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The Ninth Lesson: The Religions of India. Part I.1303
material universe and man; the terms Prajapati, and Hiranyagarbha, also
being applied to Brahma. But Brahma did not altogether displace the
older gods, some of which were retained, but which were considered as
subordinate to Brahma—Indra and Varuna thus holding their places.
* * *
Then began to develop the clearer idea of the Hindu Trinity, composed
of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva—the three being held to be aspects of one
Supreme Being. Brahma was regarded as the Creative Principle of the Trinity;
Vishnu as the Preserving Principle; and Shiva as the Destructive Principle:—
the manifestations of three principles causing the universal manifestation
and life. This idea of the Trinity has never lost its hold on the Hindu mind,
although it changed with the rise of Vishnu and Shiva worship, each sect
holding that Vishnu or Shiva, as the case might be, as the Supreme Being,
from which the other two sprung. But the basic Trinitarian idea remains as
a part of the Hindu religious conception, and has persisted from the time
of its birth. It dates very far back, and many of the ancient sculptures show
traces of it, for instance the well-known rock carving at Elephanta which
shows the Trinity as having one body with three heads emerging from it.
The rise of the popularity of Vishnu and Shiva, the two principles of the
Hindu Trinity, may be traced in the Vedas. Among the early Vedas we find
traces of Vishnu, and Rudra, the latter being identical with Shiva. Vishnu, from
the first, was pictured as gracious deity, filled with goodness, righteousness,
and love, as well as a desire for order and peace—his symbol was the
moving sun. Rudra (Shiva), on the other hand, represented the principle of
destruction and strife, having a malevolent and revengeful nature, but being
capable of propitiation and flattery for which he rewarded his worshipers
with favors, prosperity, health, etc.—he had the storm for his symbol. This
conception of Vishnu, and Shiva, corresponded with the world-wide and
world-old conception of the Good Spirit and the Bad Spirit—God and
Devil—which all races and religions seem to have had at some time in their
history.