Although generally a jiva soul is given the position of the demigod Lord Brahma, if there is no such being suitable to occupy the post, then the Supreme Being again expands Himself to become Lord Brahma.13
Lord Vishnu maintains the universe, and through His form of Brahma He creates the functional universe, and in His form as Rudra [Lord Shiva] He brings about the destruction of the cosmic creation. Thus, only by the will of the Supreme is there creation, maintenance and dissolution of the complete cosmic creation, which are under the charge of these three personalities.14
The difference is that Lord Krishna expands Himself into His personal plenary form of Vishnu for the maintenance of the universe. This is like the flame of one candle being used to light another candle. However, the second candle is as powerful as the first. Being the director of the mode of goodness, Vishnu is transcendental to the material energy. However, Lord Vishnu's opulences and potencies are not quite but almost equal to Krishna's.15
Regarding Lord Shiva, he is an assumed form of the Supreme Being, Vishnu, just as yogurt is a changed form of milk. Lord Vishnu assumes the form of Shiva for the special purpose of material transactions.16 Lord Shiva is an associate of the external energy, the three modes of material nature. Therefore, he is absorbed in the material quality of darkness and the element of egotism. Lord Vishnu is transcendental to maya and her qualities, thus He is the Supreme Personality. The truth is that Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva are devotee incarnations who carry out the orders of the Supreme.17
Although Brahma lives for many millions of years, he lives only within the duration of one of the breaths of Maha-Vishnu. Such a lifetime is calculated to be equal to one nimesha, less than a second, for the Supreme Lord Maha-Vishnu.18
BRAHMA AND THE DAWN OF CREATION
The Vishnu Purana (Book One, Chapter Two) and the Agni Purana (17.2) explain that at the very beginning of creation there was neither day nor night, nor sky nor earth, nor darkness, nor light, nor any other things save only the One, Supreme, unapprehensible by intellect, along with Brahma, spirit, and the subtle energy of matter and time.
Although situated in the whorl of the lotus in which he was born, Brahma could not see the world. Therefore, he circumambulated all of space, and while moving his eyes in the four directions, he achieved four heads. Brahma could not understand anything about the creation, the lotus upon which he sat, nor himself. Then the air of devastation began to move the Garbhodaka Ocean, the water below him, and the lotus in great circles. Brahma began to wonder who he was, and how he came to be situated on top of the lotus. From where did it sprout, and what is the source that must be within the water? Brahma then entered the stem of the lotus, but try as he might he could not trace out the source. While searching in this way, Brahma realized his mortality and felt the fear of death in his mind. Then he retired to the lotus and simply contemplated on the Supreme in order to understand the ultimate cause of his existence.19
While thus engaged in thinking, Brahma twice heard two syllables of instruction from nearby. These syllables formed the word tapa, which means penance for spiritual realization. When he heard that sound, he searched all around but could find no speaker. So, he thought it best to sit down and attend to the performance of penance as he was told.20
Brahma then engaged in meditation until finally he had the required knowledge to see what he could not see before, which was the Supreme Being in his own heart.21
So, this is a great lesson. No one, not even the greatest of beings, can realize who they are by speculative knowledge, or by analyzing the surroundings in the universe. Only by the proper meditation and devotional surrender will the Supreme Being reveal Himself to us, by which we can understand who we are and our purpose in this material world.
The Brahma-samhita (5.23-26) also explains how Brahma, coming out of the lotus and being guided by divine potency, turned his mind to the act of creation under the impulse of impressions he had from previous lifetimes. [This also indicates that Lord Brahma is generally a powerful living being who is capable of the job, but when such a being is not available, Lord Vishnu takes up the position Himself.] Thus, he began to recall his purpose. However, he could see nothing but darkness in all directions and thus still felt confused. Then the goddess of learning, Sarasvati, the divine consort to the Supreme Lord, gave Brahma the kama-bija mantra: Klim krishnaya govindaya gopi-jana-vallabhaya svaha. She told him that he should practice spiritual association by means of this mantra to fulfill his heart's desires. Thereafter, he meditated by using this mantra, and by focusing his mind in this way: "There exists a divine lotus of a thousand petals, augmented by millions of filaments, in the transcendental land of Goloka. On its whorl, there exists a great divine throne on which is seated Sri Krishna, the form of eternal effulgence of transcendental bliss, playing on His divine flute resonant with the divine sound, with His lotus mouth. He is worshiped by His amorous milkmaids with their respective subjective portions and extensions and also by His external energy [meaning Durga, who stays outside the spiritual realm] embodying all mundane qualities."
