Trimurti: The Story Of Three Legendary Avatars

Priyanka Rout

Trimurti: The Story Of Three Legendary Avatars

The cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction involve Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer. Let’s have a look at how these three powerful deities came together to form a triangle called Trimurti which is considered to be one of the most powerful groups.

When the three powerful forces come together, they form the Trimurti; Image Source: Bhavin Mehta

“The triad of supreme gods from Hindu mythology who represents the cosmic cycle of existence. They consist of Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer. Their female counterparts are the Tridevi.” - Carl Black

Known by the acronym of GOD, which means Generator, Organiser, and Destroyer, the divine triad of the three powerful gods, including Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, is collectively known by the name of Trimurti. Trimurti is a hieroglyphic representation of Brahman, which means the Ultimate Reality in the universe, i.e. the three-faced figure of divinity. Each of these deities has been attached to something. Brahma has been associated with the source or creator, Vishnu with the preserver or indwelling-life, and Shiva with the destroyer or transformer.

According to a book named Devlok With Devdutt Pattnaik, there are other beliefs that all the three divine deities represent earth, water, and fire. Since the earth is viewed as the originator of life, it is regarded as Brahma. Water is viewed as a life sustained; hence, Vishnu represents it. And last but not least, fire consumes and transforms life, hence is represented by Shiva. On the spiritual level, the three elements called spiritual, psychic and physical are represented by Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

As narrated by Devdutt Pattnaik, when it comes to taking life lessons from the Trimurti, we could conclude that Brahma is the one who earns money, Vishnu spends and invests it, while Shiva is the one who is not at all interested in the money and is more drawn towards non-attachment. Brahma’s children are so possessive for wealth that they often fight with each other to gain it, and that is the reason why we don’t worship Brahma. Vishnu is the one who is involved in business, and thus, we worship him. Shiva teaches us to get rid of our desires when we grow old.

Each one of us possesses the qualities of Brahma that we shouldn’t encourage. Instead, we should adopt Vishnu’s qualities so that both Lakshmi and Saraswati, or in other words, wealth and knowledge, follow us. And towards the end of our lives, we should renounce the world and all our worldly possessions and become Shiva.

Describing Brahma, we could say that he looks like an old sage or a wise teacher, who holds tools like a kamandal, spoon, Samhita, and granth, all of which are used in yajna, and he belongs to the Brahmin caste. Coming to Vishnu, he always bears a royal look, with silk clothes, gold ornaments, regal crown, a garland of flowers or vanamali, and last but not least, Chandan and sandalwood paste, he also holds a conch, a spinning disc and a mace. But this is not the only avatar of Vishnu as he also takes up the form of Rama in which he holds a bow, and when in Krishna avatar, he holds his melodious flute. Shiva, fondly known by the name of Bholenath, is someone who has an entirely different aura around him. Smeared with ash on his entire body, he does not wear any clothes, except for animal skin.

The forms in which these gods appear in front of us reflect different parts of society. We could conclude that Shiva is someone who prefers wearing animal skin or nothing, and thus he is a vairagi or someone who renounced the world. Vishnu wears regal clothes and portrays civilisation, and thus, is called a raja or a king who sustains the human race. Last but not least, Brahma, who always performs yajna, is said to be the creator of the universe.

Now that we came to know about the Trimurtis let’s delve a bit into the world of Tridevi or the counterparts of the Trimurti. When we talk about the male deities, we could say they represent the human mind. However, when we talk about the goddesses, they are often associated with nature or Prakriti, which is eternal. According to Shakta tradition, Devi has two different relations with Brahma. In one form, she is his mother, Kali, who represents the forest, and in the other form, she is his daughter, Gauri, who represents civilisation. Thus, it can be said that Brahma is the son of the jungle and the father of civilisation.

Shiva has quite a different association with Devi. Shakti first visits Shiva in Sati or the goddess of nature, Parvati. As Parvati, she tries to tempt Shiva to become a family man and complete the responsibilities that he has for his household. But the relationship of Devi with Vishnu is unique and dynamic. Not only does Vishnu change his avatars, but the goddesses change their forms. When Vishnu becomes Rama, Devi becomes his wife, Sita. When Vishnu becomes Parshurama, Devi becomes his mother, Renuka. Yet again, when Devi takes the form of Draupadi, Vishnu becomes Krishna, her best friend. He also becomes the Krishna whom Radha loves with all her might.