CHAPTER 11
Trimurti
The idea of the Trimurti is not found anywhere in the Vedas, nor
does the name Brahma or Brahman occur in it.
The idea of the Trimurti appears only in the epic poems, which were
all written well after the advent of St.Thomas. The very idea
of Trinity or Trimurthy is of Christian origin and was later
reformed and reinterpreted under Gnostic mysticism arising out of
Gnostic Kabballah. Today all Hindu theological
statements of Trinity are shrouded in conflicting descriptions about
who are the basic Trinity and how they are related to each other.
No Hindu philosopher has ever taken this
trinity seriously and no theologian has discussed it to resolve any
conflict found therein. This is simply because there is no
solution possible as long as each sect considers themselves as
superior and others inferior.
The active creator in the Vedas as it appears in the later portions
(most of which were written after the Thomas ministry) of Rig Veda
is known as Hiranyagarbha, or Prajapati.
Encyclopedia for Epics of Ancient India
The Rig-Veda Hiranyagarbha "is said to have arisen in the
beginning, the one lord of all beings, who upholds heaven and
earth, who gives life and breath, whose command even the gods
obey, who is the god over all gods, and the one animating
principle of their being." According to Manu, Hiranyagarbha was
Brahma, the first male, formed by the indiscernible eternal First
Cause in a golden egg resplendent as the sun. "Having continued a
year in the egg, Brahma divided it into two parts by his mere
thought, and with these two shells he formed the heavens and the
earth; and in the middle he placed the sky, the eight regions, and
the eternal abode of the waters."
In The Laws of Manu (Manava-Dharma-Sastra)
it is said that the supreme soul, the self-existent lord created the
waters and deposited in them a seed, which seed became a golden egg
(Hiranyagarbha) in which he himself was born as Brahma, the
progenitor of all the worlds.
"Brahma, as 'the germ of unknown Darkness,' is the material from
which all evolves and develops 'as the web from the spider, as foam
from the water,' etc. . . . Brahma 'expands' and becomes the
Universe woven out of his own substance." (Secret
Doctrine, I, p.
83).
Brahma
(masculine), Brahmanda
Brahma is the Self or Hierarch of a Solar System. The Solar System
or imbodiment of Brahma is often spoken of as 'the Egg of Brahma'
or Brahmanda (a compound of
Brahma and
anda -- egg).
'A Day of Brahma' consists of seven Rounds of the planetary chain,
or what is called a Planetary
Manvantara,
a period of 4,320,000,000 terrestrial years. 'A Night
of Brahma' is of equal duration. 'A Week of Brahma' or seven
Planetary Manvantaras make one Solar Manvantara. 'One Year of
Brahma' equals 360 Divine Days or Planetary Manvantaras. The 'Life
of Brahma' consists of 100 Divine Years or Solar Manvantaras, a
period of 311,040,000,000,000 terrestrial years. There are as many
Brahmas as there are solar systems.
Brahma,
Vach,
Viraj The ancient Hindu scriptures tell us in
their poetic manner that the Universe was sung into being by the
inspiration arising in the divine mind of Brahma, the Father of
the Universe. This Divine Thought in Brahma's mind was carried by
Vach, the Mother of the Universe, or the Divine Voice, or Mystic
Sound, and gave rise to Viraj, the Son, or the Divine Word, or the
manifested Universe of harmony.
Later the epithet Purusha and Prajapati were bestowed on
Brahma (meaning 'the Progenitor').
Rig Veda, X, contains the Purusha-sukta. Purusha is at once
supreme being, the cosmos, and as such he is sacrificed
primordially as the very act of creation.
brihadaranyaka 1:3, 27
Rigveda X:121:1
Ithareyopanishad 1:13
Rigveda X:90:2
Rigveda X:90:7
Yajurveda XXXI:18
Rigveda X:90:16
In short all these quotes mention about the first born son of God
who is known as the Prajapathy. It mentions the nature of His
birth, i.e through the Holy Spirit and not through a woman. Also
that He was sacrificed being tied to a wooden post by the gods and
kings along with the seers, refers to the people and kings of the
earth. It mentions that the sacrifice is the only way of
redemption and liberation of humankind.
