Lord Brahma symbolizes the aspect of the Supreme Reality that brings forth the creation. He is the god of creation and he is traditionally accepted as the Creator of the entire universe. He is the first member of the Hindu Trinity that also includes Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. Brahma is often identified with Prajapati, a Vedic deity. He appears seated on a lotus. The lotus represents the Reality. Brahma sitting on the lotus indicates that he is ever-rooted in the infinite Reality.
Brahma is often identified with Prajapati, a Vedic deity. As per Hindu mythology, Brahma was born from a (kamala) lotus springing from Vishnu's navel and created the world through his daughter Saraswati. According to Manu Smriti, the self- existent Lord manifested to dispel the darkness enveloping universe. He created the waters and deposited a seed that became a golden egg from which he was born as Brahma. He divided the egg into two parts to construct the heaven and earth, and created the ten Prajapatis, mind-born sons, who completed the work of creation. By a third account, the Lord separated himself into two parts, the male and the female after dividing the golden egg.
According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Manu, and from Manu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, he is often referred to as the orignator of all human beings. He is not to be confused with the Supreme Cosmic Spirit in Hindu Vedanta philosophy known as Brahman,.
He is a four-faced, four-armed deity. He carries a rosary in one hand, a sacrificial tool (sruva) in the other hand, the Vedas (knowledge) and a water pot (kamandal) in other hands respectively.The four faces represent the sacred knowledge of the four Vedas (Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva). Brahma's black or white beard denotes wisdom and the eternal process of creation. His four arms represent the four cardinal directions- east, south, west, and north. The back right hand represents mind, the back left hand represents intellect, the front right hand is ego, and the front left hand is self-confidence. The lotus symbolizes nature and the living essence of all things and beings in the Universe.
Brahma is always depicted as having four heads. According to a story, Brahma was once in the midst of extended austerities in order to gain the throne of Indra, the king of gods, when Indra sent a celestial dancing girl, Tilottama, to distrub Brahma. Not wanting to move from his medative position, Brahma produced a face on this right side when Tillotama moved to his right side; when she appeared behind him, Brahma produced a head behind his head; he produced a face on his left, when she appeared on his left; wnd when she appeared above him, he produced a face above. When Lord Shiva saw this five-headed Brahma, he got furious at Brahma for his lust and pinched off his above looking head. Brahma was left with four faces.
Brahma's divine consort is Saraswati, the Goddess of learning and knowledge. His mount is a Swan. Brahma carries no weapon. Although Brahma is the equal to Vishnu and Shiva, Lord Brahma is not popularly worshipped. In India, there are only two temples devoted to Brahma; one is near Ajmer, Rajisthan and other one is in Idar, on the border of Gujarat and Rajisthan.