Then the Gayatri mantra, mother of the Vedas, was imparted to Brahma from the sound of Sri Krishna's flute. Having been initiated with the Gayatri from the Supreme Being Himself, Brahma attained the status of twice-born, or having a spiritual birth. This was through the realization of the transcendental pastimes of Sri Krishna through the use of the kama-gayatri. This is the highest Gayatri of all because it contains a meditation and prayer of the perfectly spiritual and sportive activities of Lord Krishna that are not found in other gayatris. The kama-gayatri is: Klim kama-devaya vidmahe pushpa-banaya dhimahi tan no 'nangah prachodayat.22
Enlightened by the recollection of that Gayatri, which embodies the three Vedas, Brahma became acquainted with the vast ocean of Truth. Then he worshiped Lord Krishna, the essence of all Vedic knowledge, with the hymn that makes up the major portion of the Brahma-samhita,23 called the Govinda Prayers.
Being very much pleased with Lord Brahma because of his nondeceptive penance in bhakti-yoga, the Supreme Being, Lord Vishnu, presented His eternal and transcendental form to him.24
Thereafter, Brahma could see the gigantic lotus-like bedstead, which was the body of Seshanaga, on which the Personality of Lord Vishnu was lying alone. The rays of the jewels bedecking the body of Seshanaga dissipated the darkness of those regions. Lord Vishnu's unlimited spiritual body occupied the space of the upper, middle and lower planetary systems. He was self-effulgent and beautifully dressed and ornamented. He was decorated with valuable jewels and fragrant flowers. The Lord showed His lotus feet by raising them, which are the rewards of pure devotional service. The splendor of the transcendental rays from His moonlike toenails and fingernails looked like petals of a flower. His beautiful smile vanquishes the distress of His devotees, and His face was so pleasing because it dazzled with the rays from His lips and the beauty of His nose and eyebrows. As Lord Brahma, high in the lotus flower, thus saw the Lord, he simultaneously glanced over creation. He saw the lake in Lord Vishnu's navel and the lotus, as well as the devastating water below. All became visible to him. Lord Brahma, being thus surcharged with the mode of passion and the inclination to create, began to offer prayers to the Lord to acquire the necessary energy and creative mentality.25
Then Lord Brahma displayed his deep realizations about the purpose of life in the many prayers he offered to Lord Vishnu. After having prayed to the Supreme as far as his mind would permit, the Lord saw that Brahma was very anxious about planning and constructing the different planetary systems. Thus, He responded to Brahma in deep, thoughtful words, which removed all of the illusion that had arisen. He told Brahma, "Situate yourself in penance and meditation and follow the principles of knowledge to receive My favor. When you are absorbed in devotional service, in the course of your creative activities, you will see Me in you and throughout the universe, and you will see that you yourself, the universe and all living entities are in Me. You will see Me in all living entities as we
ll as all over the universe, just as fire is situated in wood. Only in that state of transcendental vision will you be able to be free from all kinds of illusion. I am the Supersoul of every individual. I am the supreme director and the dearest. People are wrongly attached to the gross and subtle bodies, but they should be attached to Me only. By following My instructions you can now generate the living entities as before, by dint of your complete Vedic wisdom and the body you have directly received from Me, the supreme cause of everything." Then the Supreme Being disappeared.25
Now that Brahma had the power to create, he began the process of manifesting the various living beings and objects of the universe from his own body and mind. This is described in many places in the Puranas, and in detail in Chapter Ten of the Third Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam.
