Hinduism 101

Lesson 3: The Hindu Pantheon - Part One.

The Other Gods.

The Other Gods:

Agni:

Agni is the Fire-God and is the Lord of the Pitris (forefathers).

Agni is now worshipped less as fire than as a Purifier of Sacrificial Offerings. He has the foremost honor to preside over all major Hindu ceremonies, including marriage and death. Agni has seven tongues and He uses all of these ceaselessly to lick up sacrificial offerings. Just as Indra has an insatiable appetite for soma, Agni is insatiable in His devouring of sacrificial oblations and, like Indra, His powers are diminished as He indulges in His greed.

Agni is mainly considered to be an atmospheric God and often likened to a star. In addition to His being the Lord of the Pitris and the principal benefactor of sacrificers. Agni is also considered to be a sage and, in this human aspect, He is represented as a man with four arms, clothed in black, with smoke as His standard and headgear. He carries a flaming javelin and rides in a chariot of seven wheels, each of which represents one of the seven winds, drawn by red horses.

Indra:

Indra is King of the Celestials without having any power or influence over the triad. He lives in His splendid heaven Swarga, the heaven all meritorious souls go to after death according to popular belief. Swarga is on Mount Meru and its capital is a wondrous city called Amravati. There Indra resides with His wife Indrani and His constant attendants the apsaras and the other spirits who sing and dance to entertain everyone there. This is when Indra is not driven out by some asura or other who has achieved universal power through an inadvertent boon from Brahma. The other Gods, especially Vishnu, have to constantly come to Indra’s rescue as He and Swarga seem to be the favorite target for every unscrupulous asura that has achieved universal power. To the common Hindu, Swarga is synonymous with heaven.

As God of storms Indra remains a fearful figure carrying weapons in His four hands. He hurls thunder and lightening about and uses the rainbow as a bow. He is the regent of the atmosphere and the keeper of the eastern quarter. He rides on His massive white elephant Airavata.

Indra is a sensuous God with much love for soma and singing and dancing. Probably that is why Hindus are so careful not to sin in this life so that they can die and gain admittance to Swarga and participate in Indra’s wild parties.

Soma

In the early stages, when the Hindu ideology as well as the pantheon was being consolidated, soma was the name of an intoxicating drink distilled out of certain plants. It was a potent drink and was drunk by humans and Gods alike. In humans its usage was mainly for religious purposes. The Gods like Indra and Agni were reputed to gain a large part of their strength from imbibing the drink in large quantities. It was associated with amrita, the Hindu equivalent of ambrosia. It was reputed to make the drinker immortal. For all these reasons soma gradually became personified as the God Soma.

Soma, also known as Chandra the Moon-God, is married to the twenty-seven daughters of the sage Daksha. He is such a mischievous God and such a debauch that Shiva has to keep Him entangled in His matted locks to keep Him out of trouble. For His misconducts His father-in-law cursed Him to be afflicted with consumption for 15 days in a month. That is why we cannot see the moon for half the month.

Soma is represented as a copper-colored man riding through the atmosphere in a three-wheeled chariot drawn either by a pied antelope or ten white horses. A red pennant trails behind him as he proceeds on his way to the next mischief.

Surya:

The Hindu Surya, the Sun-God, is a combination of the three Vedic deities - Surya Himself, Vivasvat (the rising sun) and Savitri. He is the son of Aditi and Kasyapa, the grandson of Brahma. He is a dark red man, with three eyes and four arms riding in a golden chariot drawn by seven horses, each horse representing a day of the week. Sometimes the god himself drives the chariot and at other times He has a legless charioteer Arun (dawn), a brother of Garuda.

Surya is considered to be a benefactor of humans. His symbol, the swastika, is a sign of His munificence and is used by Hindus in all their religious ceremonies. The Sun-God is a renowned slayer of demons and a great hero.

Once Vishwakarma had to put Surya on the lathe to pare down His brilliance. Out of the parts that fell of the Sun-God as a result of this Vishwakarma fashioned Vishnu’s discus (Sudarshan), Shiva’s trident, Karttikeya’s lance and the weapons of the other Gods. This in some way demonstrates Surya’s strength and beneficence.

