In the Hindu tradition, the whole creation is the dynamic game of three fundamental
forces symbolized by the three gods: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. This triad is
made up of the creator (Brahma), the sustainer (Vishnu) and the destroyer or
transcendent (Shiva). The correspondence of these
three principles (creation, sustenance and destruction) in our daily existence
is to be found in birth, life, and death. These correspondences occur not only
at a physical level, but at psychic level as well. They represent the very basis
of the universe, in its continuous becoming.
Here,
we talk about Lord Brahma or the Creator of the Universe, as depicted in the
Hindu cosmology.
The
Force of Spiritual Becoming
The path of the human being to spiritual perfection has to be trod with a creative,
positive inner attitude. This attitude, named "cosmic optimism", expresses the
dynamism of life and derives from a sublime ideal. It means the recognition
and identification of each of us with the fundamental divine energy that created
everything. The creative inner attitude offers us the possibility of discovering
our true, profound nature, accelerating our spiritual progress. This creative
inner attitude is a part of the evolutionary process itself. It may be awakened
and amplified through the process of resonance with Brahma's specific energy.
Brahma's World of Splendors
The Hindu tradition perceives the cosmic activity of the Supreme Being (God)
as threefold: the creation, the sustenance and the destruction and associate
these three activities with the main deities: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. As
we already mentioned, Brahma represents the creator aspect of the divine. Vishnu
sustains the creation and represents the eternal principle of preservation,
and Shiva represents the principle of dissolution, of the destruction of evil,
of transcendence.
We
have to understand that basically, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are not three distinct
deities, independent from each other, but they represent in fact the same Supreme
Force, in its three different aspects. Brahma is the creator of the universe
and of all beings. His world is Brahmaloka, containing all the splendors
of the earth and all other worlds.
In the Hindu tradition, Brahma's most common representation is four-headed,
four arms, and red skin. He holds a cup, a bow (or in other representations
a book of prayers), a spoon and the Vedas, created and spread by him. He sits
in the lotus pose. When he moves around, he has as vehicle a white swan, endowed
with magic powers: she may separate soma (divine nectar) and milk from water,
as well as good from evil. Unlike all the other gods, Brahma carries no weapon.
Although Brahma is the equal of Vishnu and Shiva, his popularity is no longer
at its peak.
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