Myths of India. Creation of the world by Brahma
...In the ocean, which had no depth, no width, no surface, no bottom, a wonderful golden egg floated. It is impossible to say what size it was, because there was nothing to compare its size with. In this egg Brahma slept and gained strength. Finally it was time to wake up. The very first thought that awoke was that of the most ancient of the gods. The power of Brahma's thought was so great that it was she, the thought, that divided the cosmic egg. One half of it became land, the other - sky, and air appeared between them.
Brahma placed stars in the sky. And mountains and plains, rivers and seas appeared on the earth.
Brahma looked around, and he felt bored and even a little scared because he was alone in the entire created world. Loneliness never brings joy to anyone. Brahma took a deep breath and then exhaled the air. From his breath arose asura spirits, good and evil. With each exhalation there were more and more of them. They built fortresses for themselves in heaven, earth and under the sea.
God, the creator of the world, thought that it would be bad in the Universe if it was inhabited only by spirits, and decided to create gods as a counterweight to them. He again strained the power of his thoughts and made the gods be born from his own ears, hands, and toes.
The eldest of them was Marichi, born from the soul of the Creator; from his eyes the second son was born - Atri; the third - Angiras - appeared from the mouth of Brahma; the fourth - Pulastya - from the right ear; fifth - Pulakha - from the left ear; Kratu, the sixth - from the nostrils of the Progenitor. The son of Marichi was the wise Kashyapa, from whom came gods, demons and people, birds and snakes, giants and monsters, priests and cows and many other creatures of divine or demonic nature who inhabited heaven and earth and underground worlds. Atri, the second of Brahma's sons, gave birth to Dharma, who became the god of justice; Angiras, the third son, laid the foundation for the line of holy sages Angiras, the eldest of whom were Brihaspati, Utathya and Samvarta. The seventh son of Brahma, the seventh of the Lords of creation, was Daksha. It came out of the big toe on the Progenitor's right foot. From the toe of Brahma's left foot a daughter was born; her name is Virini, which means Night; she became Daksha's wife. She had fifty daughters, and Daksha gave thirteen of them as wives to Kashyapa, twenty-seven to Soma, the moon god - these became twenty-seven constellations in the sky; Daksha's ten daughters became Dharma's wives. And more daughters were born to Daksha, who were destined to become the wives of gods and great sages. The eldest of Daksha's daughters, Diti, the wife of Kashyapa, was the mother of formidable demons - daityas; Dana, the second daughter, gave birth to powerful giants - the Danavas. The third - Aditi - gave birth to twelve bright sons - Adityas, great gods. Varuna, the god of the ocean, Indra, the god of thunder and thunder, Vivasvat, the god of the sun, who is also called Surya, were the most powerful of them; but the youngest of Aditi’s sons, Vishnu, the guardian of the universe, the lord of space, surpassed everyone in glory. Since ancient times, the sons of Diti and Danu - they are usually called asuras - were the enemies of the gods, the sons of Aditi. And the struggle between the asuras and gods for power over the Universe lasted for many centuries, and there was no end to their enmity.
Then Brahma lost count of his descendants. He had no time to count his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, because he was busy creating life on earth: people, plants, animals, birds, insects. Brahma entrusted the gods to rule this entire world. And he lay down to rest under the magic mulberry tree.
The Creator of the universe, Brahma, rested for a long time under the shade of the sacred mulberry tree and did not notice how the rustling of the leaves turned into a terrible noise of struggle. What happened?
As every Hindu knows, the god of virtue, the capable and dexterous Daksha, was born from the big toe of Brahma's right foot, and his wife Virini - from the toe of his left foot. They had fifty daughters. The three eldest became the most famous. Diti and Danu gave birth to the giant demons Daityas and Danavas. They were powerful and wise, mastered the secrets of magic and therefore, if desired, could take on different guises and even become invisible. They owned countless treasures, which they kept in mountain caves. They had three fortresses in the sky: one of iron, another of silver, and the third of gold. Daityas and Danavas are simply called asuras in India. For a long time, the Asuras had no one to be proud of their wealth. They lived peacefully and happily. But the third daughter of Daksha Aditi gave birth to twelve sons - Adityas - great gods. And the asuras began to boast before them of their strength, wisdom, and wealth. They even wanted power over the gods.