If there is any evidence that shows the direct borrowing from
Christianity by Hinduism is the concept of Trinity and
Monotheism. The basis of Trinity is the idea of three in one
which is essentially of Hebrew origin. The Hebrew mysticism
found in the Old Testament was finally codified in the late medeaval
period by Kabballah writers. The essence of these are in the
Old Testament revelation on the nature of God as revealed through
ages – from Abraham to Moses and through later prophets.
Jews were in India as early as the 800 BC
The largest Jewish community of Indian Jews is that of the Bene
Israel who lived in west Maharashtra in the Konkan coast. The Bene
Israel believes that their ancestors arrived in India before the
destruction of the second temple. The next biggest number of Jews
are the Cochin Jews who claim their heritage from King Solomon’s
period. It is to the Cochin Jews, St.Thomas came first.
Apparently, they made little impact on Hinduism. Even the strong
Monism of the Jews did not make any inroad into India.
Now it is not difficult to show that the teachings of Trinity as
Three Persons in One Godhead in Hinduism as it was originally
perceived is identical with the Christian thought. To make it
easy to grasp and present them graphically I will use the Kabalistic
Tree of Life approach.
In the beginning was God
First there is Ain.(neti = not that) Ain is, Nothingness, The
Existence, the Great Emptiness, The Absolute, The
Originless Origin of all manifestation. It is not knowable, it is
indescribable, everything we say about it, and it is not. It is
denoted by Darkness. He resides in darkness. Underneath
his feet is darkness so that none can know Him.
In every cosmogony, behind and higher than the creative Deity
there is a superior Deity, a planner, an architect, of whom the
Creator is but the executive agent. There is the UNKNOWABLE and the
unknown, the Source and Cause of all these Emanations.
This nothingness gave birth to Ain Soph. Ain means 'not'
and soph means "end". Ain Soph is the the end of ‘Not”, The end of
nothingness, Limitless, Infinite Space-time dimensions, Eternity.
Ain Soph is the primal darkness of the absolute unity above anything
else. Ain Soph is the one in which everything has its origin, its
existence,and to which everything returns.
Next we have the Ain Soph Aur. Aur means light. The Ain Soph Aur is
the Limitless Light. Now the Ain Soph Aur retracts itself
within itself to a light point. The Bindu. This is the beginning of
things. Here we have substantiality out of nothing. This
brings forth Kether (the Crown), the first Sephira at the top of
Tree of Life. This is the Hiranya Grarpha – the Cosmic Womb.
http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/ctg/br-bt.htm
Brahma,
the creator; the impersonal universe-pervading spirit personified
under this name; the lord or ruler over a Brahman, at the end of
whose "life" that system is resolved into its final elements and
reabsorbed by Parabrahmam. A word of which the root,
brih, means
"expansion." It stands for the spiritual energy-consciousness side
of our solar universe, i.e., our solar system, and the Egg of
Brahma is that solar system.
Whenever the Eternal awakes from its slumber and desires to manifest
itself, the uncreated, self existent reality, Swayambhuva.
This Swayambhu divides itself into male and female the universal
Father and Mother, the Anu-Anata (male-female) of the
Chaldeans, God the Father and the God the Holy Spirit. From
the union of the two a third, the creative Principle -- the SON or
the manifested Logos -- is generated as the product of the Divine
Mind. In Chaldea the Son was Bel. In Christianity, it is
Christ. These were fundamental to early Jewish Christians, which
Thomas carried with him to India, and they formed the basis of Post
Vedic Hinduism. There is similar correlation with the
Tibetan’s teachings, which also developed around the same period.
