four Vedas.[7] He is often depicted with a white beard, implying his sage-like experience. He sits on lotus, dressed in white (or red, pink), with his vehicle (vahana) – hansa, a swan or goose – nearby.[63][66]

Chapter 51 of Manasara-Silpasastra, an ancient design manual in Sanskrit for making Murti and temples, states that a Brahma statue should be golden in color.[67] The text recommends that the statue have four faces and four arms, have jata-mukuta-mandita (matted hair of an ascetic), and wear a diadem (crown).[67] Two of his hands should be in refuge granting and gift giving mudra, while he should be shown with kundika (water pot), akshamala (rosary), and a small and a large sruk-sruva (laddles used in yajna ceremonies).[67] The text details the different proportions of the murti, describes the ornaments, and suggests that the idol wear chira (bark strip) as lower garment, and either be alone or be accompanied with goddess Saraswati. 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 Saraswati.[68][69] She is considered to be "the embodiment of his power, the instrument of creation and the energy that drives his actions".

Epochs of Brahma

Brahma, despite being believed to be the creator, is considered mortal according to scriptures. The Age of Brahma, according to Hindu cosmology, spans vast epochs of time. A kalpa is a day of Brahmā, and one day of Brahmā consists of a thousand cycles of four yugas, or ages: Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. These four yugas, rotating a thousand times, comprise one day of Brahmā, and the same number comprise one night. Brahmā lives one hundred of such "years" and then dies. These "hundred years" total 311 trillion 40 billion (311,040,000,000,000) earth years. Brahma's lifespan is 311.04 trillion solar years, and we are in the 28th Kali Yuga of the 51st year of the current Brahma's life. [70][71]

Worship

India

Brahma Temple in Pushkar, Rajasthan

Very few temples in India are primarily dedicated to Brahma and his worship.[17] The most prominent Hindu temple for Brahma is the Brahma Temple, Pushkar.[18] Others include:[4]

12th century statue of Brahma in Chhinch, Banswara, Rajasthan

Brahma is also worshipped in temple complexes dedicated to the Trimurti. Some of these are: Thanumalayan Temple, Sri Purushothaman Temple, Ponmeri Shiva Temple, Thripaya Trimurti Temple, Mithrananthapuram Trimurti Temple, Kodumudi Magudeswarar Temple, Brahmapureeswarar Temple

In Tamil Nadu, there is also a shrine for Brahma in Kandiyoor Mahadeva Temple in a rare posture along with his consort Goddess

Saraswathi.[citation needed
]

There is a temple dedicated to Brahma in the temple town of Srikalahasti near Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. There is a Chaturmukha Brahma temple in Chebrolu, Andhra Pradesh, and a seven feet height of Chatrumukha (Four Faces) Brahma temple at Bangalore, 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.[citation needed]

A famous icon of Brahma exists at

Sopara near Mumbai. Temples exist in Khokhan, Annamputhur and Hosur
.

Southeast and East Asia

Left: The four-faced Brahma (Phra Phrom) statue, Erawan Shrine, Thailand
Center: 12th-century Brahma with missing book and water pot, Cambodia
Right: 9th-century Brahma Sculpture in Prambanan Java, Indonesia

A shrine of Brahma can be found in Cambodia's Angkor Wat. One of the three largest temples in the 9th-century Prambanan temples complex in Yogyakarta, central Java (Indonesia) is dedicated to Brahma, the other two to Shiva (largest of three) and Vishnu respectively.[72] The temple dedicated to Brahma is on the southern side of Śiva temple.

A statue of Brahma is present at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand and continues to be revered in modern times.[19] The golden dome of the Government House of Thailand houses a statue of Phra Phrom (Thai representation of Brahma). An early 18th-century painting at Wat Yai Suwannaram in Phetchaburi city of Thailand depicts Brahma.[73]

The name of the country Burma may be derived from Brahma. In medieval texts, it is referred to as Brahma-desa.[74][75]

Brahma in Buddhism is known in Chinese as Simianshen (四面神, "Four-Faced God"), Simianfo (四面佛, "Four-Faced Buddha") or Fantian (梵天), Tshangs pa (ཚངས་པ) in Tibetan, Bonten (梵天) in Japanese,[76] and Beomcheon (범천,梵天) in Korean.[77] 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.[78]