Could the gods tolerate this? They chose the god of thunder and lightning Indra as their king and began to fight with the asuras for power over the Universe. Brahma heard the noise of this struggle. He became angry, sided with the gods and sent the most formidable, all-destroying Rudra-Shiva to help them. Rudra uttered a terrible roar, from which the Universe trembled, and drove the asuras out of heaven. But the war between demons and gods did not end there. The confrontation between the forces of evil and good in nature and between people continues to this day. And there is no end to it.
In the beginning there was nothing. There was no sun, no moon, no stars. Only the waters stretched endlessly; from the darkness of the primordial chaos, which rested without movement, as if in a deep sleep, the waters arose before other creations. The waters gave birth to fire. Great power From the warmth within them the Golden Egg was born. There was not yet a year then, for there was no one to measure time; but for as long as a year lasts, the Golden Egg floated in the waters, in the boundless and bottomless ocean. A year later, the Progenitor arose from the Golden Embryo. He broke the Egg and it split in two. The upper half of it became Heaven, the lower half became Earth, and between them, in order to separate them, Brahma placed air space. And he established the earth among the waters, and created the countries of the world, and laid the foundation for time. This is how the universe was created.
But then the creator looked around and saw that there was no one but him in the entire universe; and he became scared. Since then, fear comes to anyone who is left alone. But he thought: “After all, there is no one here but me. Who should I be afraid of? And his fear passed away; for the fear may be of someone else. But he did not know joy either; and therefore the one who is alone does not know joy.
He thought: “How can I create offspring?” And with the power of his thoughts he gave birth to six sons, six great Lords of creatures. The eldest of them was Marichi, born from the soul of the Creator; from his eyes the second son was born - Atri; the third - Angiras - appeared from the mouth of Brahma; fourth - Pulastya - from the right ear; fifth - Pulakha - from the left ear; Kratu, the sixth - from the nostrils of the Progenitor. The son of Marichi was the wise Kashyapa, from whom came gods, demons and people, birds and snakes, giants and monsters, priests and cows and many other creatures of divine or demonic nature who inhabited the heavens, the earth, and the underworlds. Atri, the second of Brahma's sons, gave birth to Dharma, who became the god of justice; Angiras, the third son, laid the foundation for the line of holy sages Angiras, the eldest of whom were Brihaspati, Utathya and Samvarta.
The seventh son of Brahma, the seventh of the Lords of creation, was Daksha. It came out of the big toe on the Progenitor's right foot. From the toe of Brahma's left foot a daughter was born; her name is Virini, which means Night; she became Daksha's wife. She had fifty daughters, and Daksha gave thirteen of them as wives to Kashyapa, twenty-seven to the moon god, these became twenty-seven constellations in the sky; Daksha's ten daughters became Dharma's wives. And more daughters were born to Daksha, who were destined to become the wives of gods and great sages.
The eldest of Daksha's daughters, Diti, the wife of Kashyapa, was the mother of formidable demons - daityas; Dana, the second daughter, gave birth to powerful giants - the Danavas. The third one gave birth to twelve bright sons - Adityas, great gods.
Myths Ancient India
Indian myths have come to us as part of the Rig Veda (a collection of religious hymns). There are more than 3,000 gods in the Rig Veda, who represented spiritualized natural forces and phenomena. The Indians imagined the gods as people, but the gods had not yet acquired pronounced individual differences. This was partly due to the fact that deities, like natural phenomena, had something in common. For example, such gods as Indra (the main god of the Vedas, who represented the storm and thunderstorm), Rudra (the god of thunderstorms), Agni (the god of fire), Parjanya (the rain cloud), Maruts (the gods of wind and storms) are similar.
