Gods of Hinduism, the Trinity, Trimurthis

The Hindu Trinity comprises of the three cardinal divinities of Hinduism, namely Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the preserver and Siva the destroyer.  They represent the three important aspects of our existence, namely creation, preservation and destruction. Brahma creates the worlds and the beings. He is the creative intelligence of the manifest worlds. Saraswathi, the goddess of learning is his consort. He is generally shown with four heads standing for the four yugas and the four quarters of the universe. Hamsa, the swan, is his vehicle. He is known by several other names such as Visvakarma, Pitamaha, Lokesa, Nabhija and so on.

Vishnu is the preserver. He is the solar God, the very sun, who brings sunshine into the worlds and lives of every one and assists the survival of every being. Blue in color, he is referred with many names and attributes by his devotees. Some of his popular names include, Mahavishnu, Narayana, Anantasayana, Chakradhari, Srinivasa, Padmanabha, Varadaraja, Panduranga, Venkatesa and so on. Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth is his consort. He rides Garuda, the big bird. The mace (gada)  and the fiery disc (chakra)  are his weapons with which he destroys evil and protects the weak and the good. He is also credited with many incarnations, the most important among them being 10 in number. He incarnates on earth from time to time to restore order and destroy evil. Nine of his principal incarnations have already taken place, which include the incarnations of Rama, Krishna and the Buddha. The incarnation of Kalki, the tenth and the last one in this cycle of creation, is yet to come.

Lord Siva is the third god of Hindu trinity. He is the destroyer of the worlds. He in fact destroys all that is evil and unwanted in order to enable the divinity to enter the world and replace the ordinary human consciousness characterized by evil passions and animal instincts. Siva is known by many names. His most popular names include, Rudra, Jatadhara, Shankara, Iswara, Maheswara, Pasupathinath, Nilakanteswara, Dakshinamurthy and so on. He dwells among the snow clad Himalayan mountains and rules his world known as Kailas. He is prone to fits of anger and sometimes hurts those who annoy Him. He spends most of his time in deep meditation. He possesses the third eye, the eye of wisdom. Undoubtedly he is one of the most popular and powerful gods of Hinduism and inspires people to indulge in acts of courage, devotion and spiritual wisdom.