[Advaita-l] The Trimurti-s appear and disappear in every kalpa - The Parasara Dharma Samhita

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Sun, 10 Mar 2019, ravi chandrasekhara wrote:


> 
> 1.As opposed to Vishnu and Siva, Brahma is a temporary post like Indra, etc.
> Hanuman is to be the next Brahma. Is Saraswati also temporaRY ?

All of the devatas return to samsara after their karmaphala is exhausted 
or are absorbed into Brahman at the pralaya.  But see my answer to 3.

> 
> 2.Why we don't formally worship Brahma ? I know the puraanic stories. But is
> it arthavaada ? Did Siva really cut of Brahma's head ? If so, which Brahma
> and which kalpa ?
>

First of all it is not strictly true that Brahmaji is not worshipped.  In 
Gujarat atleast and I think in other areas too, artisanal castes such as 
Sutars (carpenters,) Lohars (blacksmiths) and kumbhars (potters) have 
"Vishwakarma" as their kuladevata.  Vishwakarma and Prajapati are common 
surnames amongst them.

But compared to Vishnu Bhagavan and Shiva Bhagavan His worship is much 
less.  This is speculation but in my opinion several reasons might be:

Even in Shruti, Prajapati is morally compromised in comparison with Vishnu 
and Rudra.  It is hinted at in the mantras and made more explicit in the 
Brahmanas that Prajapati first created manas putras such as Narada, 
Sanatkumaras etc. to assist him in the creation, but owing to their 
sattvika natures they refused to join Him. (In the Bhagavata, when Narada 
refuses, his father curses him to wander the universe for ever.  Narada in 
turn curses Brahma that he would not be worshipped.)  So he created a 
daughter and then desired to unite with her.  She took the shape of the 
female of every species in an effort to get away but He became the male of 
each one and thereby all living beings were created.  As this is incest, 
the maithunika srshti is flawed and thus the existence of evil in the 
world is explained.  The Devas sent Rudra to punish Him (Rudra "Howler" is 
explained as the one who howls or cries in dismay at adharma)

This is symbolised astronomically.  Prajapati is the constellation known 
in English as Orion.  Rudra is the star Sirius. The three stars known as 
"Orions Belt" are the arrow with which pierces Prajapati (Rather than 
beheading, this symbolises castration as befits a sex crime.)  The star Al 
Deberan in Taurus (Rohini in Sanskrit) is the daughter.

Philosophically, the concept of Prajapati as the greatest God became 
associated with the idea of Him being the "soul" of the yajna.  But the 
sacrificial system was eclipsed by developments such as Vedanta and Bhakti 
so Brahma declined in importance.

Compared to the Western religions, both Vedanta and Bhakti place 
relatively low priority on the concept of God as creator.  All astikas 
agree that universe is created and destroyed over and over again. 
Advaitins say that the created universe is maya anyway.  So that Brahma is 
the creator is not really that special.

> 3.What is Siva's positon as per Smarthas ? I heard Sri Vaishnavas say Siva
> is Baddha Jivatma,
>

Certainly one can find many Advaitins of renown who are ardent devotees 
of Shiva, Vishnu, and Devi and have exalted them to the highest.  In the 
end it is up to the individual upasaka how he wants to position each one 
relative to the others.  Smartas consider all the forms of God as fit for 
upasana as long as the form of worship is not contrary to dharma.

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>