Theophilus, 2nd-century Bishop of Antioch—who, was first to use the
term “trinity” —described the trinity in terms of Theos (θεοσ),
Logos (λωγοσ), and Sophia (σωφια).
Sophia,
or “Wisdom,” is feminine, as is its Hebrew equivalent Ruach
To translate the Christian Trinity we give the Judeo-Christian
Trinity and creation concept below.
Taittiriya Upanishad, part of 3-10
I am the Hiranyagarbha, the origin in form of Knowledge out of which this world -- having gross and
subtle objects -- seems to have been generated. I came to be before the "gods" -- entities which
deal with knowledge. I am also the origin of immortality, i.e. I provide immortality to beings.
One who gives me -- in form of Anna (various information inputs) to those who expect
Anna (i.e. "gods"), he protects me, i.e. he gets protected himself in form by me.
The Father who is both male and female then proceeds to separate
into three. .
From this follows the whole cosmos in all dimensions of existence.
The creative Logos – Father, Son and the Holy Spirit existed
initially in the Divine Realm as One. All creation proceeded
from them as a collaborative effort as oneness. One does not
exist without the other – they cannot because they are One.
Thus, we have three persons within one with relationships.
This defines property and gives us the Saguna Brahman – God who can
be known. Thus, we have three persons whose properties are
different yet forming a unity of essence. This is the realm of
the Divine so far. These three define the absolutes since
there is none besides. These three define the morals - what is
“good”, what is right, what is “truth” and what is beauty.
This is the Christian stand.
This is what the early Hinduism stood for too since it was the
direct teaching of the Thomas Christians of the period in India.
Something happened in the third century that distorted the image.
The later development of Hindu theology seems to violate all these
defining of ultimate reality, as this Triune God began to quarrel
causing uncertainty in these definition. Literally, this is the Fall
in the Christian sense. The Hindu Trinity fell from its
pristine position. Each began to act selfishly. This
provided a fourth principle to come in as beyond this Trinity in the
form of Devi Sakti (Female Creative Power). There was
something that these gods wanted and were which was beyond within
them. They did not form the end of the existence. There
were laws and principles over which they had no control and wanted
to have those – Self Egotism. The centrality of the concept of
Trinity is Love or for better word Agape. When this
self-giving love is missing, that produces the fall. The event
that happened in the Garden of Eden. “I want to be like God”.
Hinduism actually succumbed to this loosing the original concept of
Trinity as God falling back into polytheism with a series of gods
fighting each other
Kether, Chokmah and Binah are the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as
they are drawn in the Tree of Life of the Hebraic Mysteries. I have
used the Tree Symbolism only for convenience. These systematic
representations developed recently though the concepts are found
deep in the Old Testament revelations.
This Chaldeo-Judean-Christian trinity translated exactly into the
early Indian thought. In fact, the two are identical until war
broke out within the Hindu Trinity.
The first appearance was the Father of all creation, Brahma - the
Ancient of Days, the Kether – the Crown. Majesty and Dominion
belongs to him, He is the Pitahmahan the creator of all things. He
is thus known as Hiranyagarbha (the cosmic
womb), Prajapati (the Lord of Hosts), Pitamaha (the Father of
Fathers), Vidhi (the Ordainer), Lokesa (Ruler of the World), Dhatr
(Sustainer), and Visvakarma (Architect of the Universe). In fact,
Brahman became Brahma. Binah and Chokmah were associated with
him as the the Holy Spirit and Son.
 
The Creation of Cosmos by the Trimurthi as depicted by Kabalistic
Tree;
Between the divine world of Trinity and the rest of the creation is
the great chasm (Dath - Knowledge) below which lies all the rest of
the creations until we come to the Material Kingdom and all the life
forms within them all. Because of creation cannot grasp the
Divine, Daath remain as a barrier between creation and the Creator.
