LORD BRAHMA

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LORD BRAHMA

by Mantra & shlokas on Saturday, April 30, 2011 at 11:57am

APPEARANCE OF BRAHMAJI
A PROFILE OF BRAHMAJI
According to the scriptures, Brahmaji was born on the lotus that had arisen from the navel of eternal ommipresent Lord Narayan Vishnu. During the period of deluge (Pralaya) all the creations was destroyed and the creatures that had gone into Maharloka (the fourth of the upper worlds according to the Puranas), take birth again on the earth as per their deeds. God who keeps an account of the innumerable deeds of those innumerable creature and arrange for their incarnations is called Brahma.

SCRIPTURAL APPEARANCE OF BRAHMAJI

Scriptures describe the appearance of Brahmaji thus :

CHATURMUKHD VEDADHARAH SAKSHASUTRA KAMANDALUH |
HANSARUDHO RAKTAVASA BRAHMALOKA PITAMAH ||

He has four heads, holds Vedas, Rosary, Yagyopavita (Sacred thread) and Kamandalu (bowl); wears red cothes and rides a swan. He is none other than Brahmaji, grandfather of all of us.

FOUR HEADS OF BRAHMAJI

Brahmaji is shown with four heads, Besides being the creator of the universe, Brahmaji is a deponent of the deeds of all the creatures as well, alloting the creatures various incarnations as per their deed is duty of Brahmaji. Hence the full knowledge of a creatures deed is an indispensable precondition before deciding an incarnation for it. Only then full justice could be assured for a creature. Hence to look around in all the directions, Brahmaji is shown with the four heads.

WHITE BEARD OF BRAHMAJI

Brahmaji is the great grandfather of all of us. Hence his appearance must match his status. Since antiquity, in a single day of Brahmaji no one knows how many members of creatures take birth and die. The period since antiquity can be calculated according to astrology. Since Brahmaji has such an eternal existance, his appearance must correspondend to his eternity as well, so that feeling of respect could naturally arise among the people for him. Hence, Lord Brahma is shown with a white beard.

SWAN AS A VEHICLE

Swan is a white bird. God has bestowed it with unique virtues. Virtues that are not to be found in any creature of the eighty-four lakh incarnations, their virtue is NEERA-KSHEERA VIVEKA, that is, if milk is mixed with water, a swan is capable of separating milk from water and taking it rejecting the water. It is an indication fof Brahmaji that every creature deserves a full justice regarding his deeds , no matter how much entangled it might be. There should not be any ado in the justice. People must also learn from it that they should imbibe only the valuable part of a thing and discard the worthless. Only then they could be regarded as a doer of good deeds and thus receive honour in the society.

PURPOSE OF HOLDING VEDAS

Brahmaji is also shown as holding Vedas is one of his hands why? It is natural to be curious about it. Vedas are undoubtedly the most ancient scriptures in the word. Even the great deluge (Pralaya) could not destroy Vedas for almighty Brahma himself had taken incarnation to save Vedas during deluge. Hence Vedas have no beginning and no end. Besides Vedas also remind Brahmaji of the previous Kalpa (the grand period that includes all the four Yugas). Vedas also teach us that everything is destructible, only the truth can not be destroyed. Hence in the carnation of destructible body, never forget the indestructible, eternal, almighty Paramatma because every other thing in the world is bound to be destroyed one day.

ROSARY IN SECOND HAND

The great grandfather of all the creatures Lord Brahma teaches by his appearance that the human incarnation is not just for the mundane jobs. Instead among the mundane jobs, human being must keep on remembering the almighty Paramatma. Because without reciting the name of almighty God welfare of any human being is simply not possible. Hence, by the rosary in second hand Brahmaji teaches that, always keep on telling the name of almighty God, for your welfare. It is therefore written also -

JAPATA SIDDHIH JAPATASIDDHIH JAPATASIDHIH NASANSHAYAH

One gets perfection only in the name of almighty God, there is no doubt in it. Hence, comprehensing these things human being must keep on reciting and telling the name of omnipresent God whether he is moving, or sitting, eating or drinking and sleeping or awakening.

KAMANDALU (COCONUT SHELL BOWL)

JALAMEV JEEVANAM

That is water is life. Water is the basic physical element that caused the whole creation to exist. The coconut shell bowl (Kamandalu) held by Brahmaji; also holds water, thus depicting the hassle free existence and continuence of the whole creation.
Lotus is the seat for Lord Brahma Lotus also adorns the hand of Lord Vishnu and is an essential item to worship Lord Shiva. Every one knows that the lotus grows from the muck. Thus, it teaches that inspite of being born of the muck be as pure as possible. Including humans, all creatures are born out of the muck called passion and illusion. They are unable to free themselves from these two. Thus the lotus seat of Brahmaji teaches that regardless of origin one must strive to be as free and pure as possible from the influences of one's origin. In another words, humans must obtain themselves from the passion and illusion of the world despite being surrounded by them.

The creator lord is especially popular amongst intellectual people, students, scholars, educationists for his extensive hold over knowledge and intellect. Given below is the Sanskrit mantra dedicated to lord Brahma with its meaning.

Om namo rajo jushei sristau
Sthithou sattwa mayayacha
Tamo mayaya sam-harinei
Vishwarupayavedhasei
Om brahmanyei namaha

Lord Brahma is 'Om' who created this Universe and to him we pay are salutations. The creation of the cosmic world was achieved by him with the help of three 'gunas' or qualities. The three qualities of nature are the positive, negative and inert qualities. It is Brahma who created all the forms present in this world and to this supreme god I bow down.


“Gurubrahma Guruvishnu Gurudevo Maheswarah,
Guru saakshaat Param Brahma Tasmai shri guravey Namah.”
Meaning : The guru is none other than the creator, Lord Brahma; he verily is Lord Vishnu, the preserver, and the truly is Maheswara, the destroyer. He is the supreme Brahma himself. To such a guru I offer my salutations.

Once Lord Brahma came to Mount Kailasa and walked in proudly. Lord Murugan called Brahma and asked him for the meaning of the pranava mantra 'OM'.
Brahma replied that "Om means Lord Brahma."
Angered, Murugan gave Brahma a beating on all four heads and kicked him out of the place. Murugan then threw Brahma in prison at Kandaverpilai. Then he himself took over the job of creation, protection and destruction of the universe.
Lord Siva came to know about Brahma's imprisonment and sent Nandi to request Murugan to release Brahma. But Murugan ignored the request.
When Narada told Siva about Murugan's refusal to release Brahma, Siva laughed and he himself came to Lord Murugan, released Brahma and gave him back his work of Creation.

Lord Siva made Murugan to sit on His lap and asked him the meaning of 'OM'. Murugan whispered the meaning to Lord Siva's ear. Thus he became Swami Nathan, the lord of his own father.

Only Three Temples of Brahma
Legend has it that Lord Brahma is said to be very liberal with granting boons and is easily pleased when prayed to without any thought as to who is praying and asking him for a boon. He is rather callous in granting boons to the demons unguardedly.All the deadly demons, from Hiranyakashipu to Ravana, received their boons from Brahma, which made them singularly notorious in destroying the noble virtues of the world. Then it became necessary for Lord Vishnu to appear in his various reincarnations to kill these demons.That is why the cult of Brahma's worship declined as He became unpopular amongst religious devotees who began to deem Brahma as the sole God of worship for the demons. Another reason why Brahma is not widely worshipped is the belief that being the Creator, his work is complete, at least for the time being.
Hence there are only three temples of Brahma,all in India, one at Pushkar Lake in Ajmer, another in Khokhan, Kullu Valley and the other at Khed brahma in Gujrat.