Mandalam Musings Day 17- Primordial Trimurti Devatas – Brahma, Vishnu and Siva

 

Mandalam Musings Day 17-

Primordial Trimurti Devatas – Brahma, Vishnu and Siva

In Kerala, we consider Sree Dharma Sastha and Swamy Ayyappa to be the same conceptual form of God, in general. Is it truly so, according to Vedic literature? Are there any differences in the bhavas of the two? Where do they originate from?

To find a reasonable explanation for these questions, we need to look at the Pantheon of Gods and Goddesses depicted in our scriptures. As discussed before, there are references to 330 million Gods and Goddesses or Devatas. Devatas are to be taken as exalted souls or effulgent beings with specific and special energies and faculties that can be tapped by anyone who strives for it. The word Devata – literally means beings that are bright. God is One, as the ultimate reality, but the exalted expressions (Devatas) are many. For example, the Government of a country is a conceptual entity that cannot be accessed by a person without an intermediary such as ministers and government workers. Devatas are like department heads with authority and command, working in a government that can approve applications submitted by the people. Devatas can be propitiated to attain certain benefits. They can bless their devotees with boons and some Devatas are more popular than others. For example the Devata of wealth, Mahalakshmi is more popular amongst the devotees than the Devata of learning, Saraswathi! 

The major, primordial Devatas are represented by the Triad – Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. They come in pairs with their consorts. Brahma’s consort is Saraswathi, Vishnu’s is Mahalakshmi, and Siva’s consort is Parvathy. Each of these major Devatas has specific duties to perform. Brahma oversees all the creations and Vishnu maintains and sustains those created entities. Siva is the destroyer who paves the way to renovating every entity that has completed living the course of time it has to survive. All three carry out essential functions for all movable and immovable things and beings and they together may be considered as G-O-D i.e., Generator, Organizer, and Destroyer.

Followers of Vishnu (known as Vaishanvas) are proud of their Devata and consider Him as their supreme God and they would not want anything to alter their faith in Him. Similarly, Siva has his own ‘army’ of devotees (Saivas) who are ready to fight for maintaining the supremacy of their presiding Devata. Brahma is ever engaged in the creation and there are no devotees for him as Vishnu and Saiva have.

There are several scriptures written up extolling the virtues of each of these primordial Devatas, starting from the four Vedas and eighteen Puranas. Indian scriptures are full of legends and stories depicting the various ways the Devatas performed their magical activities as if they were ‘playing’ magnanimous roles in a great scheme of a mystical theatre. In that grand theatre of the imagination and conceptual formations, Sree Dharma Sastha was born and appeared as the progeny of Vishnu and Siva, thus partially putting an end to the erstwhile rivalry between the Vaishnavas and Saivas.