This concept of creation and Trinity and the deep hidden
understanding that the Trinity is One appeared all of a sudden soon
after the advent of the Christian Era in the Indian soil. We
cannot see any indication of a Trinity in any prior scripture, leave
alone Vedas. The only possible explanation for its appearance lays
certainty in the coming of St.Thomas and Christianity.
This figure is known as Sadasiva Murthy
Three in One – Elephanta Cave
Father- Son-Mother
The earliest Hindu Trinity form was Brahma, Sakti and Siva.
This is shown in most temples as Father, Mother and Son.
Compare this with the Hindu Trinity as it appears in the iconography
all over India in its early phase. The Old Man face on the
left and the Woman’s face on the right with the Young Man in the
Middle –
Fathe, Son and Sophia. Vishnu is represented as a woman.
It is not surprising that Vishnu is often represented as Mohini in
the war between the Trinity in their fallen state.
“The Lord God, though one without a second, assumes three forms
respectively of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva for creation, preservation
and dissolution of the world.”
Vishnu Purana.
(Swami Prahhavananda.)
“Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, though three in form, are one entity. No
difference between the three exists except with respect to
attributes.:
Padma
Purana.
(Swami Prahhavananda.)
It was later followed by the Gnostics from Syria, which took deeper
roots in India, which transformed the Trinity into a mess of
confusing priority and primacy.
The Pallava Empire was the largest and most powerful South Asian
state in its time, ranking as one of the glorious empires of world
history. It encompassed all the present-day Dravidian
nations, including the Tamil, Telugu, Malayali and Kannada tracts
within its far-flung borders. The foundations of classical
Dravidian architecture were established by these powerful rulers,
who left behind fantastic sculptures and magnificent temples which
survive to this very day. Initially, the similarity of the words "Pallava"
and "Pahlava" had led 19th-century researchers to surmise an
Iranic origin for the Pallavas. Since then, a mountain of
historical, anthropological, and linguistic evidence has
accumulated to conclusively establish that the Pallavas were of
Parthian origin. Pahlavas were the greatest supporters of
Vaishnavism and the victors who defeated the Kalabhra, thus ending
the Kalabhra Inter-regnum. They were essentially Gnostic
immigrants from Syria
Unlike the Christian Trinity, which always acts in unison, in love
and as a divine family, the epic period found the Indian
interpretation of Trinity in constant competition and fight; each
person in the trinity fighting for supremacy. We will see
some of these examples.
The coming of Gnostic heresy from Syria in the third century
produced a dialectical development and relation within the
Trinity. The creation, maintenance and recreation became an
on going process with each person in trinity did their part to
keep the cycle going. Evolution they said followed the
Hegelian – Engelian process, thesis, antithesis, synthesis.
The three persons in the Trinity found themselves separated and
fighting between themselves for primacy. .What one
proposes the other contradicts and that led to destructions of the
system.
The root of decimation came with several sects giving their
devotion and worship to one of the Triad which caused it to
split into four major sects.
·
Saivites who worshipped Siva.
·
Brahama
worship which eventually bowed out. All over India we have
only a few temples in the world where Brahma is worshipped.
“Lord
Brahma has only 3 temples, all in India, one at Pushkar Lake in
Ajmer, another in Khokhan - Kullu Valley and the other at
Khedabrahma in Kerala.” (http://www.boloji.com/hinduism/103.htm)
Instead, his image stand in niches on
the walls of temples built for other deities as an attendant
deity.
Original concept of Brahma as Father of all creation
Brahma-Karmali idol
·
In its place Vaishnavites came into existence who worshipped
Vishnu
as a male person who took active role as a female principle to
dupe and to get primacy.
·
Sakthism who worshipped the female principle
Sakthi
which means Power.
The Hindu Trimurti Brahma, Siva, Vishnu from
Hoysaleswara Temple in Halebid
Here the three appears as three distinct deities
The Shivaite said, "These three are one, but mine is the
greatest";
the Vishnuite replied, "These three are one, but mine is the
greatest."