Varuna:

Varuna, the God of the Oceans, is a deity who was assigned total suzerainty over the seas of heaven. In later Hindu times however He was consigned to the more obscure position of being a mere atmospheric God with Overlordship of the terrestrial oceans and seas. He now lives in a palace on the mountain Puspagiri, the flower mountain, under the oceans and keeps careful watch over the undersea demons. He is also Lord of the western quarter of the compass.

Varuna carries a noose, like Yama, to hunt down demons that interfere with the rains. He has always over His head a cobra’s hood in order to keep dry. He rides His steed Makara, Kama’s emblem, a giant fish like a whale. Makara has a deer’s head and the legs of an antelope. Varuna is followed everywhere by His retinue of rivers, snakes and demons and He is often surrounded by a troop of thousand white horses.

A visitation from Varuna can be very wet and is welcome in summer and dreaded after the rains.

Vayu:

Vayu is the capricious Wind God. In Vedic times He formed the Hindu triad together with Agni and Surya. In later Hindu times He was degraded to become an atmospheric God with the north-west quarter of the compass allocated as His domain. He is the King of the Gandharvas, spirits who inhabit Indra’s heaven and sing and dance there to entertain the Gods. One of Vayu’s many exploits include breaking off the head of Mount Meru, a mythical mountain, and creating the Island of Lanka, now Sri Lanka, when the broken-off piece fell into the ocean, part of it sticking out of the waters to create the sea-locked landmass.

Vayu is a destructive god with intemperate desires and a violent temper. Some sects regard Vayu in a more respectful vein and call Him the “Bearer of Perfumes” and mitigates some of His violence by pointing out that He is a constant companion of Vishnu and His wife Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth and beauty.

Yama:

In the early stages of Hinduism, in the Vedic times, Yama and His sister Yami, the offspring of Vivasvat, the rising sun, and Saranyu, the daughter of a prominent sage, founded the human race. After having found the road to heaven, Yama was the first man to die and became the King of the dead.

In later Hindu times, Yama presides over the eternal darkness of hell and lives in His gloomy palace Kalichi with His gloomier attendants. He is the much-feared God of Death, from whom none can escape. The palace is in the lower regions at the southern quarter of the compass, a region of which Yama is the regent. He sits on His throne in His palace and watches the procession of souls of the dead as they come up for judgment before Him. His attendant Chitragupta reads out of a great book the deeds of each soul and Yama then passes judgement. Accordingly the soul is either banished to Naraka (hell) or elevated to Swarga (heaven) or sent back to earth for another try at salvation.

Yama also keeps the Great Book of Destiny in which each living person’s allotted time of life on earth is recorded. When a person’s lifetime is over Yama sends His attendants to fetch that person down to Him. Sometimes, when He is too bored of His humdrum life in His dreary heaven, He Himself comes up to take down the dead.

Yama is depicted with a dark green skin wearing deep red robes. He has a grisly face out of which His coppery-red eyes stare out. He rides a buffalo and carries a heavy mace and noose. He strikes down His victims with the mace and nooses them expertly to drag them down to His abode.

The only way to evade Yama, as every sinful Hindu knows, is to constantly repeat the name of one of the Hindu triads – Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva. The name of one of Vishnu’s more potent avatars like Rama may also occasionally do. Hindus die only because it is impossible to keep naming names all one’s lifetime.

Kama:

In the Vedas Kama is said to have emanated out of the navel of the Supreme Creator, Purusha or Prajapati, when that individual was reclining on the cosmic waters at the beginning of time. This individual changes from Brahma to Vishnu to Shiva, as the positions of the triad of Hindu Gods interchange. The Vedas identify Kama as self-created and self-evident and with the power to create desire and fulfill it. In this creative aspect Kama is equated with the creative powers of Agni of the Vedic times. The Vedas also acknowledge Kama’s force as a moral power and, in this aspect, He is considered the Son of Dharma.

Later, when Hinduism had set into its present form, Kama was assigned a more frivolous role and now He is the God of Passion and Sexual Desire. In this aspect He is considered the son of Vishnu and Lakshmi.

Kama is the most handsome of all the Gods and He is mostly depicted as an ever-youthful man riding a parrot. He carries a bow made of sugar-cane stalk and strung with a line of humming bees. He can shoot up to five shafts at once and the shafts are all headed with particular flowers. For each type of person with a particular type of desire, Kama chooses and shoots a shaft headed with the specific flower that will prove most potent for that particular person. Kama, in this role, can be likened to Cupid of Greek Mythology and He proves to be just as indiscriminate an archer as His diminutive Greek counterpart.

