Brahma
Who is Brahma in Hinduism?
What is the Trimurti in Hinduism, and what is Brahma’s role in it?
Why are temples and worship dedicated to Brahma rare?
What is Brahma’s role in Hindu mythology?
How is Brahma depicted in art?
Brahma, one of the major gods of Hinduism who is responsible for the creation of the world and revered for his religious wisdom. Despite his prominence in the mythology of the Hindu gods, worship (puja) and temples (mandirs) devoted to him are exceedingly rare. In the tripartite group of Hindu deities known as the Trimurti (“Three Forms”), he is the creator deity who functions alongside Vishnu (the preserver) and Shiva (the destroyer). In addition to his role as the creator of the universe and all things in it, Brahma is affiliated with religious knowledge as the deity who revealed the four sacred Vedas and compelled the composition of other key religious texts and as the partner of Saraswati, goddess of knowledge. Brahma is typically depicted with four heads and four arms while bearing in hand sacred texts and other items associated with ritual practice.
Brahma, Brahman, Brahmana, and Brahmin are four similar-looking terms in Hinduism that are closely related but not synonymous and can readily confuse readers. They are all nouns formed from the verb root bṛh (meaning “grow” or “expand” in Sanskrit). They are linked conceptually by the overlapping roles in Vedic religion of universal creation and priestly ritual and erudition. Here is a short glossary to help tell these terms apart:
- Brahma: Creator deity in Hinduism
- Brahman: Philosophical concept of the supreme existence or absolute reality
History and development
The name Brahma as a deity appears rarely in Vedic religious texts such as the Vedas (c. 1500–1200 bce) and the Upanishads (c. 600–100 bce), but the word is closely associated with brahman, which does appear in these texts. The term brahman in the Vedic context signifies the creative power of words and ritual deeds—ritual in early Vedic texts is thought to partake in the continual recreation of the world. In the Upanishads brahman then comes to indicate the universal essence that is equivalent to the self (atman). The term and concept are closely related to the social class (varna) of Brahmins (Sanskrit: brahmana, also spelled Brahman in academic English works), who are the Vedic priests said to wield the power of brahman.
By the time of the Upanishads, which contain philosophical elaborations of the Vedas, Brahma begins to appear as a distinct being who creates the universe and is affiliated with the four Vedas. This combination continues the Vedic conceptual linkage of knowledge (veda in Sanskrit means “knowledge” and is cognate with the English word wisdom) and the process of creation, then encapsulated in the figure of a deity. The Mundaka Upanishad, a later theistic Upanishad affiliated with the Atharva Veda school and dating to the final centuries bce, opens with the verse (as translated by Patrick Olivelle):
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Brahmā arose as the first among gods, as the creator of all, as the guardian of the world. To Atharvan, his firstborn son, he disclosed the knowledge of brahman, of all knowledge the root.
The early concept of Brahma as a creator deity builds on the earlier Vedic gods responsible for creation and wisdom, particularly the creator deity Prajapati (“Lord of Creatures”) and the wise counselor of the gods Brihaspati (“Lord of Prayer”). Brahma is sometimes referred to by the epithet Prajapati in Sanskrit texts, among other names including Pitamaha (“Grandfather”), Vishvasrij (“Creator of All”), Chaturmukha (“Four-Faced”), and Virinchi (“Creator”). In the epic Mahabharata (finalized by 400 ce), Brahma’s role is clearly defined as the creator, as well as the keeper of order and the purveyor of knowledge. During this time period of late Vedic Hinduism and into the period of the epics, roughly 500 bce–500 ce, Brahma was one of the most important gods in Hinduism, but he was soon overtaken by the sectarian traditions of Vishnu, Shiva, and Devi in the Puranas.
In the early and middle Puranas (c. 350–1000 ce), collections of mythology that are foundational for modern Hindu perspectives on the gods, Brahma’s creator role remains intact, but his significance within the mythological corpus recedes in favor of Vishnu and Shiva. The concept of the Trimurti emerged in the Puranas by the middle of the 1st millennium ce. In the Trimurti, the developing sectarian traditions of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are collapsed into one tripartite group consisting of the creator, the preserver, and the destroyer. The Trimurti presents this trinity as a manifestation of a supreme unmanifested deity, perhaps, as some scholars suggest, to reconcile sectarian competition.
Yet the Puranas frequently depict the three gods of the Trimurti jockeying for superiority, and the texts regularly cast one of the three gods as the supreme deity that manifests as the other two, who are relegated to slightly inferior status. For example, in chapter 11 of the Bhagavad Gita Arjuna receives a theophany of Vishnu manifesting as all the Hindu deities including, explicitly in verses 15 and 39, as Brahma. In a story in the Bhagavata Purana Brahma hides the cowherd boys and calves of Vraja (modern Gokul), but the god Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, refashions versions of them through his own power of maya (“illusion”). By making a second set of cowherd boys and bovines, Krishna outwits, bewilders, and gets the better of Brahma while demonstrating his own capacity for creation. In the Markandeya Purana and the Padma Purana, Brahma creates the world and also preserves in the form of Vishnu and destroys in the form of Shiva. But these two instances are the exception to the rule across the extensive corpus of Puranas that are largely devoted to Vishnu, Shiva, and the Goddess (Shakti). In these accounts Brahma’s role is defined in delimited terms as the creator who is then minimally involved in the world.
