Brahma
Detail of the Hindu god Brahma on his hamsa (goose or swan) after hiding cows and calves in a cave as illustrated on a page from a Bhagavata Purana manuscript. Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper, Pahari Hills, Basholi school, northwestern India, c. 1760–65, in the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Why do Hindu gods have many heads and arms?
This is a common question about Hinduism but not a straightforward one to answer. The simplest response is that many Hindu gods are described in Hindu texts as having multiple heads and arms. They are also depicted that way in religious artwork and sculpture. The deeper question of what multiple heads and arms mean, however, is much more complicated. Hindu texts do not provide a single general doctrine or interpretation of divine morphological multiplicity. There...
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