5 Gods In Hinduism

Hinduism is seen in several different ways around the world yet, Hinduism is the oldest discovered and studied religion dating as far back as 8000-6000 (pg.176). In the Hindu religion, there are three main gods, a part of the triumvirate, and they are Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. However, there are many gods in the religion of Hinduism. To limit the scope of this paper, I’m going to be talking about 5 gods: Brahman, Shiva, Vishnu, Kali and Lakshmi.

Brahma is the first God in the Hindu Trimurti. The Triumvirate consists of three gods who are responsible for the creation, upkeep and destruction of the world. However, Brahma is the creator of the universe and individual, he is also known by the names Nabija (born the stomach). Brahma has four heads,

The god Shiva is important and the most difficult in this Triumvirate to describe because he is the destroyer of the world. Shiva is the destroyer, but he also has many other complex roles and many of those roles tend to challenge each other. The god Shiva has many names and is the god of various aspects of life including yoga and dance. Shiva has gained a large following in the Hindu religion and those that follow him are called Shaivas. Shiva is white in color, except his neck which is dark blue. He has three eyes, the third eye rests between his eyebrows, it is the eye of wisdom.in contrast to Brahma who is generally described as old, and Shiva is usually shown either as a young or middle aged God. Shiva is described as a non-being. Shiva is also described as darkness not light. Shiva is the supreme Lord, he is called the “Great Lord”. One of the most popular representations of Shiva is Nataraj, the cosmic dancer, he dances on the corpse of ignorance surrounded by fire. According to the Hindu traditions Shiva is both creator and destroyer, movement and tranquility, light and dark, man and woman. These roles tend to be contradicting but Shiva has these roles in order to show that these things are more closely related than they appear to be. But Shiva role is to destroy the universe in order to recreate it. He is the light of universe but has quick temper that leads to destruction and curses. Shiva is the oldest

Thousands of people, regardless of caste, gather together at shrines and temples to honor and offer sacrifices to kali, the black goddess. Kali is one of four major Hindu goddesses that each have a friendship with the god Shiva. Besides Kali, these include Parvati, Uma, and Durga. Kinsley says that Kali is one of the goddesses who feature obviously in the Sanskrit textual tradition and who are known all over India and describes her as being among the most popular and impressive(131). Kali takes many forms. One form is puja, or the act of worshipping the image or manifestation of God by making spiritual connection with the deity through invocation, offerings, rituals and prayers. Kali is often described as being all powerful, awesome and demanding. Kali message of acceptance of one mortality is to be able to let go of all fear and feel free to do things that make one happy. I must agree with Kinsley as he said that Kali grants the wider vision of reality to those who find the courage to face the darker.