The gods fought with demons, the main one of which was Vritra (an evil deity who personified drought). Varuna, whom people identified with the sky, was considered the main god among all gods. In later times, he personified the element of water and maintained order and justice. The son of heaven and earth was the god Indra. He was a formidable warrior and managed to defeat Vritra and become the chief of the gods. According to the myths, from the belly of the murdered Vritra, the world’s waters flowed, which created the Sun. Waters fell from the sky like rain onto the Earth and watered it, and the Sun warmed it. Thus, the Earth became fertile. The sun was personified by several deities - Savitar, Surya, Pushan, Mitra, Vishnu.
In Indian myths, the symbol of time is a wheel with 12 spokes, which correspond to the 12 months of the year. Time for gods and people is endless, but it goes differently. The gods can look at a person's entire life at once.
One of the Indian myths tells that first there was Asat (non-existence), then Sat (being) emerged from it. Sat consists of earth, air space and hard palate. He appeared during the birth of Indra. The enlarged Indra divided the heavens and the earth that gave birth to him. The airspace became the abode for Indra and other gods.
In it, the gods were born and lived, enjoying all the benefits that rich people have. Between gods and people there was an intermediary - Agni. He handed over sacrifices from people to the gods.
Another great god was Soma. The effect of a ritual intoxicating drink and the Moon was attributed to him.
According to myths, Asat is located below the surface of the earth. It is inhabited by demons who can take on any form. These demons are like evil spirits and lie in wait for people everywhere.
According to myths, ancient Indians believed that the Universe was located on the backs of elephants. According to their ideas, the earth was like a lotus flower that floats in the ocean. The seven petals of this flower represent seven continents, one of which is India. In the central part of the earth, in their opinion, Mount Meru was located and the sun moves around it.
At the beginning of the first millennium BC. e. Brahmanism arose in India. From that time on, the Indians had three main gods: the creator who personified and created the Universe - Brahma, as well as Shiva and Vishnu. The last two represented eternal life in nature and fertility. Shiva was described as formidable and intimidating, and Vishnu as friendly to people. Indra was still a powerful god, but was relegated to a minor status. Some important Vedic gods have lost their importance.
Mythology during the period of Brahmanism was diverse and in many ways contradictory. This is due to the fact that the deities of various tribes and communities were preserved and became subordinate to the cult of the main gods.
A large number of myths are dedicated to Vishnu, who appeared on Earth many times, reincarnated into various creatures. He did this in order to destroy evil forces and help people and gods. The myths tell about 10 major and 22 less significant reincarnations of Vishnu. During the Middle Ages, Vishnu acquired the image of Rama and Krishna.
Shiva was often described as an ascetic who dances in a state of religious ecstasy or engages in contemplation. Among the main gods was the goddess Uma (Durga, Kali). She was the wife of Shiva and embodied the image of the Great Mother.
In Brahmanical mythology, there was a doctrine of samsara (reincarnation of the soul) and karma (retribution, retribution). People in Ancient India were confident that reincarnation of the soul was possible. Before this, a person’s soul, depending on his earthly life, goes to heaven or hell. It was believed that there were more than twenty hells.
Yama was considered the ruler of the underground kingdom of the dead. He, along with his twin sister, was born by the Sun (the god of Surya). Since birth, Yama has never been separated from his sister Yami. Having reached a certain age, they became husband and wife. They were immensely happy, they were never separated, and all the gods rejoiced at their love.
At a time when the gods revered marriage and considered it the meaning of life, the opportunity to continue the family line, one of them unexpectedly betrayed the righteous cause. For this he received the name Lawless - Adharma. In his family there were sons to whom the sinfulness of the father passed on. The sons' names were Great Fear and Death (Mrityu). Mrityu took an ax and decided to kill everyone who showed signs of life.
Yama and Yami were children of god, but they themselves were not deities and were not immortal. Surya created them as the first people, and his third son, Manu, as the progenitor of all people.