Kama is married to Rati (passion) and has for His friend Vasanta (spring) and the threesome never separate. Vasanta chooses the flowered shafts for Kama’s victims. Kama is also depicted as always surrounded by the Apsaras, beautiful maidens well-versed in the arts, and one of them carries for Him His red banner with the sign of the giant fish Makara, Varuna’s steed.

Karttikeya:

Karttikeya is the first son of Shiva and Parvati. He was conceived under rather unusual circumstances, to free the universe from the depredations of the asura Taraka. Taraka, through rigorous penance, had fooled Brahma into granting him invincibility but Brahma had managed to set in the condition that the asura would be immune to everyone except a son of Shiva. When the asura began his rampages the Gods got together and married Shiva off to Parvati with the help of the Love-God Kama. Karttikeya was soon conceived and, when born, He ultimately grew up and killed the asura and saved the universe.

Karttikeya is much revered in Southern India and is affectionately called Subramanya there. He is the Hindu God of War and the Chieftain of the Gods’ Army. He is so single minded in His martial endeavors that He does not even take time off to associate with women though at one time He is said to have wooed Buddhi and Sidhi who, however, were won over as wives by His younger brother Ganesha.

Karttikeya is represented as riding His peacock Paravani and carrying a bow and quiver full of arrows. He has six heads on one body and six pairs of arms and legs though the image and clay idols normally worshipped by Hindus represent Him with only one pair of arms and legs and one head. In Bengal, a clay idol of Karttikeya is left outside the door of married but issue-less couples in a sort of satirical censure. In conservative Hindu society, marriage is expected to produce children as soon as possible. The couple is forced to offer worship to the God and suffer ridicule.

Women afflicted with sterility or who, for some reason, do not have children worship Karttikeya for His blessings by which they hope to bear offspring.

Kubera:

In earlier Vedic times Kubera was the chief of all evil creatures living in abodes of darkness but in the later Hindu time it is found that he has been elevated to the ranks of the gods and is appointed one of the eight guardians of the universe.

One version of how this promotion occurred is that Kubera had once gone to rob a temple of Shiva, who Himself is the King of Robbers, and the dwarf’s lighted taper had been blown out by the wind. After ten very strenuous attempts Kubera ultimately lit his taper and, since this illuminated Shiva’s earthly abode, Shiva was so pleased by Kubera’s diligence that he was reborn as the God of Wealth. It should be noted though that the conventional Goddess of Wealth is Lakshmi and Kubera is taken more as the keeper of the treasures of the world rather than the God of that treasure.

Though Kubera is always covered by precious jewels and metals his body is ugly and deformed. His stunted body is pale and white; he has three legs and only eight teeth. As he was a dwarf Brahma ordered Vishwakarma to build him a magic chariot which he could use to transport himself. So the architect god built him Pushpaka, a magic chariot that is so large that there is a whole city contained in it. As Kubera flies through the air on it he showers the earth with precious things which the poor collect to alleviate their misery.

Vishwakarma:

In the initial phases of Hinduism in the Vedic era Vishwakarma, which literally means “omnificent”, was the attribute of any strong God like Indra or even Varuna who was credited with being the divine artificer or creator of the universe. In later times, the Hindu era, this role was definitively attributed to one God of that name Vishwakarma. This Ggod acquired some of the attributes of the Vedic god Tvashtri, who was a mere artificer of the Gods making for them such wonderful things as Indra’s thunderbolt Vajra (literally thunderbolt) and the magical bowl out of which Indra and the other Gods drank soma and which automatically filled with the celestial drink and was supposed to be the secret of the supreme strength of the Vedic Gods.

Vishwakarma taught architecture to humans and, in the present time, He is widely worshipped as the Patron of all things mechanical. His day of worship in the year falls on 17th September and, on this day, His flamboyantly embellished image is worshipped in each and every factory, big, small and minuscule, with Hindu affiliation all over India.

Ganesha:

Ganesha is the revered younger son of Shiva and Parvati and the Initiator of all ceremonies and ventures. At every temple to a God or Goddess in India, a small idol of this elephant-headed pot-bellied short God is always snugly ensconced in an arched nook set into the gate of the temple. This is so not only for temples but truly devout Hindus also have His idol or picture set above the doorways of their homes and offices so that they can do obeisance to Him before they enter.

