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by Jayaram V
In Hinduism God is viewed as one and the many. He is also
described as both the known and the unknown and the One with qualities and
the One without qualities. He is compared to the sky, the space,
consciousness, ether and even emptiness. He is both the known and
the unknown, the lower and the higher, the immanent and the transcendent.
According to some schools He manifests the objective worlds out
of Himself using Himself as the raw material, through His dynamic
energy or shakti. According to other schools, creation is accomplished
by Nature or Prakriti (Mother Goddess), either independently on
Her own or under His inviolable will. Whatever may be the truth,
the Hindu cosmogony is a complex structure, without a beginning
and without an end, consisting of innumerable worlds and planes
of consciousness inhabited by various beings and divinities possessing
different degrees of potency and intelligence and performing different
roles in executing and enforcing the will of God.
At the top of this universal pyramid and also extending beyond
it resides Brahman in His undifferentiated and absolute aspect while
He also permeates the entire pyramid as its inner witness. The trinity
of gods, namely Brahma, Vishnu and Siva occupy the second highest
tier. Collectively they are the three functional aspects of the
one and the only Brahman. Individually they reside in their own
spheres and perform their respective functions. Lord Brahma is the
creator, Lord Vishnu the preserver and Lord Siva the destroyer.
In the objective world, each has His own distinguishing features
or attributes and also their own Shaktis or aspects of the
Universal Mother. Goddess Saraswathi is the consort of Lord Brahma,
Lakshmi and goddess earth of Lord Vishnu and Parvathi and
Ganga of Lord Siva. Symbolically the three
gods represent various things at various levels. They exist both
with in the creation and outside of it. They exist in us also as
consciousness, energy, will power, thoughts, emotions and qualities.
Symbolic significance of the the Hindu Trinty is discussed below
1. In the Physical plane, that is within ourselves, Brahma resides
as the psychic element, Vishnu as the mental element and Siva as
the physical element. In other words, Brahma is the intuitive mind,
Vishnu is the conscious mind and Shiva is the physical body.
2. In the mental plane, Brahma manifests as creative ideas, Vishnu
as the inspiration and Siva as the doubt and hesitation. Brahma
manifests as the thought, Vishnu as the action and Siva as the corrective
action. In us Brahma is the initiator, Vishnu the perpetuator and
Siva the remover. Inside the mind, Brahma manifests as thoughts,
Vishnu as positive feelings and emotions and Siva as the negative
ones.
3. In the earthly plane, Brahma is the sky, Vishnu is the Sun
and Siva is the moon. Among the regions, Brahma is the upper region,
Vishnu the middle region and Siva the lower region. In a day, Brahma
is morning, Vishnu is afternoon and Siva the night. Among directions,
Brahma is east, Siva is west and Vishnu is all that is in between.
4. In Nature they manifest as the three qualities or gunas, which
are described in the Bhagavadgita, namely sattva (purity), rajas
(egoism) and tamas (darkness). According to the original Vedic tradition,
Brahma represents sattva, Vishnu represents rajas and Siva represents
tamas. According to the Vaishnava tradition, which presently dominates
the mainstream popular Hinduism, Brahma represents rajas, Vishnu
represents sattva and Siva represents tamas.
5. Among the paths of salvation, Brahma manifests as the path
of knowledge, Vishnu as the path of action and devotion and Siva
as the path of renunciation.
The Trinity symbolize the three phases of human life
6. In the life of an individual, the Trinity appear as the three
phases of life. Brahma represents childhood, the first phase, which
is also regarded traditionally as the phase of celibacy and studentship
(brahmacharya). During this an individual is expected to spend his
life cultivating buddhi (intelligence, siksha (education), samskaram
(character) and dharma (religious knowledge and ethical behavior)
through academic studies. This phase is also regarded as a preparatory
phase for the spiritual journey of each individual. In this phase
he lives for the sake of and in the company of knowledge, represented
in our pantheon by goddess Saraswathi, who is the consort of Brahma.
Lord Vishnu represents the second phase, the adulthood, which
is the phase of a householder, during which an individual spends
his time in preserving himself, his family, society and religion
by performing his obligatory duties towards his ancestors, nature,
gods and others. He engages in actions for the preservation of himself,
his family, children, society, environment, plants and animals and
religion. He leads a very responsible life, helping the poor and
the needy, working for the preservation of his family and community
and the salvation of himself and others. In this phase he seeks
health, harmony, name, fame, status, progeny, wealth and happiness,
which are the qualities of goddess Lakshmi, who is the consort of
Lord Vishnu.
Lord Siva represents the third phase, the old age, or the phase
of withdrawal and renunciation, called Vanaprastha. During this
phase an individual is expected to gradually withdraw from the active
life he was so far leading as a householder and detach himself from
all the relationships, distractions, allurements and entanglements
so that he can eventually begin to focus on the real purpose of
his life and prepare himself for his liberation from the cycle of
births and deaths. Hindu tradition suggests that during this phase
person should handover his individual responsibilities and the ownership
of his personal belongings to his children and retire to a forest
or a secluded place, away from the active society. He should live
there either alone or with his wife and engage himself in spiritual
practices to discipline his mind and body. In other words, in this
phase he should model his life on Lord Siva, who despite being Supreme
Universal Lord lives a very detached life, like a simple sadhu,
spending his time mostly in meditation. During this phase he needs
to cultivate compassion, courage, unconditional love, humility,
faith, surrender, devotion, qualities which are essential for his
spiritual practice and which are also personified by Parvathi, the
consort of Siva.
The last and final phase of human life in Hindu tradition is
sanyasashram, or the phase of complete renunciation. According to
Hindu tradition during this phase an individual should cease to
live a sheltered and secure life or live selfishly thinking about
his survival or the welfare of his family, children or grandchidlren.
He is advised to stop using physical fire completely for rituals
or for cooking or keeping himself warm and instead awaken the spiritual
fire within him. He should also avoid contact with every one and
reduce his dependence on food by eating as little food as possible
just to keep himself alive. During this phase he overcomes all forms
of desire and the need to strive and struggle to perpetuate his
individuality or ego. altogether and tries to attain liberation
from this mortal world. He destroys all his previous attachments
and desires and engages himself in deep meditation, leading the
life of a true renunciate along with his wife who as his consort
becomes the Universal Mother.
Symbolically this phase represents Iswara Himself, the transcendental
universal Self, who is beyond all attachments, illusion and objectivity
and in whom everything resolves itself into a unified state of perfect
freedom and harmony. Symbolically it constitutes the full circle,
containing with in it, all the memories, knowledge, wisdom and experience
of the previous three phases, which gives us the ability to look
at ourselves and our lives with compassion, understanding, unconditional
love and insight, qualities that are characteristic of Iswara Himself.
In this phase, the three phases of life represented by the
Trinity resolve themselves into one holistic life, indicating that
the duality of our existence is but an illusion which appears in
our perception of the things, but not in the things themselves.
Suggested Further Reading
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