Mrityu took Yama's life. Thus, he showed people their mortality for many generations to come. Yama left the kingdom of the immortals forever and at the same time deprived people eternal life, he contributed to the separation of their soul from their body at a certain hour.
Loving her husband and brother, Yami found herself in anguish, she shed bitter tears and looked for Yama. All the gods consoled Yami, advised her to forget her husband, but nothing could help her grief. The sky was still light, and the gods were doing their business without stopping.
Then the god of heavenly light decided to temporarily stop the heavenly radiance and calm Yami. Thus he created night, which replaces day. Yami's grief subsided a little with surprise after the darkness fell. Since then, night has always replaced day to give people sleep and reduce their worries.
Yama came to life and became immortal. However, his life continued not in heaven, but in the underground depths. He became the king of the abode of dead souls. He sits on a throne in a palace in the underground city of Yamapura, which is the capital of the kingdom of death. The souls of living people who are in a dying state due to old age, illness or battle wounds also fell into the power of the Yama. Yama also monitors what people do in earthly life.
The souls of the dead began to humbly appear before Yama for judgment. Everything done by every person is written down by Yama's assistant, the scribe Chitragupta, who is the Master of Secret Writing. Four-eyed spotted dogs, who are Yama's subjects, also roam the earth. They watch people, find sinners by smell and take their lives. Souls humbly stand before Yama, who determines the measure of praise or punishment for them. Praiseworthy souls, after judgment, ascend to the heavenly world and reside there forever as ancestral spirits, worshiped by their descendants on Earth. Sinful souls are punished. In the twenty-first hell of the underworld these souls undergo torment. They are tormented by Yama's subjects, who do not know compassion, for earthly unrighteous deeds.
Sometimes Yama himself rushes across the Earth in a chariot. His driver is Mrityu, who sows death among people. In one hand he has a rod from which deadly fire erupts, and in the other a noose for catching souls. Yama appears on a black buffalo. He looks intimidating in his red clothes and with a fiery gaze that sees everything. No one can escape his sentence. Only he takes possession of the souls of the dead.
People try to appease the great and terrible Yama with prayers and sacrifices. Not only the souls of the dead enter the kingdom of Yama, but also those whose bodies are burned at the stake. The souls of animals that were sacrificed to God also go there. The two gods, Yama (devourer of souls, guardian of order) and Agni (god of fire and eater of flesh), are almost inseparable.
In ancient times, when the gods first created Time, human life was long - up to 100 years. However, Mrityu overtook people ahead of time, sometimes even in their youth. People buried some of the dead in the ground, and some burned them at the stake. The merciful gods allowed people to perform both funeral rites.
The bodies of the dead were first washed with water or sour milk (a sacred product). Then the dead were wrapped in cloth and laid next to valuable jewellery and weapons. People believed that these things would be useful to the dead in the afterlife. The grave was sprinkled with oil and at the same time they prayed, asking the earth to hospitably accept the deceased.
While burying the bodies in the grave, people read prayers and sang hymns. Thus, they turned to the gods and asked to extend their life on Earth.
If the deceased was prepared to be burned at the stake, then his body was coated with fat. It was believed that this would be pleasant for Agni and would help quickly separate the soul and the dead body.
This text is an introductory fragment.Then there was neither non-existence nor existence; there was neither the realm of space nor the sky that lay beyond it. What set in motion? Where? By whose command? Were there bottomless deep waters? There was neither death nor immortality then. There was no sign of night or day. Only the One breathed, without raising the wind, according to his own impulse. Apart from this, there was nothing.
In the beginning darkness was hidden in darkness; and all this was water without boundaries. The life force was covered with emptiness, and the One excited it with the power of heat. And the desire came to the One; and this was the first seed of intelligence. Wise poets search in their hearts for the bonds of existence in non-existence.
Was there a bottom then? Was there an upper hand then? Then there were the sowers; there was strength then. Then there was an impulse from below; then there was a proclamation from above. Who knows what happened in reality? Who will state this here? When did it start? When did creation happen? The gods came after, when the Universe was created. So who knows when she rose from the waters? When creation began - perhaps it created itself, and perhaps not - the one who looks down on her, the one who is in the highest of heavens, only he knows it - and perhaps he does not know either.