Sakthites replied that Sakthi is the basic Cosmic Principle of
Creation and all the Trinity came out of it
ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF RELIGION E.
Washburn Hopkins, 1923
CHAPTER XVIII
THE HINDU TRINITY
…..Harivansha : "These two highest gods are in their
nature one" (10672 f.). …...The sects are still active in India;
a rivalry between them still exists; their adherents are marked
with different devices.
……In the Puranas each god is worshipped separately.
,,,,,Each sect still asserts that, though the equation
Vishnu== Shiva= One,
holds good, yet Shiva or Vishnu (as the case may be) is
distinctly inferior to the other rival god.
….No Hindu philosopher has ever taken this trinity seriously and
no theologian has discussed it.
The War within the Trinity – The Fall of God
Brahma is the first appearance representation of the impersonal
brahman
Swayambhu Brahma – Pitamaha
Religious stories usually place Brahma as an intermediate
authority who cannot handle a problem and passes it on to either
Vishnu or Shiva. Instead of Brahma as the first appearance
Father Vaishnavites reduced him to the one born from the naval of
Vishnu. This is the common representation.
In this Vaishnavite representation, Brahma came out of the
naval of Visnu who rests on Ananta (Infinite) Naga which is
floating in the Primal waters.
But when the Saivite wanted to correct the error they
placed Siva above the Naga as the Kala (Cresent on top of Aum
sign) of the eternal Word Aum
Saivite Interpretation
Sakthites had a more valid argument.
Sakthite Interpretation. Sakthi dances over Siva’s body.
There are over 108 Shakti Peethas of Goddess Durga all over India.
The 'Marga', or path, that defined by Sakthism defines five
ways to perform penance to attain liberation and happiness which
are 'Matsya' (fish), 'Mamsa' (meat), 'Mudra' (parched grain), 'Madya'
(liquor) and 'Maithuna' (sexual intercourse). Sakthism came
to prominence by the fifth century AD.
Female Creative Power behind all creation is Sakti the consort of
Siva. Mixed with the potency of sex power Tantric form of
Savism along with its amalgamation with all the magic and
witchcraft techniques of mantra – tantra – yantra dominated the
scene everywhere. The cult of Ellamma (Mother God) and
the institution of Temple and Social prostitution became part of
Hinduism surpassing the other three, This probably was the
profound effect of the Syrian Gnostic influence of India.
Female sex power or fertility worship is one of the oldest
religions which Hinduism was able to tap effectively and detonated
the Christian influence with the help of Gnosticism.
In its final blast the trinity arose out of the ParaSakthi making
the Devi as Brahman
RIDDLES IN HINDUISM
Bharat Ratna Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
"Father
of Indian Constitution"
India’s first Law Minister
Architect of the Constitution of India
…..The
second story may well be the issue of the first born.
It is related in the Skanda Purana.
The story says that at one time Vishnu lay asleep on the bosom of
Devi, a lotus arose from his navel, and its ascending flower soon
reached the surface of the flood. Brahma sprang from flower, and
looking round without any creature on the boundless expanse,
imagined himself to be first born, and entitled to rank above all
future beings; yet resolved to investigate deep and to
ascertain whether any being existed in its universe who could
controvert his preeminence, he glided down the stock of the lotus
and finding Vishnu asleep, asked loudly who he was.
'I
am the first born' answered Vishnu; and when Brahma denied his
preprogeniture, they engaged in battle, till Mahadeo pressed
between them in great wrath, saying ' It is I who am truly the
first born '. But I will resign my place to either of you, who
shall be able to reach and behind the summit of my head, or the
soles of my foot.
Brahma instantly ascended but having fatigued himself to no
purpose in the regions of immensity yet loath to abandon his
claim, returned to Mahadeo declaring that he had attained and seen
the crown of his head, and called as his witness the first born
cow. For this union of pride and falsehood, the angry God Shiva
ordained that no sacred rites should be performed to Brahma and
that the mouth of cow should be defiled.
