There has been a spate of emails to me on this question.
And there was the question in Yahoo answers.
“Between Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, why is Brahma (the creator) worshipped the least ? I am told that it is because Brahma was cursed by somebody. If that is true, this means that our God performed deeds bad enough to be cursed. It also means that there was somebody who also possessed more power that our Creator. Please explain.”
Hence this post.
Who are the parents of the Trimurtis, Brahma Vishnu and Shiva?
Brahma is portrayed as the son of Vishnu in all the Puranas, having come out of Lord Vishnu’s Nabhi(Belly Button)
Vishnu Purana says that Rudra was born of Kashyapa so are the Twelve Adhiyas, including Vishnu.
Vishnu Purana maintains that Vishnu is the Supreme Lord and the othertwo murthis are from Him.
Brahma Purana says that Rudra is the son of Braham(please read y post)
Shiva Purana declares that Vishnu and the other Devatas originated from Shiva.
There is direct reference to Shiva in the Vedas(read my post)
We find that Devi Bhagavatha stating that Devi is the Creator of all the devas including the Trimurthis.
The Bhagavad Gita states that Krishna is the Supreme Deity.
In the same breath it declares that in whatever form one worships,Krishna grants one’s wishes as That Form.
Why such seeming contradictions?
Added to this the core philosophy of the Vedas.
Para Vidya (beyond this world Knowledge) and Apara Vidya (worldly Vidya.
Of Reality without Attributes ,Nirguna Brahman and Relity with Attributes,Saguna Brahman.
There is also the interpretation, that Shiva is the Potential energy, Vishnu the Kinetic energy which moves and Brahma, an aspect of Kinetic energy.
Let us see what all this means.
As ordained by the Vedas, the Para Vidya is Real, that is of realizing the Ultimate Reality.
Vedas are uniform in the assertion that the Brahman , Reality is with out Attributes and can , at bes,t be described by the process of exclusion of Attributes, the neti Nyaya,.
That is ,trying to determine and explain Reality by excluding the attributes known to Man, like Long, Tall, Short,big,small….
That which remains after excluding all these attributes, what does remain?
To our limited mind which is conditioned by the twins of Space and Time,it appears to be Zero.
This is what the Sunyavadins of Buddhism arrive at.
Is that so?
Let us look at this with the help of a simple example.
A Flower has many attributes, properties,
It has colors of various shades, size, shape,smell and more properties which can be perceived by our senses through our mind.
When you remove all these what does remain?
We can not comprehend that all one can say.
There has to be something to hold down integrate all these attributes to present a Flower.
It need not mean that there is nothing because we are not aware of it for my mind tells me that the are many things which I can not KNOW but FEEL.
Like Hunger, Thirst, Sex to cite a few examples.
Knowing is different from feeling.
God can be felt not known.
The mind tries to give a description of feelings but never a definition.
You can describe Hunger but never define it except by various symptoms.
Similarly Reality can be described but never defined for it is beyond us.
Tamil Language has two beautiful words for God.
Kadavul, One who is beyond Mind.
Iraivan, One who permanently resides in the Heart.
Heart feels which can not be deciphered by them Mind.
Reality comes under this category.
So God/Reality can only be felt.
Now have N number of individuals with varying dispositions.
Depending on one’s disposition one realizes , understands, feels Realty or God.
Those who want to see God as a male, Female, a Friend, A child, a Lover …
All can realize through any of these approaches.
Hinduism looks for God in Man.
As such the limitations of Man has to be understood.
With the available tools Man has, one has to realize God,Reality.
This Hinduism does.
So worship of Gods in many forms and many Devatas.
This is a step to understanding realizing the Reality.
So the Gods described, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are the expressions of this.
It is equally essential that, to reinforce Faith in the Mind, to believe that what one follows , is the Best nd Superior to others.
This process is called Henotheism.
So each Purana declares the deity it is named after as the Best and superior to the others.
Hence , Brahman with out attributes is the Reality and the Gods explained in Puranas and their explanations are bit a step to realize Brahman.
The question of the parentage of any of these deities do not arise at the Highest level of Knowledge.
This also has a logical limitation.
The cause for any thing must end at one place,be it Science or Religion.
Please read my post Many Gods in Hinduism, Yes and No.
https://beta.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/saibabanews/conversations/topics/52678
