The Hindu gods themselves have mutiple names -- they change according to various functions, seasons, and places of worship. Most of the pantheon known today was strongly influenced by the Dravidians in southern India.
BRAHMA
Brahma is the Son of the Supreme Being (Brahman) and personifies creation. He is often depicted as sitting on a lotus flower, the stem of which is rooted in Vishnu's navel. In his hands he holds a sceptre, a lotus, a spoon, the holy texts, a rosary, and a bowl of holy water. He is often shown riding a goose, and has four heads -- though usually only three are visible.
SARASWATI
Saraswati is the goddess of Wisdom and the Arts. In her four hands, she holds a bina symbolising the arts, manuscripts symbolising learning, a rosary and a lotus. She rides a goose or a peacock.
VISHNU
Vishnu preserves the world's divine order. He is the infinite ocean of the universe, from which the world originates. Water is his symbol, and he is depicted lying or seated on water. He is called Narayana,'he who lies on water'. Symbolising water, the seven-headed snake, Ananta or Shesha, accompanies and protects him. Vishnu rides the eagle Garuda,which often has the shape of a man with eagle's wings and beak.
In his four hands Vishnu holds a conch, with which he proclaims his victory over demons; a discus, which he twirls-the invincible arm which he hurls at his enimies; a golden mace, which symbolises his royal power; and a lotus, symbol of purity.
Vishnu's sign is a 'V',found on walls of temples dedicated to him and drawn with sandalwood paste on his devotees' forehead.
He is also called Hari(the saviour).
VISHNU'S AVATARS
Vishnu's main task is to peserve the divine order. If this is disturbed,he descends to earth (avatar) taking the form required by the occasion.In the concept of avatar is manifested the remarkable capacity of Hinduism for absorption and adaptation: historical personages like the Buddha, Christ and, according to some, Mahatma Gandhi are without difficulty identified with the divine presence.
The ten avatars of Vishnu known until now are:
Matsya, the fish: It saved humanity's forebears from the flood.
Kurma,the tortoise: it took the nectar of immortality from the ocean.The gods sat on it while churning the ocean of milk.
Varaha,the wildboar: it saved the earth from demons who had plunged the planet into the ocean.
Narasimha,the man-lion: it destroyed the demon Hiranyakashyapu whom Brahma had rashly made invincible by any god, man or animal.
Vamana,the dwarf: he took back sovereignty over the earth and heavens from the King Bali.The latter was permitted to return to earth once a year.
Parasuram: Rama carrying the axe.He came to help the Brahmin caste defend itself against the Kshatriyas.
Ramachandra: Rama,hero of the Ramayana.
Krishna: the most popular avatar. He is an entirely different kind
of god,appearing as such in the Bhagvat Gita. He is the darling of
Hindu mithology, and is regarded by some not as an avtar but as
Vishnu himself. A cult figure in his own right, his worshiper's
intensity equals or surpasses that of the Vishnu or Shiva cults.
Stories of his amazing childhood delight Indians.Accounts of his
adolescence portray him as a teasing child, stealing girl's clothes
as they bathe in the river. He is also the cowherd whom the gopis
(young coeherdesses) adore. He neglects his beloved, Radha, to chase
other women. The loves of Radha and Krishna are narrated in a twelfth
century poem, the Gita Govinda.
His body and face are blue, the colour of
the endless ocean and infinite space. He is often depicted holding a
flute in his hands, as cowherds do.The most commonly described
episode of his childhood shows him lifting Mount Govardhana up with
one finger to protect villagers from a vengeful storm unleashed by
Indra,the god of the skies.
Buddha:the ninth avatar.
Kalki: Vishnu's last incarnation, who will appear on a white horse
at the end of the Kali Yuga,the dark age through which we are
passing. The corrupted world will be destroyed and Vishnu will
rebuild a new world.
Vishnu is the pale horse, pale rider who
comes at the end of the present chaotic era of Kali. With his
discriminating sword of righteousness Kalki will restore the moral
order, creating a new Satyuga or Age of Purity for humanity. The
millennial day of judgment by a risen Christ is Kalki's expression in
western culture.
The development of the avatars from fish to man ,passing by the wildboar and dwarf,symbolises the transformation of mankind.
KALI
According to theogonies of the late
epic period, most notably the Harivamsha, Durga in her alternate form
as Kali (i.e., Darkness or Sleep) was once born as the cross-uterine
sister of Vishnu's dark avatar, Krishna. This came about when Vishnu
decided to descend to earth as Krishna in order to oppose the evil
King Kamsa. Vishnu planned to be born to Devaki, Kamsa's cousin.
