Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

RELIGIONS

THE HINDU PANTHEON

Brahma is the supreme soul of the universe from which all things emanate and to which all things return. This supreme soul receives no worship but it is the object of abstract meditation by sages. Brahma is the first member of the Hindu trinity — the creator of the universe. He sprang from the mundane egg deposited by the Supreme first cause. (According to the earlier teaching of the Vedas, Prajapati, the lord of creatures, was the creator). When Brahma has created the world, it remains unaltered for one of his days, a period of 2,160,000,000 years. The world is then consumed by fire but the sages, gods and elements survive. His name is invoked in religious services but he is not worshipped. His consort is Saraswati, goddess of learning, also called Brahmi. His vehicle is a swan or goose. Vishnu, the preserver, is the second god of the Hindu trinity. The worshippers of Vishnu recognise in him the supreme being from which all things emanate. In the Varaha Purana, as he sleeps on the serpent Shesha in the primeval ocean a lotus springs from his navel and in the middle of this lotus Brahma who creates the world appears. Once the world is created Vishnu awakes to rule in his heaven, Vaikuntha. He is depicted as a man of dark blue colour with four arms: in one hand he holds a club, in another a shell, in the third a chakra or discus, with which he slays his enemies, and in the fourth a lotus. He rides upon the bird Garuda and is dressed in yellow robes. On his right hand is seated his consort, Lakshmi. THE AVATAARS Vishnu has assumed ten incarnations or avatars (descents) to save the world from total destruction. They are: 1) The Fish : Vishnu took the form of a fish when the earth was overwhelmed by a deluge. He warned the seventh Manu and progenitor of the human race, of the coming danger and told him to build a ship. When the flood came Manu fastened the ship to a horn on the head of the fish and was conducted by it to safety. 2) The Tortoise : Vishnu became a tortoise and dived to the bottom of the cosmic ocean to retrieve the divine nectar (amrit) which had been lost in the flood. On his back the gods placed Mount Mandera and churned the ocean by twisting the divine snake around the mountain and twirling the mountain by pulling the snake. From the ocean emerged the nectariamrit). 3) The boar : When the demon Hiranyakasipu cast the earth into the depths of the cosmic ocean, Vishnu became an enormous boar and raised the earth on his tusk, 4) The Man-Lion (Narasimha) : The tyrant Hiranyakasipu had obtained a boon from Brahma that he would not be killed by man or beast. He persecuted everybody including his own son, Prahlada, who was a devotee of Vishnu. Taunting Prahlada, the tyrant struck a stone pillar demand- ing to know whether Vishnu was present in it. Vishnu emerged from the pillar as Nara-simha, half-man and half- lion, and killed Hiranyakasipu. 5) The Dwarf (Vamana): A demon king called Bali had by his de- votions and austerities gained dominion over the three worlds, depriving the gods of their power. Vishnu assumed the form of a dwarf, appeared before Bali and sought as a boon as much space as he could cover in three steps. When the boon was

THE VEDIC GODS The pastoral Aryans worshipped the forces of nature which they invested with divinity. Agni, the god of fire, is one of the most promi- nent deities of the Aryans. Surya and Savitri are the two names by which the sun is addressed in the Vedic hymns. Savitri refers to the sun when invisible, Surya when it is visible. It is to the sun that the Gayatri, the most sacred hymn of the Vedas, is addressed at its rising by every devout Brahmin. Soma is the god who represents and animates the juice of the soma plant which was drunk only at sacrifices and produced hallucinatory and exhilarating effects. Indra was the greatest god of the Aryans. He was their war god and also their weather god. He destroyed their enemies with the thunder bolt which he carried in his hand. He was associated with thunder and lightning. As lord of the atmosphere he governed the weather and is bestower of rain - More hymns are addressed to Indra than to any other deity in the Vedas with the exception of rain. Vayu is the god of the winds. He is often associated with Indra and rides in the same car with him, Indra being the charioteer. When Soma was brought to the gods, a dispute arose as to who should have the first draught. This was decided by a race. Vayu was nearing the winning post first when Indra suggested a compromise: both should come in together and Vayu should give him a quarter of the divine draught. Vayu agreed to this and so the juice was shared between them. In later years, the name Soma was given to the moon since the moon has the nature of Soma. Second only to Indra among the Aryan gods was Varuna, a per- sonification of the sky, the maker and upholder of heaven and earth. He is all-knowing and he knows what goes on in the hearts of men. He was depicted as sitting in a palace in the heavens with the other gods around him. In the later mythology Varuna lost some of hrs importance and was regarded as the god of the ocean. Yama, lord of the dead, was the first of mortals who died and leads the way for those who depart this life. In the Rig-Veda Yama is nowhere represented, as he is in later mythology, as having anything to do with the punishment of the wicked. The kingdom over which Yama rules is a bright place where the virtuous dwell. He grants bright homes to the pious who dwell with him. Rudra meaning "howler, roarer or terrible" is the god of storms. He is both a destructive deity who brings diseases upon men and cattle as well as a beneficent deity, guardian of healing herbs. Rudra later developed into the god Shiva. THE PURANIC DEITIES The chief sources of the modem mythology of Hinduism are the two great epics - the Ramayana and Mahabharata - and the Puranas ("Ancient stories", eighteen in number). The epics treat of the legendary actions of gods and heroes as mortal men while the Puranas celebrate the powers and works of gods. The most important of the Puranas are the Vayu, Vishnu, Agni, Bhavishya and Bhagavata Puranas. Each Purana is devoted to the praise of some specfied deity who is declared to be supreme while the others are described as incarnations. Unlike the Vedas which could be read only by the Brahmins, the Epics and Puranas could be read by everyone.