The Hindu Trinity (Trimurti)

     In the Aryan Vedic period, the deities of nature became the gods in all worship and rituals. But soon the idea of one Supreme God became established. In the Creation Hymn, the Nasadiya Hymn of the Rig Veda, the single primordial principle tat or that has been described. This points to the abstract, formless, transcendental, and all pervading principle of pure consciousness. It is a tribute to the genius of the ancient Hindu sages, that this concept of divine consciousness, which they presented more than five thousand years ago, has now become a key part of the philosophical discussions on religion and God all over the world.

      Common man then, however, as perhaps now, was not yet ready to understand the abstract God so easily. Hindu seers came forth with the idea of the Trinity of Gods, the Trimurti. Three Gods, with different faces, were projected, and each was mythological in origin. They were each given a human face for easy acceptance.
     The Trinity of Hindu Gods consists of Lord of Creation, Brahma; Lord of Preservation, Vishnu; and Lord of Dissolution, Shiva, who is also called Mahesh. In Hindu philosophy, however, this envisages one continuous chain of events. For example, the destruction of the morning is the creation of the evening, and the destruction of the evening is the creation of the night, and so on. Even death in Hindu thought, is merely an interlude from one event to another. Destruction or death is the dissolution, which is again followed by creation.

     Lord Brahma, the Lord of Creation, is also called the Lord of Progeny (Prajapati). He has four faces and four arms. The four faces represent the four Vedas. The four arms of Lord Brahma are symbolic of the four aspects of his inner personality: the mind (mana), the intellect (buddhi), the ego (ahamkara), and the divine consciousness (chitta). Lord Brahma uses the swan as his vehicle. The swan, or hamsa, as described in Hindu mythology, has the faculty to separate milk from water. Brahma is also considered as the source of all knowledge and as such, he is wedded to Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge. The role of Lord Brahma, however, has remained limited in Hindu faith.

     Lord Vishnu is the Lord of Preservation. Literally, Vishnu means “all-pervading.” Thus, the symbolic significance of the Divine as formless and transcendent is emphasized. Lord Vishnu is also projected in many forms. He is portrayed as a dark-blue youth, upright in position. He, too, is a god with four arms, representing omnipresence and omnipotence. One hand holds the conch (sankha), signifying creation; the second hand holds the discus (sudarshan chakra) to signify the universal mind; the third hand carries the mace (gada) to signify life force; and the fourth hand carries the lotus (padma) to signify the universe. Lord Vishnu is also portrayed in the reclining posture on the coils of the cosmic serpent, the shesa. A lotus emerges from his navel, from which Lord Brahma appears. Lord Vishnu is believed to be the transcendental Lord, who watches the universe in his own calmness and would manifest in the world repeatedly to restore righteousness (dharma) whenever called by his devotees.53
     Lord Vishnu’s consort is Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity.54 Lord Vishnu is also identified as Narayana, possibly originating from the pre-Vedic culture.55 Lord Vishnu in the Hindu pantheon is emblematic of complete evolution. He has been presented as taking ten incarnations. In each incarnation, he has acted as a savior of the world. The ten incarnations of Vishnu present an amazing account of the evolutionary phases in the Creation.
 The first incarnation of Vishnu is in the form of Matsya, a fish; he protected the sacred Vedas from being lost in the great deluge. In the second incarnation as Kurma, a tortoise, he held the universe in balance when the gods and demons began to churn the ocean to extract the nectar of immortality (amruta). In the third incarnation as Varaha, the boar, he killed the demon Hiranyaksha and saved the Earth from drowning in the ocean. In the fourth incarnation, Lord Vishnu came as the half-lion/half-man Narasimha and destroyed Hiranyakasipu to save the demon’s own son Prahlada, who believed in eternal god Narayana. In the fifth incarnation as the dwarf Vamana, he helped the gods, who were treated unjustly by king Bali. In the sixth incarnation as Lord Parshurama, he fought with the kings to save the Rishis. The incarnation of Parshurama indicates a caste war between the learned Brahmins and the warrior, or kshatriya communities. In the seventh incarnation as Lord Rama, he destroyed wicked Ravana, as described in the epic of Ramayana. In the eighth incarnation as Lord Krishna, he killed the evil and atrocious Kamsa and also guided the truthful Pandavas against unjust Kauravas in the battle of Mahabharata. In the ninth incarnation, he appeared as gentle and non-violent human being, full of wisdom, as Lord Buddha. He taught the technique of meditation and inner transformation of the mind to overcome the sorrow and evil of life. In the tenth incarnation, which is yet to come, he would be called Kalki and would again become the savior of the just and the righteous. He would ride on a white horse, representative of the indestructible hidden nature of things56 The Kalki legend is familiar and has repeated in one form or another in most cultures, such as Persian, Jewish, Christian, Tibetan, and many Central Asian cultures. Even Native Americans had their version in the legend of Kukulkan.57
     Vishnu incarnation as Lord Krishna is the most popular form. It is, in fact, in this form that the Lord gave a pledge to man: “Whenever sins will rise, I shall incarnate and redeem mankind.” It is also in this form that the Lord gave mankind the eternal spiritual teachings in the scripture of the Bhagavad Gita.

     Some historians believe that Krishna was the hero of the Yadav tribe, which merged with the original Vrsni tribe in the fifth or sixth century BCE. Lord Vishnu first manifested in the Vrsni tribe and later appeared as Lord Krishna. Subsequently, human incarnations of Vishnu god also became well accepted in Hindu theology.58

     Such has been the universal approach of Hindus that they even called the gods of the other religions the Vishnu incarnations. Lord Buddha and Lord Christ have been considered to be Vishnu incarnates. Unlike other faiths, the Hindu religion is rather liberal in assigning godhood to human beings of high spirituality. This is really not so surprising, as Hindu philosophy teaches, Ekam sad vipra bahudha vadant—“One alone exists; sages call it by various names.”

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