How Ganesha got His elephant’s head is an intriguing story one can read in books on Indian Mythology. Ganesha has two wives, Siddhi (enlightenment) and Buddhi (intelligence). He vied with His brother Karttikeya for their hands in marriage and won by dint of His greater learning and wisdom. Ganesha is the God of wisdom and prudence. He is such a good scribe that Vyasa, the sage who composed the Mahabharata, utilized Him. That is why, the learned say, that there is no mistake to be found in that great epic. Ganesha is also the leader of Shiva’s ganadevatas.

Ganesha is represented as a short pot-bellied man with yellow skin and four arms and an elephant’s head with only one tusk. In each of His hands He holds a shell, a discus, a club or goad and a water-lily. He either rides a rat or has one by Him. He is extremely partial to food offerings, especially fruits.

He is one of the most popular Hindu deities. As He is said to remove obstacles, He is propitiated at the beginning of any venture – building a house or factory, opening a bank account, starting out on a journey, be it long or short, writing a book or, for that matter, developing a course for Suite101 and anything else one can think of. The pot-bellied God is the initiator of everything worthwhile in India.

Garuda:

Garuda is the steed of Vishnu. He is the King of the birds and he can rival the wind with the speed of his wings. He is a relentless hater of all evil and pursues evil-doers with merciless determination. For this, and for his association with Vishnu, one of the triads – the preserver, he is much venerated by Hindus.

Garuda is the son of Kasyapa, a great sage, and Vinata, one of Dakshya’s daughters. He was born out of an egg Vinata laid. Since his mother Vinata has a feud with her counterpart Kadru, the other wife of Kasyapa and the mother of the Nagas (serpents), Garuda hates serpents and kills any that comes his way. Since Hindus, with primitive instinct, hate snakes for their venomousness they regard Garuda with special affection for this.

Garuda has the head, wings, talon and beak of an eagle and the body and limbs of a man. His body is golden while his face is white. He has splendid red wings that stretch wide and strong and help him fly speedily across all manners of terrain, as is so often narrated in his myths. When Garuda was born he was so brilliantly resplendent that he was mistaken for Agni and worshipped. Later his brilliance diminished but his strength and his unwavering morality gained him entry into the realms of the Hindu Gods.

Once, due to a quarrel with the Gods, Garuda stole the moon and ran away with it. The Gods were desperate to get back that genial heavenly God but could neither force nor persuade Garuda to return Him until they promised him that he would thereafter be deemed on a par with Vishnu and become immortal. Thus, Garuda is Vishnu’s steed but his emblem graces the standard of that Supreme God as it flies atop the shade on His chariot when He goes to battle.

Hanuman:

Hanuman is the monkey deity. He is the inseparable companion and aid of Ramachandra (popularly called Rama), the seventh avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu made manifest on earth to relieve people from the oppression of the rakshasa (demon) Ravana. Hanuman is renowned for his intelligence and learning, his speed and agility and his unswerving faithfulness to Rama. His ability to change size at will and his great strength and power is well-recorded in the Hindu epic “Ramayana” (the story of Ramachandra).

Hanuman is the son of Vayu, the wind god, and Anjana, an apsara (nymph) who was changed to a monkey by a curse. His parentage afforded Hanuman the ability to fly through the air at will. He used this ability extensively to help Rama defeat and kill Ravana.

Hanuman has the physique of a monkey with glowing golden skin. He has a radiant red face and an enormous black-tipped tail that he uses to strangle his enemies with. Hanuman is immortal by virtue of his invaluable assistance to Rama. After defeating and killing Ravana, Rama wanted to reward Hanuman for his service and told him that he could ask for anything he wished of Rama and the avatar would grant it. Hanuman asked to live for as long as people remembered the deeds of Rama. Indirectly, Hanuman became immortal as the deeds of Rama would never be forgotten by the people of the earth.

To the Hindu, Hanuman is the epitome of service and for that he is especially loved and revered. Hanuman is often worshipped as a deity who can avert any type of ill-fortune and in this aspect he is regarded as very auspicious.

Reference Material Utilized for the Entire Lesson:

Books:

1. Indian Mythology by Veronica Ions, ISBN: 0 600 34285 9

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