शनिवार, 26 जुलाई 2014

Lord Brahma - The God of Creation



Brahma is the embodiment or personification of creative energy and figures in many myths as the creator of the world.
He is usually shown with four heads and four arms, symbolizing the four cardinal directions, the four ages or yugas, and the four Vedas, or sacred books. He is seated on the lotus of creativity and holds attributes that refer to his role as priest of the gods: a portion of the Vedas, for as the Creator he makes possible all knowledge – Brahma, in fact, is sometimes equated with the human mind and the power of thought – a spoon for lustration, for it is by sacrifice that the world came into being, a vessel of holy water – since water, being formless, symbolizes the potential for creation – and a rosary (rudraksha), signifying meditation. His color is red or pink, and he is often shown as bearded, to indicate his wisdom.
Saraswati
The consort of Brahma is the goddess Saraswati, “the flowing one.” She is the beautiful goddess of Vac or speech with its immense power, and the bestower of intelligence who protects all the arts and sciences. She represents the union of power and intelligence from which organized creation arises. She plays the vina, from whose notes the sounds of the Sanskrit alphabet flow. As the patron deity of the “Word” or creative logos, she revealed language and writing to man.
Saraswati is the patroness of learning, eloquence, music, the arts, and all forms of cultural refinement. She is the mother of poetry. She is depicted as white in color, seated on the swan, and with two or sometimes eight arms. She can be shown holding a variety of objects, including the vina, a book, a rosary, and an elephant hook, with which she catches and hold her devotees. As befits her role of patroness of refinement, Sarasvati is always most graceful. She is the deity of students, artists, and intellectuals. On her annual festival none of her devotees is allowed to read books or play an instrument. These are cleaned, placed on the family altar, and worshiped as the abodes of the goddess.
Brahma and Saraswati’s vamana or bearer is a hamsa, the swan, symbol of the freedom gained through knowledge and representing the seeker’s soul which will one day take flight to its true home.
Brahma furnishes an example of the processes of change in the Hindu way of life. In all of India only two major temples remain dedicated to this once great god. Two developments have brought this about. First, a wide, but not universal, acceptance of the idea that the world we experience has only a provisional reality and so is not created in any absolute sense. Second, once a cycle of manifestation has been set in motion, he becomes redundant. Largely ignored by human beings, he is, however, worshiped by angels and seers. And third, the belief that the supreme God (especially when thought of as Shiva) has a feminine counterpart, his Shakti or power, through which all activity takes place. The worship of Shakti – or Mahadevi, the Great Goddess – as the creative principle bringing the universe into being, has made Brahma unnecessary.
The Story of Indian Art
There is an interesting story regarding the creation of Indian art and culture that involves Brahma and Saraswati. Brahma created a variety of wonderfully beautiful and enchanting things. He created the majestic mountain ranges, the thundering waterfalls and the giant forest trees, as also the nimble deer, the colorful peacock and the exquisite flowers. He filled his creation with beauty and splendor. But he was sad!
Saraswati found him in that mood and asked him the reason for it. Brahma said, “It is true I have created all this wonder and charm and showered beauty everywhere. But what is the use? My children, the human souls, simply pass them by; they do not seem to be sensitive to all the beauty around. All this seems to have been wasted on them; their creation seems to be purposeless.”
Saraswati took the hint and told him, “Well, let me do my share in the great work. You have created all this beauty and splendor. I shall create in our children the power to respond to, appreciate and get uplifted by them. I shall give them music and other arts which will draw out of them the capacity which lies deep in them to respond to the majestic splendor and exquisite charm and wondrous beauty of all creation.”
So saying, the great Muse gave us the fine arts, in the hope that through the love of music and other fine arts man would understand something of the Divine in his manifestation.

 Courtesy-www.allaboutbharat.org

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