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Three Gods of Hinduism

Three Gods of Hinduism

Trinity God, Sanskrit original meaning “has three forms“. The Trinity of Hinduism, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva represent the various cosmic functions of the gods. Vishnu symbolizes protection, Shiva symbolizes destruction, and Brahma is the balancer of these two opposing principles.

Brahma

Brahma, the Hindu god of creation, is the incarnation of the abstract concept of Upanishads philosophy “ultimate reality” or “universal spirit”—–“Brahma”. The predecessor of Brahma is the creator of Vedic mythology. Legend has it that Brahma was hatched from a cosmic golden egg floating in a chaotic ocean, or from a lotus flower that grew out of Vishnu’s navel, and then he began to create all things in the world.

In Hindu statues, Brahma is usually dressed as a Brahmin priest, with four sides and four arms, holding the Vedas, sitting on a lotus or riding a swan. Brahma lives in Milu Mountain, and the eloquent goddess Sarasvati he created is his concubine. Brahma was originally the supreme chief deity of Brahmanism. Later, after the rise of Buddhism, he and Indra, the chief deity of the Vedas, were accepted as the guardian deities of Buddhism.

Buddhist interpretation: Brahma, transliterated Brahma, no Rama, Brahma. Free translation is pure, free from desire. Indian thought deified Brahman, the root of all things, as the creator god of Brahmanism and Hinduism. Together with Shiva and Vishnu, they are called the three gods of Brahmanism and Hinduism.

According to the Code of Manu, Brahma came from a golden womb (Brahma egg), with five heads, one of which was destroyed by Shiva, and the other four heads, with four hands, holding the Vedas, lotus, spoon, rosary or bowl. Buddhism lists it as the first Zen heaven in the realm of form. Generally divided into three types, namely Brahma (Brahma-pārişada), Brahma Futian (Brahma-purohita) and Great Brahman (Mahā-brahman), collectively referred to as Brahma. Among them, the Great Brahma Heavenly King rules the people of the Brahma congregation and the ministers of the Brahma auxiliaries.

Also commonly referred to as Brahma, most of them refer to the Great Brahma King, also known as Brahma King, called Corpse Rejection (Brahma Śikhin) or World Lord (Brahma Prajāpati).

According to ancient Indian legends, at the beginning of the robbery, he was born from the world of light and sound, and created all things. The Buddha once ascended to Tali Tian as his mother to teach, and when he descended into this world, the Brahma King served as the Buddha’s right flank, holding a white whisk. The Great Brahma Heavenly King is one and a half years long, and his life span is one and a half kalpas. The palace where he lives is called the Brahma Palace.

The esoteric religion lists it as one of the twelve days, guarding the top. The statue of Brahma in Esoteric Buddhism has four sides and four arms, holding a lotus flower and a few beads in the right hand, and a military holding in the left hand, making the Om character seal, riding a seven-geese carriage, and wearing a hair bun crown. And the practice of making offerings to the great Brahma is called the Brahma offering. [Volume 10 of Dazhidu Lun, 98th volume of Dabiposha Lun, 5th volume of the Great Nikkei, 1st volume of Zhong Lun, 4th volume of the Great Tang Western Regions]

Shiva

Siva, the god of destruction in Hinduism, was formerly the god of reproduction “Beast Lord” in the age of the Indus civilization and Rudra, the god of the Vedic storm. Weird and grotesque different appearances, mainly Linga, terror, gentleness, superman, three faces, dance king, the Lord of Liga, and the Lord of Half-girls are all in disguise. Linga (male root) is Shiva. The most basic symbol. One of the three gods of Hinduism.

The god of destruction, who also plays the role of creation, evolved from Rudra, the god of the Vedic era. There are his myths in the “Brahma” and “Upanishads”, the two epics and the Puranas. It is said that he has a great ability to subdue demons. The third eye on his forehead can spray divine fire that destroys everything. He once burned down three demon cities and the god of love who seduced him, so he was called the destroyer of the three demon cities. When the gods and Asuras churned the sea of ​​milk, he swallowed the poison that could destroy the world, and his neck was burnt to blue-black, so he was called the blue neck.