 
Trishund Ganesh Temple, Pune
When Vishnu returned, he acknowledged that he had not been able to
see the feet of Mahadeo who then told him that he was the first
born among the Gods, and should be raised above all.
It was after this Mahadeo cut off the fifth head of Brahma who
thus suffered the loss of his pride, his power and his influence.
According to this story Brahma's claim to be the first born was
false. He was punished by Shiva for making it. Vishnu gets the
right to call himself the first born. But that is allowed to him
by the grace of Shiva.
The followers of Brahma had their revenge on Vishnu for stealing
what rightfully belonged to him with the help of Shiva. So they
manufactured another legend according to which Vishnu emanated
from Brahma's nostrils in the shape of a pig and grew naturally
into a boar—a very mean explanation of Vishnu's Avatar as a boar.
After this Brahma tried to create enmity between Shiva and Vishnu
evidently to better his own position. This story is told in the
Ramayana.
It says: "When King Dasaratha was returning to his capital, after
taking leave of Janaka, the king of Mithila, whose daughter Sita
had just been married to Rama, ……. The alarming event
indicated was the arrival of Parasurama,,,,,,. Being received with
honour, which he accepted, he proceeded to say to Rama, the son of
Dasaratha that he had heard of his prowess in breaking the bow
produced by Janaka and had brought another which he asked Rama to
bend, and to fit an arrow on the string; ….
latter again addresses Rama, and says that the bow he had broken
was Siva's, but the one he himself had now brought was Vishnu's.
Two celestial bows, he proceeds, were made by Visvakarma of which
one was given by. the gods to Mahadeva Siva, the other to Vishnu".
The narrative then proceeds:
"The gods then all made a request to Brahma desiring to find out
the strength and weakness of Siva and Vishnu. Brahma created
enmity between the two. In this state of enmity a great and
terrible fight ensued between Siva and Vishnu each of whom was
eager to conquer the other. Siva's bow of dreadful power was then
relaxed and the three-eyed Mahadeva was arrested by a muttering.
,,,. Seeing that the bow of Siva had been relaxed by the prowess
of Vishnu, the gods and rishis esteemed Vishnu to be superior."
Thus Brahma managed to avenge the wrong done to him by Mahadeo.
Even this stratagem did not avail Brahma to maintain his position
against Vishnu. Brahma lost his position so completely to Vishnu
that Vishnu who at one time was at the command of Brahma became
the creator of Brahma.
In his contest with Shiva for supremacy Brahma suffered equal
defeat. Here again, the position became completely inverted.
Instead of being created by Brahma, Shiva became the creator of
Brahma. Brahma lost the power of giving salvation. The god who
could give salvation was Shiva and Brahma became no more than a
common devotee worshipping Shiva and his Linga in the hope of
getting salvation. [Mahabharata quoted in Muir IV p. 192.]
He was reduced to the position of a servant of Shiva doing the
work of charioteer [ Mahabharata quoted in Muir IV p. 199.]
of Shiva.
Ultimately Brahma was knocked out of the field of worship on a
charge of having committed adultery with his own daughter.
The charge is set out in the Bhagwat Purana in the following
terms:
"We have heard, O Kshatriya, that Swayambhu (Brahma) had a passion
for Vach, his slender and enchanting daughter, who had no passion
for him. The Munis, his sons, headed by Marichi, seeing their
father bent upon wickedness, admonished him with affection; 'This
is such a thing as has not been done by those before you, nor will
those after you do it,— that you, being the lord, should sexually
approach your daughter, not restraining your passion.
This, 0 preceptor of the world, is not a laudable deed even in
glorious personages, through limitation of whose actions men
attain felicity. Glory to that divine being (Vishnu) who by his
own lustre revealed this (universe) which abides in himself, he
must maintain ' righteousness '. Seeing his sons, the Prajapatis,
thus speaking before him the lord of the Prajapatis (Bramha) was
ashamed, and abandoned his body. This dreadful body the regions
received and it is known as foggy darkness."
