Why Brahma is not worshipped?

[leyh]

Originally posted by gHari:

I AM OMNIPOTENT! But still can't see the future.

gHari Prabhu:

 

That wasn't very nice,I think.I don't know how you managed to edit my post,but please refrain from doing so in the future.

 

 

[Gauracandra]

Leyh Prabhu,

 

Go to the original posting by Ghari. Take your mouse and hold the left mouse button down, and scroll over the posting at the bottom. Notice that his background is white, while yours is grey (onto which you quoted his original posting). Ghari is just joshing

 

[This message has been edited by Gauracandra (edited 03-02-2002).]

[leyh]

Thank you,Gauracandra for your explanation and I would like to extend my humble apologies to you,gHari Prabhu.I am such an idiot when it comes to computers...Please forgive me.

 

[This message has been edited by leyh (edited 03-02-2002).]

[Gauracandra]

Hey, no problem Leyh Prabhu. Simple little misunderstanding, I make those all the time I'll post some more on Brahma from that BTG article tomorrow. Right now I'm just going to collapse from exhaustion (see Health & Wellbeing article on spring cleaning). I'm in so much pain, and sore right now its not even funny

 

Gauracandra

[jijaji]

funny..ha ha ...

 

[gHari]

It was kinda funny. I was hoping to use it to convince Avinash that I had edited your post four days before you wrote it. Hence, I can see the future. And if I can, then Krsna can too, surely.

 

At least you didn't call me a mayavadi like Jackus did. The moron never did apologize for that; perhaps why he was slain by Krsna.

[gHari]

Lord Brahma is a jiva, jiva-tattva not visnu-tattva like Lord Vishnu, as described in the following Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.5 Purport:

The puruSa, after creating innumerable universes in the mahat-tattva, entered in each of them as the second puruSa, GarbhodakazAyI ViSNu. When He saw that within the universe there was only darkness and space, without a resting place, He filled half of the universe with water from His own perspiration and laid Himself down on the same water. This water is called Garbhodaka. Then from His navel the stem of the lotus flower sprouted, and on the flower petals the birth of BrahmA, or the master engineer of the universal plan, took place. BrahmA became the engineer of the universe, and the Lord Himself took charge of the maintenance of the universe as ViSNu. BrahmA was generated from rajo-guNa of prakRti, or the mode of passion in nature, and ViSNu became the Lord of the mode of goodness. ViSNu, being transcendental to all the modes, is always aloof from materialistic affection. This has already been explained. From BrahmA there is Rudra (Siva), who is in charge of the mode of ignorance or darkness. He destroys the whole creation by the will of the Lord. Therefore all three, namely BrahmA, ViSNu and Siva, are incarnations of the GarbhodakazAyI ViSNu. From BrahmA the other demigods like DakSa, MarIci, Manu and many others become incarnated to generate living entities within the universe. This GarbhodakazAyI ViSNu is glorified in the Vedas in the hymns of Garbha-stuti, which begin with the description of the Lord as having thousands of heads, etc. The GarbhodakazAyI ViSNu is the Lord of the universe, and although He appears to be lying within the universe, He is always transcendental. This also has already been explained. The ViSNu who is the plenary portion of the GarbhodakazAyI ViSNu is the Supersoul of the universal life, and He is known as the maintainer of the universe or KSIrodakazAyI ViSNu. So the three features of the original puruSa are thus understood. And all the incarnations within the universe are emanations from this KSIrodakazAyI ViSNu.

 

In different millennia there are different incarnations, and they are innumerable, although some of them are very prominent, such as Matsya, KUrma, VarAha, RAma, NRsiMha, VAmana and many others. These incarnations are called lIlA incarnations. Then there are qualitative incarnations such as BrahmA, ViSNu, and Siva (or Rudra) who take charge of the different modes of material nature.

 

Lord ViSNu is nondifferent from the Personality of Godhead. Lord Siva is in the marginal position between the Personality of Godhead and the living entities, or jIvas. BrahmA is always a jIva-tattva. The highest pious living being, or the greatest devotee of the Lord, is empowered with the potency of the Lord for creation, and he is called BrahmA. His power is like the power of the sun reflected in valuable stones and jewels. When there is no such living being to take charge of the post of BrahmA, the Lord Himself becomes a BrahmA and takes charge of the post.