In the beginning there was nothing but the Great Self, Brahman. In other words, only Brahman existed. And when people offer sacrifices to this or that god or goddess, in reality they are worshiping only Brahman. After all, he is behind all things in this world.
So the Brahman looked around and saw no one. And he felt fear. What was he afraid of? After all, there was nothing but him! The Brahman was completely alone, and in order to be afraid, there must be something to be afraid of. But Brahman was alone. And these days there are lonely people whose only companion is fear, even if they have no one to fear.
Then Brahman took the form of Brahma, the Creator. Brahma was not happy: what can you rejoice in alone?
Brahma created the world again and again many, many times. No one knows how many worlds existed before ours and how many will exist after it. The four eras, or yugas, together constitute one kalpa (eon). At the end of each kalpa, the world is destroyed and returns to a state of watery chaos.
As Brahma meditated, beings began to arise from his mind. He took on a body made of darkness, and from his anus came the winds - thus the demons were born. Then Brahma rejected this body from darkness, and the rejected body became night.
He then took on a new body, made mostly of goodness and light. From his mouth came shining gods - devas. He also threw away this body, which became day. And now people visit temples and worship gods during the day, and not at night.
Then Brahma took the third body, which consisted entirely of satva [good]. Brahma had the most beautiful thoughts about fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, and thus the “spirits of ancestors” arose. These spirits appear at dusk, dawn and dusk, when night and day meet.
Then Brahma discarded this body and accepted the fourth, consisting of the energy that came from his mind. The thoughts of this body created people, thinking beings. Brahma threw this body away too, and it became the Moon. To this day, people dance, sing and make love in the moonlight.
When creating people, Brahma, by the power of thought, divided his temporary body into two halves, just as an oyster shell is split. One half was male, the other half was female. They looked at each other with love. And since then, happy spouses are like two halves of a single being, and Brahma lives in both.
So, Brahma realized that these first people needed fire to live comfortably. And Brahma took fire from his mouth. This fire burned the hair that grew in his mouth. And since then, hair grows on the cheeks only on the outside.
The man and woman looked at each other and, recognizing that they were two halves of a single being, they united and fell in love with each other. This was the beginning of the human race.
But the woman thought: “How can we love each other if we are parts of one being?” And she tried to run away from the man, turning into a cow. But the man turned into a bull, and they gave birth to all livestock. Then the woman turned into a mare; the man became a stallion, and they conceived a foal. This continued until the smallest of living beings was created.
After this, Brahma took on a fifth body, consisting of energy and darkness, and gave birth to terrible creatures that wanted to devour the primeval ocean of chaos; they were giants and monsters.
This last creation upset Brahma so much that he lost all the hair on his head out of grief. These hairs turned into creatures crawling on their bellies - snakes and other reptiles. They hide in damp and dark places, in swamps, under stones and rocks.
But Brahma continued to worry about creating monsters, and from his dark thoughts the terrible Gandharva ghouls were born.
Finally, Brahma managed to pull himself together, and he again turned to pleasant thoughts. He recalled the peaceful and happy times of his youth. He was happy, and from this happiness birds were born. And then new creations arose from Brahma’s body: animals, plants and other forms of life.
All the qualities that living beings are now endowed with come from the thoughts of Brahma and remain unchanged as long as this world exists. All living beings inhabiting the Earth were created through the act of Brahma, who gave them all names and divided them into male and female. Brahma lives in every being, for they all arose from him.
Introduction.
Vedic mythology - a set of mythological ideas of the Vedic Aryans; Vedic mythology is usually understood as the mythological ideas of the Aryans during the period of creation of the Vedas, and sometimes also the period of creation of Brahmanas, prosaic commentaries on the Vedas, and Upanishads, secret teachings of a philosophical and religious nature, genetically related to the Vedas, but reflecting, in fact, a different cultural tradition . Chronologically, Vedic mythology belongs to the era between the middle of the 2nd and the middle. 1st millennium BC e., when the primitive communal structure of Vedic society was already at the stage of decomposition and a way of life was gradually formed that was characteristic of military democracy.
