Hinduism: Supreme Being, the Hindu Trinity

The Supreme Being or God of the Hindu religion is the personal form of the Ultimate Reality. It is considered to have many characteristics, individual deities each representing a particular aspect of the Supreme Being. Each Hindu deity shares an existence with the Supreme Being and therefore Hindu worship is considered a monotheistic polytheism and not simple polytheism. Hindus believe there is only one Supreme Being and He is the God of all religions and that the cosmic activity of the Supreme Being involves creation, preservation, and dissolution and recreation. These three tasks are associated with the three deities, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. They are called Sat-Tat-Aum, the Being, the Word, or the Holy Spirit. Lord Brahma brings creation and represents the creative principle of the Supreme [Page 204]Being. Lord Vishnu maintains the universe and represents the eternal principle of preservation. Lord Shiva represents the principle of dissolution and recreation. Together, these three deities represent the trimutri (Hindu trinity). Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva represent the same power (the Supreme Being), but in three different aspects—the Divine in its threefold nature and function. Each aspect of the trinity contains and includes the others. As such, the Supreme Being is called Brahma, Vishnu, or Shiva when performing the tasks of creation, preservation, and dissolution/recreation.

Hindus call Lord Brahma the Creator of the universe as He symbolizes creation. His divine consort is Saraswati, the Goddess of learning and knowledge, who provides Lord Brahma with knowledge necessary for the process of creation. As creation is the work of the mind and the intellect, Lord Brahma symbolizes the Universal Mind and the individual's own mind and intellect. Since most are born with a gift for intellect, not many feel the need to worship Brahma. Instead, Brahma is worshipped by seekers of knowledge, such as students, teachers, scholars, and scientists. Brahma is usually represented as a bearded, four-faced, four-armed deity. In popular images, He carries a rosary in the upper right hand, a book in the upper left hand, a kamandalu (water pot) in the lower left hand, and bestows grace with His lower right hand. The four faces represent the sacred knowledge of the four Vedas (Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva) symbolizing that Brahma is the source of all knowledge necessary for the creation of the universe.

The four arms represent the four directions and thus represent the omnipresence and omnipotence of Lord Brahma. The four hands represent the four aspects of human personality, including the mind (back right hand), the intellect (back left hand), the ego (front right hand), and the empirical self or conditioned consciousness (front left hand). The rosary symbolizes time and the cycle through which the world moves from creation to sustenance, from sustenance to dissolution, and from dissolution to new creation. The rosary also represents the materials used in creation. The rosary's position in the back right hand suggests these materials are used in an intelligent way in creation. A book in the back hand represents that accurate information is important for any kind of creative work. A water pot (kamandalu) in the front left hand symbolizes the energy Lord Brahma uses to create the universe. The front right hand, symbolizing the ego, is shown in a pose bestowing grace, meaning that the Lord Brahma bestows grace and protects all true devotees.

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