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The Hindu Pantheon (Gods and
Goddesses)
"It’s all in the
family"
A polytheism within an
underlying monistic framework
Brahman Nirguna
- the impersonal Ultimate Reality, "without attributes"
Brahman Saguna
- Brahman with attributes. Those attributes manifest themselves (are
personified) as deities (gods & goddesses)
Three major gods:
Cycles not only of life but
of time. Samsara itself is "born", lasts for awhile and dissolves
only to be recreated once again. Brahma brings the cosmos into
existence; Vishnu preserves it for awhile; ultimately, Shiva destroys it only to
have it be recreated once again after a rest.
Brahma:
Creator of the cosmos, personification of Brahman:
Various texts tell us about
the immense cycles of time. One text (in the "Code of Manu") tells us...
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There are four ages of
man - Yugas. All together, the four ages = 12,000 years (beginning of
modern [agricultural] man). The current age is the Kali Yuga, the
final age, which lasts for 4800 years (beginning of historical man). Each
age runs progressively downhill (so we are in the worst of times when
creation is most degraded).
-
The age of the gods =
144,000,000 (144 million) years (12,000 times the age of man)
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The age of Brahman
Saguna = 144,000,000,000 (144 billion) years (1000 times the age of the
gods). This is one day in the life of Brahma. The night of Brahma (Brahman
Nirguna) is just as long. Then Brahma wakes again and the cycle of Samsara
starts all over again:
400+4000+400=4800+
300+3000+300=3600+
200+2000+200=2400+
100+1000+100=1200=12,000
years (age of man)
12,000x12,000=144,000,000
years (age of the gods)
144 million times 1000 =
144 billion years = one day in the life of Brahma
And they say a Brahma
lives for 100 "Brahma" years (14.4 trillion of our
years). Then the entire cycle starts all over again because Brahma, like
everything else, is reborn ("reincarnated").
Different texts offer
different measurements of the passage of time but the basic premise is the
same: the act of creation is a thought process - the result of consciousness
(the "mind of God")
When Brahma wakes a
universe is created. When Brahma sleeps (the state of unconsciousness) the
universe is dissolved. For as long as Brahma sleeps there is no cosmos. When
Brahma is awake (conscious) that is Brahman Saguna - the attributes of the
cosmos are Brahman’s attributes. When Brahma sleeps that is Brahman Nirguna
- no attributes = no cosmos. In essence, the entire cosmos is a manifestation
of Brahman, of consciousness, the thought/mind of God.
See
an image of Brahma on his lotus blossom
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