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In addition to being a creator god, Brahma plays a central role in Hindu mythology as a purveyor of boons and as the divine force driving the composition and dissemination of sacred texts. Among boons granted, Brahma is notorious for granting boons to demons (asuras and rakshasas), although he does not grant these beings full immunity and leaves some leeway for the destruction of these enemies of the gods. For example, in the Ramayana Brahma gives the demon Ravana the boon of invulnerability from divine beings, which excludes humans, thus allowing for the demon’s defeat at the hands (or, more literally, the arrow) of Vishnu’s human avatar, Rama. The Brahmastra (“Brahma’s Weapon”), the powerful arrow Rama used to kill Ravana, was created by Brahma himself.
Brahma’s association with wisdom and texts, evident in Vedic thought, continues in the Sanskrit epics and Puranas. He is described in many Puranas as the revealer of the four sacred Vedas, and the Markandeya Purana describes him reciting the Vedas and that Purana itself from his mouths when he is first formed. He is further credited with compelling the human narration of the Mahabharata by Vyasa and of the Ramayana by Valmiki. Although primarily a Hindu deity, Brahma appears prominently in Buddhist texts in a similar manner. It is Brahma who, following the Buddha’s enlightenment, encourages the Buddha to spread his teaching (the dhamma).
Stories of creation and relations with the gods
Hindu texts incorporate numerous narratives of cosmogony, not all of which feature Brahma. Even when Brahma is the creator, particularly in the Puranas, there are variations among the specific details of the creation. Generally speaking, Hindu creation accounts include both a primary creation (sarga) as well as a cyclical dissolution and recreation (pratisarga) of the cosmos. Brahma is involved in both processes. As the primary creator, Brahma’s creation is motivated by his own individual egotistical desire (ahamkara) to create. He exists prior to this creation, so he is called self-born (svayambhu). Some things, such as his mind-born sons, he creates by the power of his own mind, and other things he creates through his body—even, at times, via humanlike sexual procreation. In the Markandeya Purana, for example, Brahma assumes different bodies from which the things in the world are formed and then cast off.
Narratives of creation often begin with Brahma’s will to create and his emanation from Hiranyagarbha (“Golden Egg”), which lies on the cosmic waters. The concept of a golden egg at the beginning of creation has roots in Vedic accounts of the creator god Prajapati, but the narratives featuring Brahma are recast in the Puranas to incorporate the Puranic deities. In these stories of creation Brahma emerges from the egg and creates Vishnu and Shiva, by which means the ongoing preservation and dissolution of the world continue, as well as time itself. He then raises the earth from the waters and shapes it and continues to create humanity, psychological states, gods, demons, animals, and the structure of human society (varnas). Not only is he a progenitor, but much of his role in creation is the structured organization of the universe—he is not merely responsible for the fashioning but also the order of things.
In some accounts of creation, such as in the Matsya Purana, Brahma creates by sexual means. Brahma splits into male and female parts or emanates a female part who is called by various names, including Saraswati, Gayatri, Savitri, and Shatarupa. Saraswati, the goddess of learning and music, continues to be associated with Brahma as both his consort and daughter in later Hindu thought. The narrative in the Matsya Purana accounts for Brahma’s five heads by suggesting that they arise from his lust for this self-emanated consort and daughter—as she walks around him, new heads pop up in each direction. Through human sexual means with his consort, Brahma is said to have procreated Manu, the first man. However, the Matsya Purana also indicates that Brahma’s other mind-born sons are offended by their father’s sexual interest in the woman, whom they take to be their sister. As a result of his lust, Brahma loses his great powers gained through asceticism (tapas), reducing his power relative to other gods.
In Vaishnava and Shaiva Puranic accounts where either Vishnu or Shiva predominates as the supreme deity, Brahma’s role in creation is secondary. (For more about ideas of divinity in Hinduism, see Hindu Theology.) Brahma does not preexist Vishnu and Shiva in these sources but is rather formed by them and then goes on to create the world. In Vaishnava sources Brahma creates the world after emerging from a lotus that grows from Vishnu’s navel while Vishnu sleeps on the snake Ananta (“Endless”, also called Shesha) upon the celestial waters. As told in the Bhagavata Purana, this is a periodical creation (pratisarga) that occurs when Vishnu stirs from his slumber, enters the lotus toward his navel and gives rise to Brahma, who then creates the universe. After a lifetime of Brahma—which is 100 Brahma years, totaling 311.04 trillion human years—all is dissolved and Vishnu once again sleeps until the next creation. However, in Shaiva Puranas, such as the Shiva Purana, Shiva produces Brahma from his own right side. Shiva then makes the creator god emerge from the lotus in Vishnu’s navel to facilitate the cosmogony.