The result of this degrading and defamatory attacks on Brahma was
to damn him completely. No wonder that his cult disappeared from
the face of India leaving him a nominal and theoretical member of
the Trimurti.
After Brahma was driven out of the field there remained in the
field Shiva and Vishnu. The two however were never at peace.
The rivalry and antagonism between the two is continuous.
The Puranas are full of propaganda and counter-propaganda carried
on by the Brahmins, protagonists of Shiva and Vishnu. How well
matched the propaganda and counter-propaganda was, can be seen
from the following few illustrations:
Vishnu is connected with the Vedic God Sun. The worshippers of
Shiva connect him with Agni. The motive was that if Vishnu has a
Vedic origin Shiva must also have Vedic origin as well. One cannot
be inferior to the other in the matter of nobility of origin.
Shiva must be greater than Vishnu and Vishnu must not be less than
Shiva. Vishnu has thousand [See Vishnu Sahasranama.] names.
So Shiva must have thousand names and he has them.[ They are
mentioned in the Padma Purana.]
Vishnu has his emblems. They are four. So Shiva must have them and
he has them. They are (1) flowing Ganges, (2) Chandra (moon), (3)
Shesh (snake) and (4) Jata (walled hair).
The only point on which Shiva did not compete with Vishnu was the
matter of Avatars.
In the performance of deeds of glory the propaganda in favour of
Shiva is fully, matched by counter-propaganda in favour of Vishnu.
 
One illustration of this is the story regarding the origin of
the holy river
Ganges.[Moore's. Hindu Pantheon pp. 40-41.]The devotees of
Shiva attribute its origin to Shiva. They take its origin from
Shiva's hair. But the Vaishnavas will not allow it. They have
manufactured another legend.
According to the Vaishnavite legend the blessed and the blessing
river flowed originally out of Vaikunth (the abode of Vishnu) from
the foot of Vishnu, and descending upon Kailasa fell on the head
of Shiva. There is a two-fold suggestion in the legend. In the
first place Shiva is not the source of the Ganges. In the second
place Shiva is lower than Vishnu and receives on his head water
which flows from the foot of Vishnu.
Another illustration is furnished by the story which relates to
the churning of the oceans by the Devas and the Asuras. They
used the Mandara mountain as the churning rod and mighty serpant
Shesha as a rope to whirl the mountain. The earth began to shake
and people became afraid that the world was coming to an end.
Vishnu took the Avatar of Kurma (Tortoise) and held the earth on
his back and prevented the earth from shaking while the churning
was going on.
This story is told in glorification of Vishnu. To this the
Shaivites add a supplement. According to this supplement the
churning brought out fourteen articles from the depth of the ocean
which are called fourteen jewels. Among these fourteen a deadly
poison was one. This deadly poison would have destroyed the earth
unless somebody was prepared to drink it. Shiva was the only
person who came forward to drink it. The suggestion is that
Vishnu's act was foolish in allowing the rivals— the Gods and
Demons—to bring out this deadly poison. Glory to Shiva for he
drank it and saved the world from the evil consequences of the
folly of Vishnu.
Third illustration is an attempt to show that Vishnu is a fool and
that it is Shiva who with his greater wisdom and greater power
saves Vishnu from his folly. It is the story of Akrurasura.[This story is told in Vishnu Agama and is quoted in
Moore's Hindu Pantheon pp. 19-20.] Akrur was a demon with the face
of a bear, who, nevertheless, was continuously reading the Vedas
and performing acts of devotion. Vishnu was greatly pleased and
promised him any boon that he would care to ask. Akrurasura
requested that no creature, then existing in three worlds, might
have power to deprive him of life, and Vishnu complied with his
request; but the demon became so insolent that the Devatas, whom
he oppressed, were obliged to conceal themselves, and he assumed
the dominion of the world. Vishnu was then sitting on a bank
of the Kali, greatly disquieted by the malignant ingratitude of
the demon; and his wrath being kindled, a shape, which never
before had existed, sprang from his eyes. It was Mahadeva, in his
destructive character, who dispelled in a moment the anxiety of
the Vishnu.