Hinduism believes that “destruction” has the meaning of “rebirth”, so the male reproductive linga is a symbol of his creativity and is worshipped by the sexists and Shiva sects. Shiva, the god of asceticism, practiced asceticism all year round in Jibasa Mountain in the Himalayas, and obtained the most profound knowledge and magical power through the most rigorous asceticism and the most thorough contemplation. He is also the god of dance, creating both rigid and soft dances, and is known as the king of dance. He is the commander-in-chief of demons and monsters, and all demons and monsters are subject to him.

His wife is the Goddess of Snow Mountain, and his two sons are Saiganda and Kunshan. The former is the commander-in-chief of the heavenly generals, and the latter is the head of the minor gods who serve Shiva. His image is depicted as 5 heads, 3 eyes and 4 hands, with three forks, conch, water jug, drum, etc. in his hands; he is dressed in animal skins, covered in gray, with a crescent moon on his head as decoration, and his hair is coiled into horns.

There is a symbol of the Ganges on it. It is said that the Ganges first fell on his head when it descended to earth and flowed to the earth in 7 ways, with a snake around his neck. The mount is a big white bull.

His story is scattered in various documents. His sect believers regard him as the highest god, and there are 8 incarnations of earth, water, fire, wind, air, sun, moon, and sacrifice. In addition to destruction, it can also create. Buddhist texts call him the Great Freedom Heaven, who lives at the top of the realm of form and is the lord of the three thousand realms.

Shiva is also full of self-sacrifice. When the goddess of the Ganges descended from the heavenly kingdom of snow-capped mountains, Shiva, in order to prevent the water from drowning all living beings, personally took the water with his head and let the Ganges flow through his tresses for thousands of years before flowing to the human world.

Shiva lives in Mount Kalashi (Mount Kalashi, the sacred mountain of Gang Rinpoche in Ali, Tibet, China), his ride is the bull Nandi, and his concubine is the snow mountain goddess Parvati. , also known as Uma (Uma, bright, beautiful). Shiva’s spouse originated from the mother goddess of the Indian aborigines, and like Shiva, it has the dual character of reproduction and destruction, showing the appearance of tenderness and terror.

The image of Parvati or Uma is the charming and gracious wife. Another image of Shiva’s consort, Durza, is the glamorous and murderous goddess of nemesis, who once killed the buffalo monster Shisha on behalf of the gods. There is also an image of Kali (Kali, the black goddess), with a ferocious face, who loves blood sacrifices, and is purely a terrifying god of death. Ganesh, the son of Shiva and Parvati, is the lovely Ganesha, and the other son, Skanda, is the terrifying god of war.

One of the most important and famous of all Hindu icons is this great Shiva Nataroja (King of Dance), the King of Dance or King of Dancers, which is closely associated with the Chola. Such statues were created in large numbers in the Chora era, and their manufacture in South India continued into the 12th century.

In Hindu statues, Shiva is usually dressed as a yogic ascetic. He is covered with gray, his hair is wrapped in a bun, he wears a crescent moon on his head, a long snake is wrapped around his neck, he is decorated with a skull and a pendant on his chest, and around his waist is a Tiger skin, four arms holding a trident, an axe, a tambourine, a club or a doe. He has a 3rd eye on his forehead, which can shoot fire and burn everything to ashes.

Legend has it that Kama, the god of love, disturbed Shiva when he was practicing asceticism. The fire sprayed from Shiva’s third eye burned the god of love to the bone, but the god of love did not die, but only lost his body, so it is said that love is intangible.

Shiva is represented as dancing the cosmic dance that creates and destroys the world. His hair fluttered wildly as he danced, to the rhythm of the hourglass snare drum held in his upper right hand. This rhythm is the sound of the heartbeat of the universe (Maya), produced through the good deeds of the dance of creation. The universe itself is represented as a halo surrounding the deity, the halo coming from the mouth of Mokaro’s reproduction on the base of the statue.