It is also described that just before the creation of the universe, Lord Krishna had enlightened Brahma in his heart with the full Srimad-Bhagavatam . This was while Brahma was sitting on the huge lotus flower, frightened by the material existence before the process of creation had begun.26 Only after having received this knowledge did Brahma realize how to proceed with the creation of the universe. Even afterwards, when it came time to manifest the Vedic sound vibration, the Supreme Lord had directly spoken the Srimad-Bhagavatam in summary to Brahma, who in turn then gave it to Narada.27 It was Narada Muni who had played the role of spiritual master to Vyasadeva and gave the same Bhagavatam to him, which he then fully deliberated for the benefit of humanity. To do this, Brahma also created the Sanskrit alphabet in order to form the Vedic knowledge in spoken and later written forms.
More information on this process is supplied in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (12.6.43-46) which explains that it was from the omkara (Om mantra, seed of all things) that Lord Brahma created all the sounds of the alphabet, such as the vowels, consonants, semivowels, sibilants, and so on. Lord Brahma then made use of this collection of sounds and produced from his four faces the four Vedas, which then appeared along with Om and the seven vyahriti invocations. His intention was to propagate the process of Vedic rituals according to the different functions performed by the priests of each of the four Vedas. Brahma taught these Vedas to his sons, who were great sages among the brahamanas and experts in the art of Vedic recitation. They in turn took the role of acharyas [spiritual masters] and imparted the Vedas to their owns sons. In this way, throughout the cycles of the four ages, generation after generation of disciples-all firmly fixed in their spiritual vows-have received this Vedic knowledge by disciplic succession. At the end of each Dvapara-yuga, the Vedas and all related Vedic knowledge are edited into separate divisions by eminent sages [headed by Vyasadeva].
In this way, as previously explained, Lord Brahma is active during his day, which is equal to the length of time of one thousand cycles of the four yugas, Satya-yuga through Kali-yuga. Then he sleeps during his night, which is of the same duration. When he sleeps, there is a partial annihilation of the lower planetary systems below Brahmaloka, the residence of Brahma, which get submerged in the waters of devastation. Under the influence of the mode of darkness, the powerful manifestation of the universe merges into the darkness of night. The innumerable living entities stay merged in that darkness while everything remains silent. All three levels of planetary systems are out of sight, and the sun and moon are also dark. The process of the annihilation is caused by the flames emanating from Lord Sankarshana, Sheshanaga, who is lying on the Garbhodaka Ocean at the bottom of the universe. These flames produce the intense changes that cause the worlds to come to an end. Brahma then dreams about Lord Vishnu who gives him instructions about the recreation. When Brahma awakes, he reconstructs the devastated areas of the universe to start anew.28
CHAPTER NOTES
1.Linga Purana 40.86-92
2.Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.10.14-16
3.Ibid., 3.10.17
4.Kurma Purana 1.7.2
5.Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.10.18-29.
Also described in Vishnu Purana (Book One, Chapter Five), Padma Purana 1.3.76-84, Agni Purana (Chapter 17 & 20), Narada Purana. 1.3.25-35, Kurma Purana 1.7.1-19, Garuda Purana 1.4.14-22, and others
6.Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.292-3
7.Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.6.6.purport
8.Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila, 5.95-101
9.Ibid., Adi-lila, 5.102-3
10.Brahma-samhita 5.18 & Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.24.10
11.Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.8.14-15
12.Brahma-samhita 5.22 & Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.287-288
13.Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.305
14.Ibid., Madhya-lila, 20.288-291
15.Ibid., Madhya-lila, 20.314-316 & Brahma-samhita 5.46
16.Brahma-samhita, 5.45
17.Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.309-311, 317 & Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.88.3
18.Brahma-samhita 5.48 & Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.11.38
19.Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.8.16-21
20.Ibid., 2.9.6-7
21.Ibid., 3.8.22
22.Brahma-samhita 5.27
23.Ibid., 5.28
24.Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.4
25.Ibid., 3.8.23-33
26.Ibid., 12.13.10
27.Ibid., 2.7.51
28.Ibid., 3.11.22-30
CHAPTER SIX
The Identity of Lord Shiva and Goddess Durga
After understanding the information supplied so far, we can begin to see how the different Vedic gods have particular roles or functions, and represent or control different forces of nature. Thus, they are not all the same. They all have different potencies to do particular things in the arrangement and management of the universal creation. In this way, most of them have specific positions and purposes to help facilitate the cause for the creation, maintenance, and even the destruction of the universe.
