Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

54 BRAHMABRAHMA (the creator)ORIGIN Hindu [India]. Creator god.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 500 BC or earlieruntil present day.SYNONYMS many epithets including Abjaja,Abjayoni, Astakarna, KAMALASANA.CENTER(S) OF CULT restricted since circa AD700 to two sanctuaries—at Lake Puskana inRajputana, and at Idar near Mount Abu.ART REFERENCES sculptures generally in bronzebut also in stone. Reliefs.LITERARY SOURCES mentioned in Rg Veda, butproperly from Ramayana epic and from Puranictexts.With VIŠNU and ŠIVA, Brahma is one of a trinityof supreme creator deities in the Hindu pantheon.His consort is generally the goddess of wisdom,SARASVATI, but some sources identify the goddessof speech, Vach. He also has a second consort, themilkmaid GAYATRI. Originally the title referred tothe power of occult utterances which becameassociated with the priests or Brahmans.Brahma is depicted with four heads, oftenbearded, facing in four directions, and with fourhands, sometimes with one of them raised inblessing or promise. As a god of knowledge heoften carries the Vedas (earliest Sanskrit mythologysaid to have sprung from his head) in one ofhis hands. Other attributes include a water potindicating prosperity, a spoon or a string of pearls.He may also carry a staff and an alms dish. Hemay be depicted with red or pink skin, wearing awhite robe or a loin cloth with a sacred cordacross the shoulder. His sacred animal is thegoose.According to one legendary source he was createdfrom the right side of the primordial creatorforce. His life is anticipated as a hundred heavenlyyears, each of 360 days and nights. Each day, orkalpa, is equal to 4,320,000 earthly years.Brahma’s current age is said to be fifty-one andafter each of his years, the universe is destroyedand rebuilt.Brahma is generally less popular than Višnu orŠiva, probably because he is identified solely withthe primordial account of creation. Legenddescribes how he created himself from theprimeval waters using the power of his owndesire. He thought a seed into existence whichgrew into a golden egg and from which heemerged after a year. The two halves of the shellbecame heaven and earth, within which he fashionedthe sky. The Ramayana also describes himin the form of a boar which raises the earth on itstusks. By contrast the Mahabharata accounts himborn from a lotus in the navel of Višnu. Elsewherehe emerges as a fish, or as a tortoise. Negativeaspects of Brahma include drunkenness andduplicity.One source describes how the beautiful goddessSATARUPA was formed from half of Brahma’sown self but that, in an attempt to prevent himlooking on his daughter with incestuous desire,she circled around him. His four heads resulted.There was once a fifth which Šiva decapitatedwith the thumb of his left hand. It is said thatincest with his daughter is also partly responsiblefor Brahma’s limited worship. Alternative legendcredits him with a daughter, Vach, by whom hefathered the living world.2. In Buddhist tradition he is also one of a groupof DHARMAPALA with terrible appearance androyal attire.BrahmaniMother goddess. Hindu (Epic and Puranic). ASAKTI who in later Hinduism became one of thegroup of eight ASTAMATARAS or mothers. Inanother grouping one of nine NAVASAKTIS ormothers. She is attended by a goose and wears a