This is countered by the story of Bhasmasura intended to
show that Shiva was a fool and Vishnu saved him from his folly.
Bhasmasura having propitiated Shiva asked for a boon. The boon was
to be the power to burn any one on whose head Bhasmasura laid his
hands. Shiva granted the boon. Bhasmasura tried to use his boon
power against Shiva himself. Shiva became terrified and ran to
Vishnu for help. Vishnu promised to help him. Vishnu took the form
of a beautiful woman and went to Bhasmasura who became completely
enamoured of her. Vishnu asked Bhasmasura to agree to obey him in
everything as a condition of surrender. Bhasmasura agreed. Vishnu
then asked him to place his hands on his own head which Bhasmasura
did with the result that Bhasmasura died and Vishnu got the credit
of saving Shiva from the consequences of his folly.
 
"Is Isa (Mahadeva) the Cause of causes for any other reasons? We
have not heard that the linga (male organ) of any other person is
worshipped by the gods. Declare, if thou hast heard, what other
being's linga except that of Mahesvara is now worshipped, or has
formerly been worshipped, by the gods? He whose linga Brahma and
Vishnu, and thou (Indra), with the deities, continually worship,
is therefore then most eminent. Since children bear neither the
mark of the lotus (Brahma's), nor of the discus (Vishnu's), nor of
the thunderbolt (Indra's), but are marked with the male and the
female organs,—therefore offspring is derived from Mahesvara. All
women produced from the nature of Devi as their cause, are marked
with the female organ, and all males are manifestly marked with
the linga of Hara. He who asserts any other cause than lsvara (Mahadeva)
or (affirms) that there is any (female) not marked by Devi in the
three worlds, including all things movable or immovable, let that
fool be thrust out. Know everything which is male to be Isvara.
and all that is female to be Uma: for this whole world,
movable and immovable, is pervaded by (these) two bodies."
Vaishnavism generally does not accept the Trimurti concept.
For example, the Dvaita school holds Vishnu alone to be the
supreme God, with Shiva subordinate, and interprets the Puranas
differently. Vijayindra Tîrtha, a Dvaita scholar
interprets the 18 puranas differently. He interprets that the
Vaishnavite puranas as satvic and Shaivite puranas as tamasic and
that only satvic puranas are considered to be authoritative
In Gaudiya Vaishnavism,
Shiva is considered the best of devotee of Vishnu (vaisnavanam
yatha sambhu) and also an aspect of Vishnu but not the same as
Vishnu. In this view, Shiva is also viewed as subservient to
Lord Vishnu, although it is still understood that he is above
the category of an ordinary jiva (living entity). In one
interpretation, Brahma is considered by Gaudiya Vaishnavites to be
the highest of the jivas.
Saivites,
similarly hold a similar view with Shiva. Shiva performs four acts
of creation, sustenance, reduction and blessing.
This bikering between the various groups led to the reformation
under Sankaracharya in the 9th C AD to form the Smarta
Sampradaya. Smartism is a denomination of Hinduism that places
emphasis on a group of five deities rather than just a single
deity. The
"worship of the five forms" (pañcāyatana
pūjā) system invokes the five deities Ganesha,
Vishnu, Shiva, Devī, and Sūrya. This system was instituted by
Śaṅkarācārya
primarily to unite the principal deities of the five major sects
on an equal status.
The monistic philosophy preached by
Śaṅkarācārya
made it possible to choose one of these as a preferred principal
deity and at the same time worship the other four deities as
different forms of the same all-pervading Brahman.
The choice of Deity is left to the devotee.
”Hey it does not matter who or what you worship.
It is actually all you yourself.”
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