Trimurti

The Hindu trinity of three main gods (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva) is known as the **Trimurti**.

The Trimurti is a Hindu concept that refers to the three main gods in Hinduism: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva:

- **Brahma**: The creator god Brahma is red and he has four hands. He has a stylus, a rosary, a set of the 4 Vedas, a spear.
- **Vishnu**: The preserver god Vishnu is black and he has four hands. He has a discus, a conch, a lotus, a mace.
- **Shiva**: The destroyer god Shiva is white and he has four hands. He has a drum, a deer, an axe, a trident.

The word Trimurti means "three forms". The three main gods are the three different aspects of Brahman, the Ultimate Reality, and they are responsible for the creation, preservation, destruction of the world. They are the foundation of Hindu belief and practice, guiding the universe through its cycles of creation, preservation, destruction.

The Aum symbol of Hinduism is representing the Trimurti, with the A, U, M phonemes representing creation, preservation, destruction of the universe. A conch's three lines also represents the Trimurti in Hinduism.

## Evolution

The Puranic period from the 4th century CE to the 12th century CE saw the rise of post-Vedic religion and the evolution of what R. C. Majumdar calls "synthetic Hinduism".

Following is a well-known verse from the Vishnu Purana (1.2.66) that mentions Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva together in a single verse, highlighting their roles within the cosmic functions of creation, preservation, destruction.

rūpāṇi trīṇi tatraiva mūrttibheda vibhāgataḥ |

ajāmyekāmśam ātmānaṁ śiva rūpeṇa tishthati ||

jagataḥ sthiti samdhānaṁ samharanti yuge yuge |

trayaṁ brahma mahāviṣṇu māheśvara iti smṛtam ||

Translation: "In this way, the one supreme entity divides itself into three forms — Brahma, Mahavishnu (Vishnu), Maheshvara (Shiva)—taking on different aspects. It creates, preserves, destroys the universe in various ages."

This period had no homogeneity, and included orthodox Brahmanism in the form of remnants of older Vedic faith traditions, along with different sectarian religions, notably Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism that were within the orthodox fold yet still formed distinct entities. One of the important traits of this period is a spirit of harmony between orthodox and sectarian forms. Regarding this spirit of reconciliation, R. C. Majumdar says that:> Its most notable expression is to be found in the theological conception of the _Trimūrti_, i.e., the manifestation of the supreme God in three forms of _Brahmā_, _Viṣṇu_, _Śiva_. But the attempt cannot be regarded as a great success, for _Brahmā_ never gained an ascendancy comparable to that of _Śiva_ and _Viṣṇu_, and the different sects often conceived the _Trimūrti_ as really the three manifestations of their own sectarian god or goddess, whom they regarded as the Brahman or the Absolute Matter.The identification of Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva as one being is strongly emphasized in the _Kūrma Purāṇa_, wherein 1.6 states that Brahman is worshipped as the Trimurti; 1.9 especially inculcates the unity of these three main gods, and 1.26 relates to the same theme. Noting Western interest in the idea of trinity, historian A. L. Basham explains the background of the Trimurti as follows:> There must be some doubt as to whether the Hindu tradition has ever recognized Brahma as the supreme deity in the way that Vishnu and Shiva have been conceived of and worshiped.The concept of Trimurti is also present in the _Maitri Upanishad_, where the three gods are explained as three forms of the supreme matter Brahman.

### Shaivism

Shaivites hold that, according to the Shaiva Agamas, Shiva performs five actions – creation, preservation, destruction, hiding grace, revealing grace. Respectively, these first three actions are done by Shiva as Sadyojata (akin to Brahma), Vamadeva (akin to Vishnu) and Aghora (akin to Shiva) with the last two actions being Tatpurusha (akin to Ishvara), Ishana (akin to Sadashiva), a form of Shiva, a form of Shiva. Thus, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Shiva as Ishvara, Shiva as Sadashiva are not gods different from Shiva, but rather are forms of Shiva. As Brahma (Sadyojata), Shiva creates. As Vishnu (Vamadeva), Shiva preserves. As Shiva (Aghora), he destroys. As Tatpurusha (Ishvara), he hides grace. As Sadashiva (Ishana), he reveals grace. This stands in contrast to the normal idea that Shiva is only the god of destruction. Shiva is the supreme god of the universe and performs all the five actions, of which destruction is only one with four others (creation, preservation, hiding grace, revealing grace), thus he performs creation, preservation, hiding grace, revealing grace. Ergo, the Trimurti is a form of Shiva himself for the Shaivas. Shaivites believe that Shiva is the supreme god of this world, who assumes various critical roles and assumes appropriate names and forms for them, and also stands transcending all these. A prominent visual example of a Shaivism version of the Trimurti is the _Trimurti Sadashiva_ sculpture in the Elephanta Caves on Gharapuri Island, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

### Vaishnavism

Despite the fact that the Vishnu Purana describes that Vishnu appears as Brahma in order to create and as Shiva in order to destroy and he appears as Vishnu in order to preserve and he appears as Hari to hide grace and he appears as Narayana to reveal grace, Vaishnavism generally does not acknowledge the Trimurti concept; instead, they believe in the avataras of Vishnu like Varaha, Narasimha, Rama, Krishna, etc. They also believe that Shiva and Brahma are both forms of Vishnu. For example, the Dvaita school holds Vishnu alone to be the supreme god, with Shiva and Brahma being subordinate to him, and interprets the Puranas differently. For example, Vijayindra Tirtha, a Dvaita scholar interprets the 18 Puranas differently. He interprets the Vaishnava Puranas as Sattvic and the Shaiva Puranas as Tamasic and the Brahmanya Puranas as Rajasic and that only Sattvic Puranas are to be considered to be authoritative over Tamasic Puranas and Rajasic Puranas as they both are unauthoritative. The tradition of Sri Vaishnavism in the south of India holds that all major deities that are hailed in the Puranas are in fact forms of Vishnu, and that the scriptures are dedicated to him alone.

### Shaktism

The female deities-centric Shaktism denomination assigns the eminent roles of the three forms (_Trimurti_) of Supreme Divinity not to masculine gods but instead to feminine goddesses: Mahasarasvati (Creatrix), Mahalakshmi (Preservatrix), Mahaparvati (Destructrix). This feminine version of the Trimurti is called _Tridevi_ ("three goddesses"). The masculine gods (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva) are then relegated as auxiliary agents of the supreme feminine Tridevi.

### Smartism

Smartism is a denomination of Hinduism that places emphasis on a group of five deities as the supreme deities rather than just a single deity as a supreme deity. The "worship of the five" (_pañchāyatana pūjā_) system, which was popularized by the ninth century CE Hindu philosopher Adi Shankara among orthodox Brahmins of the Smārta tradition, invokes the five deities, namely Shiva, Vishnu, Ganesha, Tridevi, Surya. Adi Shankara later added Kartikeya to these five, making six total. This reformed system was promoted by Adi Shankara primarily to unite the principal deities of the six major sects on an equal status. The monistic philosophy preached by Adi Shankara made it possible to choose one of these as a preferred principal deity and at the same time worship the other four deities and a personal deity as different forms of the same all-pervading Brahman.

## Reference

- An article about Trimurti from Encyclopedia Britannica.