Brahma’s encounters with Shiva often relegate Brahma to an inferior position morally, and Brahma’s sins are given as a reason for his lack of devotees. In a well-known (and often depicted in sculpture) narrative in the Shiva Purana, Shiva emanates as an endless pillar of fire (lingodbhava, the emergence of the lingam) in response to Brahma and Vishnu’s debate over which of the two of them is superior. Brahma and Vishnu then seek the top and bottom of the pillar: Vishnu as a boar going downward and Brahma as a hamsa (goose or swan) flying upward. As he goes up to find the top, Brahma spots a falling ketaki (Pandanus odorifer) flower, which had fallen from Shiva’s head when the god laughed at Brahma and Vishnu’s absurd debate. Brahma convinces the flower to lie and say that the creator god indeed found the top of the pillar. Shiva, who is all-knowing, sees through Brahma’s floral fiction. Shiva creates Bhairava, his fierce form, to chop off one of Brahma’s five heads, but Vishnu intercedes on Brahma’s behalf. Shiva relents but decrees that Brahma will not have his own temples, festivals, or worship.
Also in the Shiva Purana, while Brahma officiates Shiva’s marriage to Sati, he lusts after Shiva’s bride and spills his semen on the ground. Brahma is condemned by Shiva—after Vishnu again intercedes to prevent Shiva from killing Brahma—to wander the earth in a human form, with his hand incessantly touching his head. Later in the Shiva Purana Shiva follows through with manifesting Bhairava to chop off Brahma’s fifth head. Brahma’s fifth head makes insulting and arrogant comments about Shiva and supercilious assertions of superiority. In response to Brahma’s boorish boastfulness, Shiva emanates Bhairava and commands him to remove Brahma’s insulting head, which the frightful form does with the nails of his left fingers. Thus Brahma’s original five-headed form is reduced to a four-headed one.
Iconography and worship
Brahma is usually depicted as having four faces (although only three may be visible), symbolic of a number of tropes in which the fourfold nature of things is emphasized, such as the four Vedas (collections of poems and hymns), the four yugas (“ages”), the four varnas (social classes), the four directions, the four stages of life (ashramas), the four aims of life (purusharthas) and so forth. Brahma is typically portrayed with a beard or mustache. In imagery he is often an older, grandfather-like figure, befitting his epithet Pitamaha (“Grandfather”). In some images his skin is red, a color that represents the quality (guna) of passion and activity (rajas) which relates to acts of creation and impulsive personality, according to Samkhya philosophy. He is usually shown with four arms, holding an alms bowl or water bowl, a bow, a lotus, prayer beads (symbolizing time), and a book (Vedas). He may be seated or standing on a lotus throne or on his mount, a hamsa (goose or swan). The goddesses Savitri and Saraswati, respectively exemplars of faithfulness and of music and learning, frequently accompany him.
Hindu temples dedicated to Brahma are exceedingly rare, especially compared to the proliferation of temples to innumerable other deities. Even in ancient textual sources, mentions of people offering worship to Brahma are few and far between. The most notable active Brahma temple in India is located in the town of Pushkar in Rajasthan state. As told in the Padma Purana, Brahma defeats a demon (asura) named Vajranabha by means of dropping a lotus, and by doing so he creates Pushkar as a site of holy pilgrimage. This is a rare event, as Brahma is typically not a demon-destroying deity, unlike his peers, even though his special weapon assisted Rama in killing Ravana. Karttika Purnima, the full moon day in the month of Karttika (October–November in the Gregorian calendar) is a popular festival at the Pushkar Brahma Temple. Another Brahma festival, Brahmotsavam, is a highlight of the Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala in southeastern Andhra Pradesh, although Venkateswara (a form of Vishnu) is the main focus of devotion and Brahma’s role in the festival is as its organizer and sponsor, in alignment with his subsidiary creative capacity in a Vaishnava context.
Despite the meager worship of Brahma in Hinduism and in India, Brahma has become a popular deity in Thailand. The Erawan Shrine in Bangkok was built in 1956 at the suggestion of an astrologer. Impediments and delays to construction of a hotel nearby led to a belief that the site was plagued by evil spirits and bad karma. The astrologer advised constructing a temple on the hotel’s grounds and including within it a shrine to Brahma (Thai: Phra Phrom). The golden statue of Brahma was attacked with a hammer in 2006, and the shrine was bombed in 2015 but was quickly rebuilt. The worshippers at the Erawan Shrine and other new Brahma shrines that have been dedicated since are largely Buddhists who worship the creator deity for wealth and success.