Lesson 3: The Hindu Pantheon - Part One.
In this lesson the Gods, the male ones, in the Hindu Pantheon have been discussed.
There are two tests to this lesson. The lesson test is set on the first two sections while the section test is on "The Other Gods" section exclusively.
Introduction, Brahma and Shiva.
Introduction:
In perusing this lesson the student must understand that the Hindu deities are not segregated in some sanctified place that is above all humanlike foibles. Instead they are living deities who are as fallible as the human devotees they watch over and, more often than not, colorful myths are wound around these foibles, often to explain natural and cosmic phenomena that were beyond the understanding of humans at the time the myths were created. Such myths continue to be patronized and contribute richly to the Hindu tradition of worship. So there is as much corruption and bribery in Kalichi, the death God Yama’s abode, as there is today in New Delhi, the capital of India. Yet the Hindu Gods and Goddesses watch over a code of conduct that has stood the test of time for over 3500 years.
It is also controversial that while the Pure Monism of the Upanishads advocates only one Universal Spirit - The Nirguna Brahman Who is the Supreme Creator yet the common Hindu Pantheon hosts a bewildering array of Gods and Goddesses. The scriptures have the answer to this strange dualism. According to the Upanishads the Brahman is Sat - Truth – The Absolute Reality. All else is Maya - illusion - but the Brahman can be realized in His absolute only by those with the highest level of consciousness. Most others are not capable of realizing something that has no attributes. Thus, for them, it is necessary to concentrate on something with attributes – like the Gods and Goddesses of the Hindu Pantheon who are all forms of the Ultimate Reality – The Brahman. so the Hindu gods and Goddesses all have both mental and physical attributes through which devotees can approach them and worship them so that ultimately, through pure devotion, they can pierce the veil and realize the Brahman through the Gods and Goddesses of their choice.
The Hindu Triad:
The idea of a Triad in found in the earliest of Indian beliefs and seems to be rooted in the solar cult where the three-bodied sun is creator with his warmth, preserver with his light and destroyer with his burning rays. This was later transformed into the Adityas (Varuna, Mitra and Aryaman) which gave way to Agni, Vayu and Surya until, in the course of time, Vayu gave way to Indra. These deities were always thought of as the three most important Gods or, often, as three aspects of the same omnipotent deity. Agni is the Earth God, Vayu or Indra the God of the atmosphere and Surya the God of the sky. In these early times, Vishnu is closely associated with Agni and Indra as the most important deity, as is mentioned in the Rig Veda.
In later Brahiminical times, in the Upanishads, the present triad of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva took form upon much borrowing from the previous deities. Both Vishnu and Shiva in the form of Rudra, the God of storms, were prevalent in the early pantheon as minor deities. The only new addition was Brahma, probably to add balance in the role of supreme creator.
This present lesson imparts knowledge on the present form of the triad as they are actively worshipped today. There is ongoing controversy and discourse over how the present triad evolved and who among the three deities is the greatest but that is beyond the scope of this course and has not been dealt with here.
Brahma:
There is always controversy on who is the superior among the Hindu triad – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva or Maheshwar - though almost all myths agree on the point that Brahma is the Creator among the Hindu triad.
Brahma is the equal of the two other Gods in the triad – Vishnu and Shiva. He is the God of wisdom and the four Vedas are said to have sprung out each of His four heads. Brahma’s heaven is said to contain in a superior degree all the splendors of the heavens of the other Gods.
Brahma has red skin and wears white clothes. He rides on a goose. He has four arms in each of which He carries the Vedas, His scepter, a water-jug (komondul), and a bow or, variously, a string of beads or a spoon.
Brahma generated a female partner, generally acknowledged to be Sarasvati, out of His own substance. She is His daughter as well as His wife. Together with her He gave birth to the human race (earlier myths acknowledge Yama and his sister Yami to be the creators of the human race). Brahma also generated Daksha, producing him out of His thumb. Daksha became the chief of the Prajapatis, sages associated with Brahma’s creative endeavors.
