Hindu gods and goddesses: The Legends of Devi

Hinduism has always been an assortment of highly diverse beliefs and rituals. It has always been the belief in the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, also known as samsara, with various gods and goddesses responsible for a variety of situations throughout a Hindu’s life. Back when Hinduism was just beginning to emerge, the Hindu’s stressed personal devotion to a deity. These deities were gods and goddesses who could either help or harm the Hindu’s when asked. There is a variety of deities in the Hindu religion and Devi was considered their universal mother along with her legendary forms.

The Hindu religion consists of many gods and goddesses with a variety of powers and responsibilities. While there are many deities in the Hindu religion, a majority of these deities may be reincarnations of each other. This religion started out with three gods in the Hindu Trinity: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. The trinity began with Brahma, the creator of the universe. Brahma created the goddess Gayatri, also known as Saraswati, to be his other half in order to create the world and the human race ("Hindu Gods & Goddesses").

Next, in the trinity was Vishnu, the preserver and protector of the universe. Vishnu was the embodiment of goodness and mercy; he was the deity of the peaceful mood and he did not tolerate ego. Whenever the natural balance of good and evil became imbalanced by the evil forces, Vishnu would incarnate himself as a human to set the natural balance to its original equilibrium ("Hindu Gods & Goddesses"). Vishnu had to incarnate himself as a human numerous times. Five of those incarnations stood out amongst the rest. These five incarnations were Kurma, Vamana, Ram, Krishna, and Buddha. Kurma, Vishnu’s second incarnation, was the...

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...ificant roles to the Hindus. It started with the trinity of gods—Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva—until three monotheistic gods—Vishnu, Shiva, Devi—became more popular in the religion. Out of these three gods, Devi was considered the Supreme Power and the Universal Mother. Devi had many significant roles in the Hindu religion with her many forms. Devi existed in everything and Devi could do anything; nothing was out of her reach.

Works Cited

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N/A. "Hindu Gods & Goddesses." Hindu Gods and Hindu Goddesses : Overview of the Gods and Goddesses of Hinduism. Sanatan Society, n.d. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.

Sivananda, Swami, Sri. "Devi." Devi. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.