Hindus in Indonesia still have a high regard for Brahma (Indonesian and Javanese: Batara Brahma or Sanghyang Brahma). In Prambanan there is a special temple made for Brahma, side by side with Vishnu, and in Bali there is Andakasa Temple dedicated to Brahma.[79]

In the past, although not as popular as Vishnu and Shiva, the name Brahma appeared on several occasions. In the legend that developed in East Java about Ken Arok, for example, Brahma is believed to be the biological father of Ken Arok. It is said that Brahma was fascinated by the beauty of Ken Arok's mother, Ken Endok and made her a lover. From this relationship was born Ken Arok. The name Brahma is also used as the name of a mountain in the Tengger Mountains range, namely Mount Bromo. Mount Bromo is believed to be derived from the word Brahma and there was once a sect that believed that Brahmaloka – the universe where Brahma resided – was connected to Mount Bromo.

In the

Bathara Guru (Shiva). The figure of Brahma in Javanese wayang is fused and mixed with the figure of Agni.[80]

See also


References

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  5. ^ N.A (1960). THE VAYU PURANA PART. 1. MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI. pp. 174 (26.31).
  6. ., Quote: "Brahma, a creator god, received the basics of his mythological history from Purusha. During the Brahmanic period, the Hindu Trimurti was represented by Brahma with his attribute of creation, Shiva with his attribute of destruction and Vishnu with his attribute of preservation."
  7. ^ .
  8. .
  9. Atman
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  16. , page 258, Quote: "When Brahma is acknowledged as the supreme god, it was said that Kama sprang from his heart."
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  23. ^ Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.). India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 79.
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  26. ^ "Standing Buddha in the arched compartment, flanked by figures of Brahma and Indra standing in similar compartments, detail of the side of Bimaran gold casket" in Agrawala, Prithvi Kumar (1977). Early Indian Bronzes. Prithvi Prakashan. p. 152.
  27. ^ a b c d e Hume, Robert Ernest (1921), The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pp. 422–424
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  30. , pages 344-346
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  54. ^ Richard Anderson (1967), Hindu Myths in Mallarmé: Un Coup de Dés, Comparative Literature, Vol. 19, No. 1, page 31-33
  55. ^ Nicholas Gier (1998), The Yogi and the Goddess, International Journal of Hindu Studies, Vol. 1, No. 2, pages 279-280
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  57. ^ Alban Widgery (1930), The principles of Hindu Ethics, International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 40, No. 2, pages 234-237
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  60. ^ "Poem: Purananuru - Part 15 by George L. III Hart".
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  71. . Paraphrased: Deva day equals solar year. Deva lifespan (36,000 solar years) equals 100 360-day years, each 12 months. Mahayuga equals 12,000 Deva (divine) years (4,320,000 solar years), and is divided into 10 charnas consisting of four Yugas: Satya Yuga (4 charnas of 1,728,000 solar years), Treta Yuga (3 charnas of 1,296,000 solar years), Dvapara Yuga (2 charnas of 864,000 solar years), and Kali Yuga (1 charna of 432,000 solar years). Manvantara equals 71 Mahayugas (306,720,000 solar years). Kalpa (day of Brahma) equals an Adi Sandhya, 14 Manvantaras, and 14 Sandhya Kalas, where 1st Manvantara preceded by Adi Sandhya and each Manvantara followed by Sandhya Kala, each Sandhya lasting same duration as Satya yuga (1,728,000 solar years), during which the entire earth is submerged in water. Day of Brahma equals 1,000 Mahayugas, the same length for a night of Brahma (Bhagavad-gita 8.17). Brahma lifespan (311.04 trillion solar years) equals 100 360-day years, each 12 months. Parardha is 50 Brahma years and we are in the 2nd half of his life. After 100 years of Brahma, the universe starts with a new Brahma. We are currently in the 28th Kali yuga of the first day of the 51st year of the second Parardha in the reign of the 7th (Vaivasvata) Manu. This is the 51st year of the present Brahma and so about 155 trillion years have elapsed. The current Kali Yuga (Iron Age) began at midnight on 17/18 February 3102 BC in the proleptic Julian calendar.
  72. , page 692
  73. , pages 164-165
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  77. ^ Korean Buddhist Sculpture: Art and Truth, Woo bang Kang
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  79. ^ "Menyingkap Misteri Dewa Brahma Jarang Dipuja (Indonesian)", Baliexpress
  80. ^ "Dewa Brahma", GamaBali, archived from the original on 24 June 2021, retrieved 30 June 2021

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