The Vedantas (conclusions to the Vedas) consider Brahma to be the Creative Aspect of The Nirguna Brahman.
Shiva:
Shiva is the original unwashed, cannabis-smoking, aimlessly-wandering flower-child of Hindu Mythology. No other God of Hindu Myths has attracted as much controversy as Shiva.
Shiva has retained some of the characteristics of the preVedic fertility God who was also deemed the Lord of the Beasts. His power lies in not initiating sacrifice but in performing unimaginable austerities by which He can quell the entire universe including all the Gods. Thus he is called Mahadeva or “The Greatest God”. His representation as a yogi is a man with a snow-white face dressed in a tiger-skin and with matted hair.
At once Shiva is both the destroyer as well as the creator. His greatest rivalry is not with Vishnu, the preserver, but with Brahma, the creator, whom He often rivals. His supreme creative powers are celebrated in the worship of the Lingam or phallus just as His consorts are worshipped through the female genital or Yoni, which is the source of female energy and always associated with Him. In this aspect as the Lord of feminine energy – Shakti - Shiva utilizes His consorts to slay demons. Shiva's Unmanifest Masculine Shakti is what the Shakta Hindus seek to achieve through worship of the Shakti Goddesses.
Shiva’s boons are always positive and He is said to be the giver of long life and the God of medicine. His help is also indispensable for warriors and other traders of violent craft like robbers, of whom He is the patron God. In a measure, Shiva’s boons are sometimes as indiscriminate as Brahma’s and cause as much trouble because He is reputed to be so easily pleased that He will satisfy anyone at all who will care to show any empathy towards Him.
Shiva is also the god to whom all the Gods turn to whenever there is something unpleasant to be done. Thus, at the time of the churning of the ocean, when poison welled out of the mouth of Vasuki the snake it was Shiva who saved the universe from its venom by trapping the poison in His throat, which turned blue and earned Him the name of Nilkantha. It is also He who gifted to the earth the seven rivers that water the land and make life possible there.
Apart from His blue throat, Shiva is represented as a fair man with five heads, four arms and three eyes. The third eye at the center of his forehead is a powerful weapon and He kills with it by turning it upon His enemies and turning them to ashes. It is this eye that He uses to periodically destroy the universe to cleanse it and prepare it for the next age.
As the destroyer Shiva has many weapons: Pinaki, His trident, a symbol of lightening characterizing Shiva as the God of storms; a sword; a bow called Ajagava; and a club with a skull at the end, called Khatwanga. Shiva also has snakes twined round His neck and body and, of course, the moon caught in His hair to keep the Moon-God Soma out of mischief.
Shiva is the Lord of dance and rhythm. As the Lord of Rhythms Shiva sustains the Universe which requires a certain rhythm to remain existent. The God dances with His associates the ghosts and other creatures of the nether regions, often in cemeteries. Shiva’s steed is Nandi, the bull, another potent symbol of fertility. Shiva’s tandava dance, the most famous, often found portrayed in statuary and pictures, is a dance of destruction.
When destroying Shiva’s principal aspect is that of time and when creating it is that of light, which His Lingam is reputed to emanate. The symmetry of the Hindu conept is best manifest through Shiva. What is evil is ultimately destroyed by time. What is innately good survives all time and is eternal. Thus, Shiva is also named Mahakaleswar - Lord of Eternal Time. He survives all time and destroys all that is evil either Himself or through His Female Shakti Consorts.
Shiva’s aloofness from the world with His smoking cannabis (to aid His Yogic concentration) in contrast to His reputation as a Supreme Male Procreator in association with His Shakti Consorts makes Him an exemplary male who performs the worldly duty of procreation but withdraws thereafter to keep Himself pure from the iniquity of worldly affairs.
Please note that the ancients did not know that cannabis is an extremely harmful narcotic and should not be used under any circumstances.
