Vedic literature , early 1st century CE.
British Museum. One of the earliest mentions of Brahma with Vishnu and Shiva is in the fifth
Prapathaka (lesson) of the
Maitrayaniya Upanishad, probably composed around the late 1st millennium BCE. Brahma is first discussed in verse 5,1, also called the
Kutsayana Hymn, and then expounded in verse 5,2. In the pantheistic
Kutsayana Hymn, This chapter of the
Maitrayaniya Upanishad asserts that the universe emerged from darkness (
tamas), first as passion characterized by innate quality (
rajas), which then refined and differentiated into purity and goodness (
sattva). While the
Maitrayaniya Upanishad maps Brahma with one of the elements of
the guṇas theory of Hinduism, the text does not depict him as one of the trifunctional elements of the Hindu
Trimurti idea found in later Puranic literature.
Post-Vedic, Epics and Puranas During the post-Vedic period, Brahma was a prominent god and his sect existed during the 2nd century CE to 6th century CE. Early texts like the
Brahmanda Purana describe that there was nothing but an eternal ocean. From this, a golden egg called
Hiranyagarbha, emerged. The egg broke open and Brahma, who had created himself within it, came into existence (gaining the name
Svayambhu). Then, he created the universe, the earth, and other things. He also created people to populate and live on his creation. However, by the 7th century CE, Brahma lost his importance. Historians believe that some of the major reasons for Brahma's downfall were the rise of
Shaivism and
Vaishnavism, their replacement of him with
Tridevi in the
Smarta tradition, and the frequent attacks by
Buddhists,
Jains,
Hindus who worship
Indra and all the other
Hindu gods. The post-Vedic texts of Hinduism offer multiple theories of
cosmogony, many involving Brahma. These include
Sarga (primary creation of the universe) and
Visarga (secondary creation), ideas related to the Indian thought that there are two levels of reality, one primary that is unchanging (
metaphysical) and other secondary that is always changing (
empirical), and that all observed reality of the latter is in an endlessly repeating cycle of existence, that cosmos and life we experience is continually created, evolved, dissolved and then re-created. The primary creator is extensively discussed in Vedic cosmogonies with
Brahman or
Purusha or
Prakrti among the terms used for the primary creator, In contrast the Vedic and post-Vedic texts name different gods and goddesses as secondary creators (often Brahma in post-Vedic texts), and in some cases a different god or goddess is the secondary creator at the start of each cosmic cycle (
kalpa, that is an aeon). Vishnu-focused Puranas describe that Brahma was born from a lotus emerging from the navel of the god
Vishnu and
Shiva was born from a fire emerging from the forehead of the god
Vishnu. In contrast, the
Shiva-focused Puranas describe Brahma and
Vishnu to be born from Shiva's right and left sides of his waist; and in other
Puranas,
Shiva and
Vishnu were born from Brahma's right and left sides of his waist or Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma creating each other cyclically in different aeons (
kalpas). Yet others describe that the
Tridevi created Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and these texts then state that Brahma is a secondary creator of the world working respectively on their behalf. Brahma creates all the forms in the universe, but not the primordial universe itself. Thus in most Puranic texts, Brahma's creative activity depends on the presence and power of a higher god or higher goddess. Further, the medieval era texts of these major theistic traditions of Hinduism assert that the
saguna (representation with face and attributes) Brahma is Vishnu, Shiva, or Tridevi, respectively. In the post-Vedic Puranic literature, Brahma creates but neither preserves nor destroys anything. He is envisioned in some Hindu texts to have emerged from the metaphysical
Brahman along with Vishnu (preserver), Shiva (destroyer), all other deities, matter and other beings. In theistic schools of Hinduism where the deity Brahma is described as part of its cosmology, he is a mortal god like all deities and dissolves into the abstract immortal Brahman when the universe ends, and then a new cosmic cycle (kalpa) restarts and all of them are recreated. and
Chitragupta,
Tamil Nadu, 10th century CE,
Melakadambur Amirtakadeshvarar Temple In the
Bhagavata Purana, Brahma is portrayed several times as the one who rises from the "
Ocean of Causes". Brahma, states this Purana, emerges at the moment when time and universe are born, inside a lotus rooted in the navel of Vishnu, along with Shiva, who emerged inside a fire rooted in the forehead of the god Vishnu. This Purana states that both Brahma and Shiva are drowsy, err, are temporarily incompetent as they put together the universe. The Puranas describe Brahma as the god creating time. They correlate human time to Brahma's time, such as a
mahākalpa being a large cosmic period, correlating to one day and one night in Brahma's existence. The Vedic discussion of Brahma as a
Rajas-quality god expands in the Puranic and
Tantric literature. However, these texts state that his wife
Sarasvati has
Sattva (quality of balance, harmony, goodness, purity, holistic, constructive, creative, positive, peaceful, virtuous), thus complementing Brahma's
Rajas (quality of passion, activity, neither good nor bad and sometimes either, action qua action, individualizing, driven, dynamic) with her
Sattva qualities.
Sangam literature The
Sangam literature mentions all
Hindu gods and goddesses and
Vedic practices in
Tamilakam. Tamilians considered the
Vedas as books of Hinduism and used it to perform
Yajnas. Several Tamil Hindu kings and queens have performed Vedic sacrifices and worshipped various gods and goddesses of
Hinduism. Several Sangam texts mention that Brahma as a creator god born from the navel of
Vishnu along with
Shiva as a destroyer god born from his forehead while he was the preserver god. As he is a direct biological ancestor of all royal families, the
Cholas said that Brahma and Shiva as their direct biological ancestors and Vishnu as their creator and the creator of this entire
universe.
Cilappatikaram also has several mentions of Brahma as the creator god. ==Iconography==