Kamsa, however, having heard that an offspring of Devaki's would kill
him, had each of her babies slain. To protect himself, Vishnu
persuaded the goddess Sleep (Kali) to incarnate herself
simultaneously in the womb of another woman. After the embryos were
secretly exchanged, Devaki's surrogate daughter was killed instead of
her actual son Vishnu-as-Krishna. For the assistance of the goddess
Durga-Kali-Sleep, Vishnu blessed her as follows:
...I will do a favour for you to make your glory on earth equal to mine; you will be goddess of the whole world. . . . You will obtain an eternal place in the sky. . . . You will he dark like my own skin. . . . You will have four stout arms like my arms. . . . Your shining face will be the rival of the moon. A triple diadem will hind your shining hair. . . . You will be attended by throngs of grotesque ghosts, and by my command you will take a vow of eternal chastity and dwell in the triple heaven. . . . You will adorn the earth with thousands of residences (shrines dedicated to her). With your retinue of ghosts you will receive an offering of sacrificial beasts on the ninth day of each month, for you will always be fond of sacrifices of flesh. . . . When men worship you you will protect them from capture, painful slaughter, the death of sons, loss of wealth, and danger of disease or death.
Even the Tamil Shilappadikaram, a text at least coeval with the Tamilnadu, 10th c., Accession no.... Harivamsha, refers to Durga as Vishnu's younger sister, so it is perfectly understandable that they should share the discuss and conch in South Indian iconography. But far less certain is the underlying connotation of these attributes, particularly when held by Durga.
In a thorough study Wayne Begley has concluded that an actual discoid weapon, in use in India until the nineteenth century, gave rise to cakra symbolism in Vaishnava iconography; solar, imperial, temporal, and other philosophical connotations were secondary accretions. But is this conclusion equally relevant for Shakta circles, in which supreme deity is ascribed to Durga, the Great Goddess independent of her brother Vishnu or husband Shiva? Considering that she favors other weapons in her contest with Mahisha and his legions-a Shaiva trident first, with bow and arrows, sword, and club being mentioned next in frequency--why is the cakra given such prominence? Might it not be reminiscent of the quintessential aniconic symbol of Shaktism, the Shri-cakra?
LAKSHMI
She is Vishnu's shakti, goddess of beauty,fortune and prosperity.Gold coins are said to fall from her hands. Two white elephants,symbols of luck,accompany her.She sits on a lotus.She is also called HariPriya(Hari's beloved) as well as Lokamata(mother of the world).
She is often portrayed seated with Vishnu on the eagle Garuda, which holds a snake with its claws.
SHIVA
The third member of the supreme
trinity, Shiva is also called Mahadeva, the great god.He is by far
the most complx personage in Hindu mythology. He unites in himself
the contradictory aspects of life: he destroys and he creates; he
kills the old world to make a new one emerge from it. Characteristic
of him are third,vertical eye which he bears in the middle of his
forehead, and the three horizontal lines across it.
The Mahabharata narrates how Shiva meditate, seated at the summit of the Himalayas.His wife,Uma,approached him and playfully covered his eyes wth her hands.The world was suddenly plunged in darkness.But a ray of light as brilliant as the sun sprang from his third eye, restoring life and warmth to the world.
Shiva is the greatest of the yogis.He sits on a tiger or panther-skin,and he wears his hair in a bun.Snakes are coiled around his neck and a crescent moon decorates his hair.Water spouts fountain-like from the top of his hair.This is the Ganges,the sacred river.In his four hands he holds a drum, a begging bowl with which he asks for alms, a trident symbolising his power, and an antelope. He rides the bull Nandi, which is a cult figure in its own right.
Shiva is the supreme god of south India.He is an ascentic and also Nataraj, the god of dance who destroys the world through fire, and recreates it with drum-beats.Shiva's essential symbol is the lingam, or phallus, symbolising creation.He enters and fecundates the yoni, female symbol of earth.
Shiva may be Bhairava,the terrible, or Hari-Hara (combination of Vishnu and Shiva).When he personifies the Absolute, he unites within himself the forms of Vishnu,Brahma and Shiva.In this case , he is called Trimurti, Shiva with three faces.
PARVATI
She is the woman, beautiful, gentle and tender, the wife of Shiva. But when she is called Kali,she can be terrifying; when she is Durga, aloof.Shiva and Parvati's wedding is often depicted in popular iconography.
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