Sanatana Dharma for Kids: Hindu Trinity: Brahma - Sarasvati

[Guest guest]

The family was at the dining table. Mummy, and the twins Arvind and

Padma, were happy that daddy was home early for dinner. When

everybody was seated, mummy served the first course of dinner--puris

with potato masala and fresh mango pulp--and took a seat near

Arvind. Padma sat near her daddy, who seemed very relaxed that

evening.

 

"Children," began daddy, "today I am going to tell you about our

three main gods: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Together they are known

as the Hindu Trinity. Now, tell me what you know about them."

 

"Daddy, we don't have any classes on our religion at school." Padma

said. "We have classes on human values and moral science, where they

teach about how to become good citizens of the nation."

 

"You have forgotton what our grandma taught us when we were in the

LKG," said Arvind. "She said Brahma creates the universe, Vishnu

maintains it and Shiva destroys it."

 

"Yea, I remember, but that is not much."

 

"Don't worry. We shall discuss much more about the Trinity today."

 

"But dad," Arvind said, "Shiva also saves his devotees. Vishnu

destroyed many Asuras. I don't know much about Brahma, except that

he only creates everything."

 

"Always remember that the Trinity are three forms of the one God,

Brahman. Therefore their roles are not exclusive. Since the universe

and all its beings have to be created first, maintained till their

time is up, and then destroyed for the next cycle of creation, we

have identified Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva to be in-charge of these

three tasks, which are actually done by the one God Brahman."

 

"Right dad, tell me more about the three Gods."

 

"Brahma created this universe and its beings. He did it using the

Vedas, which the one God Brahman gave him. First he created the

universe, its galaxies and solar systems, our solar system, and the

earth. Then he populated the earth with nature, the mineral kingdom,

the vegetable kingdom and the animal kingdom. And finally, he

created mankind, and introduced souls into their next cycle of birth

in this world."

 

"How does Brahma look like, daddy?" said Padma. "We don't have his

picture in the puja room."

 

Daddy had anticipated the question, and had kept his laptap ready on

a tall stool near the dining table. Using his left hand, he pressed

the Enter key of the system, and a slide-show popped up on the

screen, with a picture of Brahma as the first slide.

 

"Look carefully at this picture," he said. "How many heads does

Brahma have?"

 

"Four," said the children together.

 

"Don't ask me how a person, even a god, can have four heads. You

know that the pictures of our gods are symbolic. Each symbol in a

picture represents an aspect or a power of the god. Here, the four

heads of Brahma represent the four Vedas. They also represent the

four Yugas of time. You know about Vedas and Yugas?"

 

"Mummy had told us," said Arvind. "There are four Vedas: rig, yajur,

sama and atharva."

 

"And the four Yugas are," rattled Padma, not to miss her chance.

"Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. We are in the

Kali Yuga. Krishna was born in the Dwapara Yuga, and Rama in Treta

Yuga."

 

"You will make a good secretary," said Arvind.

 

"No, I will be the boss," said Padma.

 

"Very good! Your mummy does a nice job, teaching you all this."

 

Mummy smiled. "I teach them Bhakti, by stories, like their grandma.

And you teach us all Jnana."

 

"So Brahma's heads represent the Vedas and the Yugas. Look again.

What about his hands?"

 

"He has four hands," said Padma, "and they hold different objects."

 

"Wait, I know some of those objects," said Arvind. "One is a rosary

or a japa mala, and another, a bunch of grass..."

 

"The other two are a kamandalam or water pot and a ladle" said

Padma, interrupting him.

 

"The rosary or the japa mala denotes the passage of time. The grass

is known as the kusa grass and the ladle as sruk. They are tools

used in a Veda Yagna, the vedic fire ceremony. The kamandalam

signifies the waters of space using which Brahma created the world.

In some pictures, Brahma holds a book of palm leaves that represent

knowledge."

 

"Dad," said Arvind, "two of his hands show some sign. What are

they?"

 

"The signs are called mudras. As with the mudras of Bharata Natyam,

they have meanings. The sign Brahma shows with his right hand, with

the palm facing up and fingers raised is called the abaya mudra, a

sign that assures protection. The other sign in which he appears to

give something, is called the varada mudra, meaning that Brahma is

ready to give boons to those who seek them."

 

"I heard that the swan or hamsa is Brahma's vehicle," said Padma.

"But it is not in this picture."

 

"Right. Hamsa is the vehicle of Brahma. It represents the peace and

happiness a person gets from yoga and meditation. It also represents

the shvasa gati, the flow of our breath. When your breath is long

and slow like the sailing of a swan, you would get immense peace of

mind."

 

"Valarmathi's cousin studies in the USA. In his school there they

teach yoga and meditation."

 

"I shall send you both to a yoga and meditation class this summer,

right? Now, we need to talk about--" said daddy, fingering the

keyboard, and the next picuture displayed was Sarasvati.

 

"We know about Sarasvati," said Padma. "Wife of Brahma, goddess of

learning, knowledge and wisdom..."

 

"Sitting on a white lotus," interrupted Arvind. "And playing Veena."

 

"She is extremely beautiful," joined mummy. "And like her husband,

holds a japa mala and a book in her two hands, while the other two

are playing the veena."

 

"Hey, you missed the peacock!" said Arvind. "What's that peacock

for, dad?"

 

Daddy was almost stumped. He scratched his head for a moment, trying

to recollect what he had read. Then he said, "Yea, I remember now.

The peacock is a bird of moods. He is eagerly waiting to be used as

a vehicle. But Vani prefers the swan, signifying that we should

overcome our moods of fear, anger and indecision in order to acquire

knowledge."

 

"The swan is a bird with a legendary ability, you know children?"

said mummy.

 

"Yes mom," chimed the children. "When you place a mixure of milk and

water to a swan, it separates water from milk and drinks only pure

milk."

 

"Like the swan, we have the power to distinguish between right and

wrong. This means that we should read the right kind of books and

get such knowledge as leads to wisdom."

 

"Wonderful!" said daddy. "Sarasvati is also the goddess of speech,

or vachaa. The name Vani signifies sound and speech. Another name

for her is Vakdevi."

 

In this midst of this interesting discussion, the puris and the

masala in the casserole vanished quickly. When mummy served them

curd rice, the typical and wholesome dessert of a South Indian

dinner, daddy said, "We need to stop now, kids. I have some urgent

work to finish. Tomorrow, same time, we shall discuss the other two

gods. I am free for the rest of this week, so I can be home early."

 

"Oh daddy!" said the children, as daddy shutdown his laptop. "But

don't disappoint us tomorrow."

 

Regards,

saidevo

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