The Hindu Trinity comprises of Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the
preserver and Siva the destroyer. 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.