Complementing this moment of creation is the simultaneous destruction of the universe, symbolized by those flames that border the halo and a single flame held in the left hand of this god. This single flame makes everything into nothingness: precisely in balance with the drum of creation in the right hand of this god. The right hand at the bottom indicates that he wants to comfort his followers and prepare to make a reassuring and fearless gesture before blessing. Further confirmation of the blessing is the elephant gesture (gaja hasta) of the lower left hand.

This “flag” gesture consists of drooping fingers simulating an elephant trunk, here pointing to Zhen’s left foot, which bounces off the back of an ignorant dwarf. This symbolic gesture gives the believer hope of liberation from Maya’s suffering, while the right foot treads on the dwarf’s back with the full force of a dance. The gnome holds a poisonous cobra, and the same poisonous snake is worn like an ornament on Shiva’s blessed right arm.

Among many other meaningful details, a skull can be seen on the crown of the god’s tangled bun. There is also a crescent moon, which symbolizes Shiva’s phased presence in the universe and is always there even when hidden.

In his bun with the ashes of the deceased, Shiva takes over the Ganges, which descends from the sky – a small figure of the goddess of the Ganges stands in the hair on the right. She is a hybrid mermaid figure with a female upper body and a mokaro lower body. The symbolism is endless, and for Shiva followers the icon is a figurative revelation of the infinite mercy and cosmic power of the dancing god of creation and destruction.

Vishnu

Vishnu is the god with the highest status in the epic poems, holding the power to maintain the universe, and divides the power of the gods with Shiva. Vishnu and the goddess Jixiangtian live in the highest heaven, riding Garuda. It usually appears in the image of a ‘four-armed’ holding a round wheel, a shell, a stick, and a bow. It has a mild personality, and gives favors to devout believers, and often incarnates into various images to save the world in danger.

Vishnu has also translated into heaven and Visun. Vishnu, the god of protection of Hinduism, was originally one of the Vedic sun gods in the Vedic era, and was elevated to the main god of maintaining the order of the universe in the Hindu era, becoming one of the three major gods in India. Legend has it that Vishnu fell asleep on the serpent Ananta coiled like a bed and floated on the sea of ​​​​the universe.

At the beginning of a “kalpa” (equivalent to 4.32 billion human years) in the cycle of the universe, Vishnu woke up, and Brahma, who was born from a lotus flower growing out of his navel, began to create the world. , and at the end of the catastrophe Shiva destroys the world. Vishnu slept and woke up repeatedly, and the universe was constantly circulating and renewing. Vishnu in Vedic mythology is not a powerful god. But in Indian language, he is one of the three main gods, occupying a powerful position, and has derived countless myths.

In Hindu statues, Vishnu is usually dressed as a king, with a blue complexion, wearing precious stones, holy threads and thick garlands, with four arms holding conch, wheel treasure, fairy stick, lotus flower, divine bow or sword (his weapons sometimes use An anthropomorphic figure appears), sitting on a lotus or riding Garuda. There are four hands, holding the conch, the plate, the pestle and the lotus.

He also has a divine bow and a divine sword. He sometimes sat on a lotus, sometimes on a thousand-headed snake, sometimes on a roc bird. His wife appeared when the gods and Asuras churned the sea of ​​​​milk, and her name was auspicious goddess. Vishnu lived in the heavenly kingdom of Wekonta on the top of Milu Mountain, and the auspicious goddess Lakshmi and the earth goddess Bhumi were his concubines.

The story of Vishnu going down to earth to save the world is widely circulated in India and is a household name. Vishnu holds a Pharobe, a halo, a stick and a lotus, and the mount is a large bird called Garda. The thousand-headed Shesharon (or Anantalong) shelters it.

Vishnu grew a lotus flower on his navel, and Brahma (also one of the three main gods) was born from this to create a new world. The most notable feature of Vishnu is the myth of Avadana (quanhua or incarnation). There are four hands, holding the conch, the plate, the pestle and the lotus.