Sources of Vedic mythology: four ancient collections of the Vedas; brahmanas to the corresponding Vedas (valuable information about the ritual, interpretation of its hidden meaning and symbolism, a number of myths and mythologized legends); Aranyakas (texts related to Brahmins); Upanishads. These sources belong to the class of shruti - “heard” (i.e. revelation).
Vedic mythology was transmitted orally, and the “divine” nature of the texts corresponded to the special role of speech and memory, opposing oblivion and inarticulate chaos.
Smriti texts - “remembered” (going back to authorities) include sutras that deal with sacrifices, household rituals, mythologized legislation, etc.
Some information about Vedic mythology can be gleaned from later Hindu texts genetically related to the Vedic tradition, and even from Buddhist texts. Vedism was not a pan-Indian religion; it was adhered to only by a group of Indo-Aryan tribes that inhabited Eastern Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, which is also the creator of the Rig Veda and other Vedic collections. One of characteristic features The Vedic religion is polytheism - the worship of many gods, who are usually endowed with human properties. The main god was considered Indra - the god of thunder, a powerful warrior. Varuna is the guardian of world order and justice. Agni is the god of fire and protector of the hearth. The Indian of the Vedic era deified the forces of nature, animated plants, mountains and rivers. Later, on the basis of this, the doctrine of the transmigration of souls took shape. To win the favor of the gods, Indians made sacrifices to them, prayed for help, offspring and wealth. Vedic writings depict the rich spiritual world of the Indians, who even then created complex cosmogonic ideas. Even then, man tried to explain in a mythologized form the reasons for the emergence of the world and all life on earth.
Vedic mythology, as reflected in the most ancient texts, presupposes a free composition of myths based on the entire body of mythopoetic knowledge (veda); Each plot, motive, attribute is mythological in principle and does not require a special myth in an established, complete form for its explanation. The historical and cultural significance of Vedic mythology is extremely great.
Hindu mythology originates (from the 1st millennium AD) in the Indo-Aryan Vedic culture through Brahmanism, which was influenced by Buddhism. Includes many teachings reflecting monotheistic, pantheistic, polytheistic and other religious ideas. The word “Hinduism” is defined in scientific literature and journalism, the most ancient traditional forms of the Indian religious system, in contrast to other ethical and religious teachings - Buddhism, Jainism and Islam. It arose not among the indigenous people of India, but among those military leaders and rulers neighboring countries who professed Islam, and, starting from the 10th century, brought their conquering armies to the lands of India. The first area where their influence began to spread was the northwestern lands of this country. From the name of the main waterway of these lands, the Sindhu-Hind-Indus River, the words India and Hindu (Hinduism) originated. The Indians themselves call their country Bharat, and define Hinduism as dharma, or santana-dharma, i.e. religious law. Dharma embraces the entire complex system of religious, ethical and socio-legal institutions that gradually took shape among the population of the country over the past 5 thousand years.
Of course, Hinduism included many ideas from Vedism. But we must keep in mind that Hinduism is a developed religion of a new stage in the life of ancient Indian society. In Hinduism, the creator god comes to the fore and a strict hierarchy is established in the pantheon. The cults of the gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva began to play a special role. This is how a triad (trimurti) of these main deities is formed, perceived as a manifestation of a single supreme deity.
Brahma.
Brahma was considered the creator and ruler of the world; he was responsible for the establishment of social laws on earth (dharma), the division into varnas 1.
