Apr 8, 20204 min read

Lord Brahma - God of Creation and Vedas

Updated: Jul 5, 2020

In Hinduism or Hindu philosophy there are Gods and Goddesses associated with every aspect of life. However there are 3 master Gods who are above the other Gods and Goddesses. They are known as the Hindu Trinity and control every aspect of this Universe. Have we ever wondered why God is referred to as God? The full form of GOD is Generator, Operator, and Destroyer. The Hindu trinity also comprises of three super Gods. Lord Brahma is the Creator, Lord Vishnu is the operator or the preserver and Lord Shiva is the destroyer. This post is dedicated to Lord Brahma. Brahma is the creator of everything that exists in this Universe. Our scriptures show Lord Brahma as an old bearded man with 4 heads. His four arms do not carry any weapons unlike Vishnu and Shiva. He carries a book, a water pot, a spoon, and a lotus or a rosary. He is the eternal companion or consort of Goddess Saraswati and resides in Brahmaloka (Planet of Brahma). Brahmaloka is a heavenly planet where the Universe exists for a day which is known as BrahmaKalpa. One day at Brahmaloka is equivalent to 4 billion years on Earth. At the end of the day the Universe gets dissolved. This is called Pralaya. The pralaya occurs for 100 such years. Brahma dies after that and the entire Cosmos goes dark again with no creation at all. This period of complete darkness exists for 100 Brahmaloka years until he is reborn and a whole new creation begins than after. There are several versions of how Lord Brahma came into existence. Let us discuss a few. According to some texts Lord Brahma is self-created and is therefore referred to as Syambhu Other legends refer Lord Brahma as the son of the Supreme Being Brahman (Sadashiv) and female energy Adi Shakti. With the desire to create a Universe Sadashiv first created water and then placed his seed in the water. The seed transformed into a golden egg and Lord Brahma emerged from it. That is why Lord Brahma is also known as Hiranyagarbha. Another legend states that at the beginning of the creation the Supreme Being (Sadashiv) created Vishnu and Lakshmi. The Supreme Being told Vishnu and Lakshmi to meditate for the creation of the Universe. A beautiful city filled with water was also created for Vishnu and Lakshmi to meditate. During this Tapasya Lord Brahma emerges on a lotus from the navel of Lord Vishnu. After Lord Brahma came into existence he started his work of creation. Several children known as Manasputra (Created from the mind) were born from him. Few of his sons were Daksha, Narada, Four Kumaras. He also gave birth to the 7 great sages known as the Saptarishis. The firstborn from Lord Brahma established the various rules and regulations on this planet and provided ideological guidance to mankind on how to survive on Earth. Lord Brahma is also known to be the creator of the famous 4 Vedas which are considered to be the most important Hindu literature of all times. However despite all this Lord Brahma does not enjoy much popularity on this planet and is not worshipped like Vishnu and Shiva. There is one temple (in Pushkar Rajasthan) which is dedicated to Lord Brahma. Again there are different theories as to why Lord Brahma is not worshipped on Earth. According to one legend when Lord Brahma has started creating the Universe, he only had one head. The first female he created was known as Shatarupa. Shatarupa was so beautiful that Lord Brahma could not take her eyes off her. Whichever direction she went his head followed and hence this created 4 heads in different directions. Lord Shiva noticed all this when the 5th head from Brahma’s neck emerged. He was enraged at his behavior as getting attached to one’s creation was not godly. He chopped off Brahma’s 5th head and cursed him that henceforth he shall not be worshipped by mankind since he was like human himself The 2nd legend stated that when Brahma emerged out of Vishnu’s navel, he was confused and thought he was the father of Lord Vishnu. When Vishnu tried to tell him that he was his father, he didn’t agree. He wanted to compete with Vishnu ji to prove that he is the biggest God. This is when Lord Shiva appeared as an endless Lingam. Both Vishnu and Brahma decided to find the end of the Lingam. They both went in opposite directions and decided whoever sees the end of Lingam shall be the greatest God. The Linga was endless and Vishnu Ji realized the same. However Lord Brahma tried to manipulate Vishnu and lied to him that he saw the end. His lie enraged Shiva and he appeared before them and cut his 5th head which uttered that lie. He also cursed him that he shall not enjoy the worship of devotees.