The most prominent of all the Vedic gods consists of the Trinity of Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva. Brahma assists in creating the world, Vishnu maintains it, and Shiva helps in its annihilation. (I have dealt with this aspect much more extensively in my book, How the Universe Was Created, so I will not include that here.) Those that follow the Vedic path can generally be divided into three main categories; namely those who worship Shiva and are Shaivites, those who worship Shakti or the Goddess and are Shaktas, and those who worship Vishnu, the Vaishnavas. So, let us understand the identity and function of Lord Shiva and Goddess Durga.
* * *
One of the most significant of all the Vedic gods is Shiva. And one of the most noted of all the goddesses is Shiva's wife, Durga. They also go by many other names. For example, Durga is also called Parvati and Sati, which means chastity. The name Shiva means auspicious. Shiva is also known by many different names according to his function. When, for example, he expresses himself through space and time, he is known as Ishwara. He is called Sadashiva when he functions through air, which incorporates the principles of both sound and touch. Shiva is known as Rudra when he operates through fire, which incorporates the principles of sound, touch and form.
Shiva is the embodiment and controller of tama-guna, the mode of darkness, inertia, and the tendency towards annihilation. This is how he assists in the destruction of the cosmic creation in the end times, as well as in the exhibition of continuous forms of death and destruction that we see every day. However, this demise and dissolution can also be viewed as a renewal, which is also considered to be a part of Shiva.
We can find additional characteristics of Lord Shiva in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (4.2.2) in which it states that Lord Shiva is the spiritual master of the entire world. He is a peaceful personality, free from enmity, always satisfied in himself. He is the greatest among all the demigods. He is the spiritual master of the world by showing how to worship the Supreme. He is considered the best of all devotees. Therefore, he has his own spiritual line or sampradaya called the Rudra-sampradaya that comes directly from him. These days it is found in the Vishnusvami-sampradaya, or the Vallabha-sampradaya.
Shiva is described as th
e most powerful, second only to Lord Vishnu.1 In this way, he is not the Supreme, but is almost as powerful. Although he has nothing to attain in this material world, he is always engaged for the benefit of everyone in this universe, and is accompanied by his material and dangerous energies like goddess Kali and goddess Durga. They serve him by killing all kinds of demons and impious persons. War represents Kali's energy of devastation. Sometimes we see pictures of a fierce form of Kali standing with one foot on the body of Shiva. This is because Shiva sometimes has to lie down in front of her to pacify her from killing all the demoniac people in the world. In this way, Shiva controls the material energy. Lord Shiva is also in control of the destructive energy, tamo-guna, the mode of darkness, and is assisted by Kali and Durga in this purpose. Durga helps him in keeping the majority of the living beings in the darkness of ignorance. That is why Durga and Kali are described as dangerous potencies. Only those who are serious about spiritual life are protected from this darkness.
Shiva is often shown as a handsome young man, with long hair from which flows a spurt of the Ganga (Ganges) River (an emblem of purity) and in which is also a crescent moon. He is also white or light bluish in complexion, sometimes with a third eye between the eyebrows on the forehead, and usually with four arms (a sign of universal power) holding a Trishula (a trident, showing his ruling proficiency over the three modes of nature), the Damaru (small hour-glass shaped drum, the beating of which represents language or the alphabet), and exhibiting the mudras (hand positions) of Abhaya (protection) and Varada (giving blessings).
Lord Shiva on the left, with Goddess Parvati or Durga on the right, with little Lord Ganesh on their lap. Deities located in central Delhi.
It is also said that Shiva's drum represents srishti, the creation; the abhaya hand (giving blessings) represents sthiti, or preservation; his foot that presses down symbolizes tirobhava, or the veiling effect; and the uplifted foot means blessings (anugraha), especially toward seeing through the veil of illusion caused by ego. When he is shown with an axe, it represents samhara, destruction.
Hindu Gods & Goddesses Page 11