The Hindu trinity consists of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, who play vital roles in running the cosmos. Vishnu sleeps in the Garbhodaka Ocean between cosmic cycles, while Brahma creates the world and Vishnu sustains it. Shiva dances the cosmic dance of destruction before another cycle begins. While the hierarchy of the Hindu pantheon is not fixed, the Trimurti remains a widely accepted view. The term “Hindu trinity” is a misnomer, and Trimurti is a more appropriate term.
The Hindu trinity informally refers to the cosmological pantheon of Hinduism. This pantheon consists of the three main deities of Hinduism, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. In Sanskrit, these three deities are called Trimurti, or “three forms.” Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva each play a vital role in running the cosmos.
Commonly accepted Hindu cosmology holds that in the time between cosmic cycles, Vishnu lies asleep in the cosmic ocean. This ocean is known as the Garbhodaka Ocean. Vishnu’s sleep is a cosmic sleep embodied by the goddess Yoganidra. Her bed is the back of a great serpent deity known as a Naga. The name of this Naga is Sesa, which means “the rest”. In other words, Vishnu sleeps on what remains after the end of the last cosmic cycle.
The cosmic cycle is set in motion when a thousand-petalled lotus sprouts from Vishnu’s navel. In the middle of the lotus sits Brahma, the creator. Brahma looks in the four directions, observing the cosmic ocean, and then creates the world. Once the world is created, Vishnu sustains it. He does this mainly by preserving dharma, the Hindu concept of truth and virtue.
Vishnu maintains the world for a period of time known as the Day of Brahma. Towards the end of the Day of Brahma, Shiva assumes the form of Nataraja and dances the cosmic dance of destruction known as ananda natanam. After the destruction, there is a period of 311.04 trillion years of nothingness. This is the period of time during which Vishnu lies sleeping on Sesa’s back. Nothingness persists while Vishnu remains asleep in the cosmic ocean, the Garbhodaka Ocean, under the spell of Yoganidra. The period of nothingness ends as Yoganidra lifts his spell, Vishnu awakens, another thousand-petalled lotus sprouts from his navel and blossoms to reveal Brahma within.
When discussing Hindu deities, it is important to remember that the hierarchy of the Hindu pantheon is not fixed. In other words, when one speaks of the Hindu trinity, one is referring to a free organization. Apart from the Trimurti, or Hindu trinity, there are other ideas concerning the hierarchical organization of deities, and these are equally valid under the umbrella of Hinduism. For example, various schools of thought hold one member of the Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva triad above the others. Vaishnavism is dedicated to Vishnu and Shaivism to Shiva.
Another popular school of thought, Smartism, focuses on five deities. These are Vishnu, Shiva, the son of Shiva Ganesha, the great goddess Devi and the solar deity Surya. Shaktism dedicates to Maha Devi, the great goddess. Hare Krishna devotees hold Krishna above Vishnu, despite the fact that within the generally accepted cosmological framework, Krishna is an avatar, or incarnation, of Vishnu.
As this various information suggests, the idea of the Hindu trinity, while certainly a robust and widely accepted view of the Hindu pantheon, is not the only view. Perhaps the name alone brings conflict, as it suggests the similarity to Christianity’s Holy Trinity. In this sense, the term Hindu trinity is a misnomer, and other terms continue to be coined and used to denote the three-part system of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Perhaps the most appropriate of these is the Sanskrit term Trimurti, rather than the interpreted term, Hindu trinity.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