According to Puranas 2, Brahma is self-born, without a mother, born from a lotus flower that grew from the navel of Vishnu at the very beginning of the process of creation of the material Universe. For this reason, Brahma is also known by the name Nabhija - "born from the navel". According to another legend, Brahma was born in water into which Vishnu deposited his seed, which later turned into a golden egg, a kind of cosmic embryo. From this golden egg, Brahma was born as Hiranyagarbha. The remaining components of this golden egg expanded and became the Universe. Since Brahma was born in water, he is also called Kanja ("born in water"). It is also said that Brahma is the son of the Supreme Being Brahman, and the feminine energy known as Prakriti or Maya.
Soon after the creation of the Universe, Brahma created eleven Prajapatis, who are considered the progenitors of humanity. In the Manu-smriti they are listed by name:
Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Vasishtha, Praceta or Daksha, Bhrigu and Narada. It is also said that Brahma created seven great sages Saptarishis, who assisted him in the creation of the Universe. All seven sages were born from Brahma's mind and not from his body. Therefore they are called Manasa-putra, or "sons born from the mind."
Vedic and Puranic texts describe that Brahma only sometimes interferes in the affairs of other devas, and even less often in the affairs of people. According to the Brahma Purana and other Puranas, in Hindu cosmology Brahma is seen as the creator of the Universe, but not as God. On the contrary, he is considered to have been created by God (in his personal aspect of Bhagavan, or in his impersonal aspect of Brahman). Brahma's lifespan is described to be 100 "Brahma years", which is equal to 311,040,000,000,000 earth years. After Brahma's life comes to an end, there is a break, also lasting 100 years. After this, another Brahma the creator begins the process of creation anew. This cycle continues endlessly.
Varna 1(Sanskrit: वर्ण, varṇ IAST , “quality, color, category”) - refers to the division of ancient Indian society into four main classes: brahmans - priests, scientists, ascetics; kshatriyas - warriors, rulers; Vaishyas - farmers, artisans, traders; Shudras are servants, hired workers.
Puranas 2(Sanskrit: पुराण purāṇa IAST "ancient epic") - texts of ancient Indian literature in Sanskrit.
Brahma's skin color is described to be reddish and he is dressed in red clothes. Brahma has four heads, four faces and four arms. It is said that each of his four heads continuously recites one of the four Vedas. Brahma is often depicted with a white beard (especially in Northern India), symbolizing the almost eternal nature of his existence. Unlike most other Hindu deities, Brahma does not hold any weapons in his hands. In one of his hands he holds a scepter in the shape of a ladle or a large spoon, which is associated with the pouring of ghee (ghee) on the sacred fire of Vedic sacrifices and symbolizes that Brahma is the lord of the yajnas 1. In the other of his hands he holds a kamandalu, a vessel of water made of metal or even a coconut shell. The water in this vessel symbolizes the primordial, all-absorbing ether, from which the first elements of creation emerged. In the other of his hands Brahma holds prayer beads called akshamala, which he uses to calculate universal time. In his fourth hand, Brahma usually holds the books of the Vedas, but sometimes a lotus flower.
- Four hands- Brahma's four arms represent the four cardinal directions: east, south, west and north.
The back right hand represents the mind, the back left hand represents the mind, the front right hand the ego, and the front left hand self-confidence.
- Beads- symbolize various material substances used in the process of creation of the Universe.
- Book- the book of the Vedas in one of Brahma’s hands symbolizes knowledge.
- Gold- associated with activity; Brahma's golden face indicates that he is actively involved in the process of creation of the Universe.
- Swan- symbolizes mercy and the ability to distinguish between good and bad. Brahma uses the swan Hamsa as his vehicle, vahana.
- Crown- Brahma's crown symbolizes his supreme power in the Universe.
Yajna, yajna or yagya 1(Sanskrit: यज्ञ yajña IAST ) is a ritual of sacrifice in Hinduism, which originated in the religious practices of the Vedic religion. Yajna is usually performed to satisfy the devas or to fulfill certain desires (rituals Kamya). The most important element of the yajna is the sacrificial fire (divine Agni) where various offerings are offered, which through the medium of Agni go to the maidens.
- Lotus- The lotus flower symbolizes the nature and essence of all things and living beings in the Universe.
