Brahma: the Creator
Who Brahma is, how he creates the universe, the meaning of his four heads, his consort Saraswati, and why so few temples are dedicated to him.
Brahma is the creator god of Hinduism. Within the Trimurti, the three great forms of the divine, he creates the universe, Vishnu preserves it and Shiva destroys it so that it can be renewed. Yet despite this central role, Brahma is rarely worshipped on his own, and only a handful of temples in India are dedicated to him.
Not to be confused with: Brahman, the impersonal ultimate reality, or Brahmin, the priestly class.
Origins
Brahma developed from the Vedic creator figure Prajapati, “lord of creatures”. In later texts, Brahma's origins are told in two main ways:
- The golden egg: in some accounts Brahma is born from a cosmic golden egg, the Hiranyagarbha, floating on the primordial waters. He splits the egg into heaven and earth.
- The lotus: in Vaishnava accounts, Vishnu sleeps on the cosmic serpent Shesha between creations. A lotus grows from his navel, and Brahma appears seated on it, ready to create the world.
Brahma's appearance
- Four heads, facing the four directions, are said to have recited the four Vedas. They also represent his all-seeing knowledge.
- Four arms, holding the Vedas, a water pot (kamandalu), a rosary and sometimes a sacrificial ladle.
- A white beard, showing his age and wisdom as the grandfather of the world (Pitamaha).
- The hamsa, a swan or goose, is his vehicle.
According to one story, Brahma originally had five heads. The fifth was cut off by Shiva after Brahma spoke arrogantly.
Brahma and Saraswati
Brahma's consort is Saraswati, goddess of knowledge and the arts. Knowledge is the power behind creation, so the pairing is natural. Some texts say that Saraswati was created by Brahma, which leads to complex stories about their relationship.
The lifespan of Brahma
Hindu cosmology measures time on a vast scale. A single day of Brahma, called a kalpa, lasts 4.32 billion human years. At the end of each day the worlds are dissolved, and they are recreated when Brahma wakes. Brahma lives for 100 years made up of such days and nights, after which the entire universe dissolves before a new Brahma arises. Some writers, including the astronomer Carl Sagan, have noted that this is the only religious cosmology whose timescales are comparable to those of modern science.
Why is Brahma rarely worshipped?
Several stories explain why Brahma has so few temples:
- The pillar of light: Brahma and Vishnu argued over which of them was greater. A pillar of fire, a form of Shiva, appeared, and they agreed that whoever found its end would be supreme. Vishnu honestly admitted he could not find the bottom. Brahma falsely claimed to have seen the top, and Shiva cursed him to receive no worship.
- Savitri's curse: at Pushkar, Brahma began an important ritual without his wife, Savitri, who was late, and married another woman to complete it. The angry Savitri cursed him to be worshipped only at Pushkar.
A more historical explanation is that, as devotion focused increasingly on Vishnu, Shiva and the Goddess, the creator's role was seen as complete, and Brahma came to be regarded as a servant of the supreme God rather than as supreme himself.
Where Brahma is worshipped
The best-known Brahma temple is at Pushkar in Rajasthan, beside a sacred lake, where a large fair is held each year in the month of Kartika. Brahma also appears in many temples as a subsidiary deity. Outside India, he is widely honoured in Thailand, where the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, dedicated to Phra Phrom (Brahma), draws large numbers of worshippers.
Sources and further reading
- Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (trans.), Hindu Myths (Penguin Classics, 1975).
- Greg Bailey, The Mythology of Brahma (Oxford University Press, 1983).
- Carl Sagan, Cosmos (Random House, 1980), chapter 10.