Unique Attributes : Creator, knowledge,
generator, calmness,
Other Names : Hiranyagarbha, Nabhija, Kanja
Abode : Brahmalok
Consort : Saraswati
Vahan (Vehicle) : Swan (hans)
Primary Scriptures : Brahma Purana, Padma Purana, Markandeya
Purana.
Lord Brahma is perhaps the sole Hindu God who over the years has
maintained his distinctive identity as the creator and is not really
manifested into other forms. Lord Brahma completes the trinity of Hindu
Gods and performs the role of creation and generation of life on earth.
Hence Lord Brahma was the one who created eleven 'Prajapatis' for
fathering the human race. Lord Brahma himself is believed to have taken
birth from the navel of Sri Vishnu emerging on top of a thousand petal
lotus flower; hence he is sometimes addressed as Nabhija. Brahma's
consort is Devi Saraswati the goddess of learning and arts. She
adequately symbolizes Lord Brahma's ingenious force. Brahma's vahan
(vehicle) is the white swan which is a reflection of the Lord's
righteous action and sense of honorable discrimination. The swan in
Hindu mythology is believed to have the unique power of discriminating
between milk and water from a mixture of both these substances, thus
manifesting Brahma's sense of justice.
Lord Brahma is usually depicted as four armed and bearing four heads
seated on the Lotus flower. The four faces of Brahma represent the four
Vedas - the source of all knowledge; the lord continuously recites the
four Vedas from his mouths. The four arms of the lord represent his
knowledge about the undertakings in all the four directions and are thus
a symbol of his omnipresence. In northern India Lord Brahma is usually
depicted as having a long white beard which signify the immense wisdom
the Lord has and as well as the never ending cycle of creation and
destruction.
Lord Brahma's biggest temple is to be found in the Pushkar town of
Rajasthan where a festival dedicated to the Lord is celebrated in the
lunar month of Kartika. However unlike other Hindu gods, Lord Brahma
does not enjoy a powerful position in temple worship nor are there many
festivals dedicated to the Lord. There are many a legends woven around
the non-popularity of worship of Lord Brahma. These include a different
tale of curse the lord received from Goddess Saraswati, Lord Shiva,
Narad Muni and Brahmarishi Bhrigu. Brahma however symbolizes knowledge
and intellect and hence is popularly worshipped by students, teachers,
scientists and scholars with great reverence.