Talk:Brahma

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 * Lord Brahmā's day, consisting of his 12 hours, lasts 4 billion 320 million years, and his night is of the same duration. Apparently Mārkaṇḍeya lived throughout one such day and night and in the following day of Brahmā continued living as the same Mārkaṇḍeya. It seems that when annihilation occurred during Brahmā's night, the sage wandered throughout the fearful waters of destruction and saw within those waters an extraordinary personality lying on a banyan leaf.
 * Vyasa, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam in: Chapter 8: Mārkaṇḍeya's Prayers to Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi, Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 12.8.2-5


 * All Hindu gods killed evil creatures and became heroic images. This is the only religion in the world where the Destroyer becomes god. Whom did they kill? From Brahma to Krishna, those who were killed were evil to the society thus restoring peace.
 * citation needed


 * The Puranas are post-Vedic texts which typically contain a complete narrative of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology and geography. There are 18 canonical Puranas, divided into three categories, each named after a deity: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. There are also many other works termed Purana, known as 'Upapuranas.
 * Sacred Texts in: Hinduism, sacred-texts.com


 * The Vedas were revealed by the Lord Omniscient to four primeval Rishis; Rigveda to Agni, Yajurveda to Vayu, Sama Veda to Aditya, and Atharva Veda to Angira, directly in to their spiritual consciousness. The sage Brahma received and collected the four from them passed them on to other sages.
 * Veda in:Yajur Veda, Agniveer, 9 November 2013, p. xxxii


 * Without propitiating the Mother by worship and obeisance, not even Brahmâ and Vishnu have the power to elude Her grasp and attain to freedom. Therefore for the worship of these family goddesses, in order to manifest the Brahman within in order to manifest the God within them, I shall establish the women’s Math.
 * Swami Vivekananda, [http://books.google.com/books?id=UAONAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA263 Complete Works'', Vol. 7 Kartindo.com, p. 263 -- which edition?


 * The Nameless is unknowable, mightier even than Brahma. Things pass, but the essence remains. You sit, therefore, in the midst of a dream.
 * Roger Zelazny in: Sam, on reality, NASA

Surplus

 * Brahma, one of the major gods of Hinduism from about 500 BC to 500 AD, who was gradually eclipsed by Vishnu, Shiva, and the great Goddess (in her multiple aspects). Associated with the Vedic creator god Prajapati, whose identity he assumed, Brahma was born from a golden egg and created the earth and all things on it. Later myths describe him as having come forth from a lotus that issued from Vishnu’s navel.
 * The Editors, "Brahma", Encyclopædia Britannica (online ed.)


 * By the middle of the 1st millennium ce, an attempt to synthesize the diverging sectarian traditions is evident in the doctrine of Trimurti, which considers Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma as three forms of the supreme unmanifested deity. By the 7th century, he had largely lost his claim to being a supreme deity, although the Trimurti continued to figure importantly in both text and sculpture. Today there is no cult or sect that exclusively worships Brahma, and few temples are dedicated to him. Nevertheless, all temples dedicated to Shiva or Vishnu must contain an image of Brahma.
 * The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica
 * Brahma is usually depicted as having four faces, symbolic of a wide-ranging four-square capacity, as expressed in the four Vedas (collections of poems and hymns), the four yugas (“ages”), the four varnas (social classes), the four directions, the four stages of orthodox life, or life according to correct practice (ashramas), and so forth. He is usually shown with four arms, holding an alms bowl, a bow, prayer beads, and a book. He may be seated or standing on a lotus throne or on his mount, a goose. Savitri and Sarasvati, respectively exemplars of faithfulness and of music and learning, frequently accompany him.
 * The Editors, "Brahma", Encyclopædia Britannica


 * The Mahapuranas contain 400,000 slokas. They are four times the size of Mahabharata. In these, six are Satvic or Vaishnava Puranas and glorify Lord Vishnu, six are Rajasic or Brahma Puranas and glorify Lord Brahma, and six are Tamasic or Shiva Puranas and glorify Lord Shiva.
 * Shantha N. Nair in: Echoes of Ancient Indian Wisdom: The Universal Hindu Vision and Its Edifice,Pustak Mahal, 1 January 2008, p. 266

BBC quotes with no author name



 * Brahma has four heads and it is believed that from these heads came the four Vedas (the most ancient religious texts for Hindus). Some also believe that the



caste system, or four varnas, came from different part of Brahma's body. He has four arms and is usually depicted with a beard. - BBC.]]


 * Brahma is the first god in the Hindu triumvirate, or trimurti. The triumvirate consists of three gods who are responsible for the creation, upkeep and destruction of the world. The other two gods are Vishnu and Shiva. Brahma's job was creation of the world and all creatures. His name should not be confused with Brahman, who is the supreme God force present within all things.
 * BBC in: Brahma, BBC, 24 August 2009


 * Brahma is the least worshipped god in Hinduism today. There are only two temples in the whole of India devoted to him, compared with the many thousands devoted to the other two [Vishnu and Shiva].
 * BBC in:"Brahma"


 * Brahma has four heads and it is believed that from these heads came the four Vedas (the most ancient religious texts for Hindus). Some also believe that the caste system, or four varnas, came from different part of Brahma's body. He has four arms and is usually depicted with a beard.
 * BBC in:"Brahma"


 * Brahma's consort is Saraswati, goddess of knowledge.
 * BBC in:"Brahma"


 * Lord Shiva admonished Brahma for demonstrating behaviour of an incestuous nature and chopped off his fifth head for 'unholy' behaviour. Since Brahma had distracted his mind from the soul and towards the cravings of the flesh, Shiva's curse was that people should not worship Brahma. As a form of repentance, it is said that Brahma has been continually reciting the four Vedas since this time, one from each of his four heads.
 * BBC in:"Brahma"


 * ...a number of stories in the Hindu mythology which point to why he is rarely worshipped. The first view is that Brahma created a woman in order to aid him with his job of creation. She was called Shatarupa. She was so beautiful that Brahma became infatuated with her, and gazed at her wherever she went. This caused her extreme embarrassment and Shatarupa tried to turn from his gaze. But in every direction she moved, Brahma sprouted a head until he had developed four. Finally, Shatarupa grew so frustrated that she jumped to try to avoid his gaze. Brahma, in his obsession, sprouted a fifth head on top of all. It is also said in some sources that Shatarupa kept changing her form. She became every creature on earth to avoid Brahma. He however, changed his form to the male version of whatever she was and thus every animal community in the world was created.
 * BBC in:"Brahma"


 * A second view of why Brahma is not worshipped, and a more sympathetic one, is that Brahma's role as the creator is over. It is left to Vishnu to preserve the world and Shiva to continue its path of cosmic reincarnation.
 * BBC in:"Brahma"