 

Lord Siva is not an ordinary living being. He is the plenary portion of the Lord, but because Lord Siva is in direct touch with material nature, he is not exactly in the same transcendental position as Lord ViSNu. The difference is like that between milk and curd. Curd is nothing but milk, and yet it cannot be used in place of milk.

 

The next incarnations are the Manus. Within one day's duration of the life of BrahmA (which is calculated by our solar year as 4,300,000 x 1,000 years) there are fourteen Manus. Therefore there are 420 Manus in one month of BrahmA and 5,040 Manus in one year of BrahmA. BrahmA lives for one hundred years of his age, and therefore there are 5,040 x 100 or 504,000 Manus in the duration of BrahmA's life. There are innumerable universes, with one BrahmA in each of them, and all of them are created and annihilated during the breathing time of the puruSa. Therefore one can simply imagine how many millions of Manus there are during one breath of the puruSa.

 

The Manus who are prominent within this universe are as follows: YajJa as SvAyambhuva Manu, Vibhu as SvArociSa Manu, Satyasena as Uttama Manu, Hari as TAmasa Manu, VaikuNTha as Raivata Manu, Ajita as CAkSuSa Manu, VAmana as Vaivasvata Manu (the present age is under the Vaivasvata Manu), SArvabhauma as SAvarNi Manu, RSabha as DakSasAvarNi Manu, ViSvaksena as Brahma-sAvarNi Manu, Dharmasetu as Dharma-sAvarNi Manu, SudhAmA as Rudra-sAvarNi Manu, Yogezvara as Deva-sAvarNi Manu, and BRhadbhAnu as Indra-sAvarNi Manu. These are the names of one set of fourteen Manus covering 4,300,000,000 solar years as described above.

 

Then there are the yugAvatAras, or the incarnations of the millennia. The yugas are known as Satya-yuga, TretA-yuga, DvApara-yuga and Kali-yuga. The incarnations of each yuga are of different color. The colors are white, red, black and yellow. In the DvApara-yuga, Lord KRSNa in black color appeared, and in the Kali-yuga Lord Caitanya in yellow color appeared.

 

So all the incarnations of the Lord are mentioned in the revealed scriptures. There is no scope for an imposter to become an incarnation, for an incarnation must be mentioned in the zAstras. An incarnation does not declare Himself to be an incarnation of the Lord, but great sages agree by the symptoms mentioned in the revealed scriptures. The features of the incarnation and the particular type of mission which He has to execute are mentioned in the revealed scriptures.

 

Apart from the direct incarnations, there are innumerable empowered incarnations. They are also mentioned in the revealed scriptures. Such incarnations are directly as well as indirectly empowered. When they are directly empowered they are called incarnations, but when they are indirectly empowered they are called vibhUtis. Directly empowered incarnations are the KumAras, NArada, PRthu, SeSa, Ananta, etc. As far as vibhUtis are concerned, they are very explicitly described in the Bhagavad-gItA in the VibhUti-yoga chapter. And for all these different types of incarnations, the fountainhead is the GarbhodakazAyI ViSNu.

 

[Gauracandra]

Lord Brahma’s Sacrifice

 

This history is found in the Padma Purana, Srstikhanda, Chapter 17: Accompanied by brahmanas and other devas, or demigods, Lord Brahma once went to Puskara to perform a sacrifice. Such sacrifices are to be performed along with one’s wife, so when the arrangements for the sacrifice were complete, Lord Brahma sent Narada Rsi, the sage among the devas, to bring Sarasvati, Lord Brahma’s consort. But Sarasvati was not ready to leave, so Narada returned to Puskara alone.

 

According to astrological calculations, the sacrifice had to begin at once, so Brahma asked Indra, the king of the heavenly planets, to provide him a suitable wife to assist in the sacrifice. Lord Indra chose a cowherd girl, but the sacrifice required that the girl be of the brahmana caste. So the devas purified the girl, or elevated her caste, by passing her through a cow (into the cow’s mouth and out the other end), because in Vedic culture cows are considered pure and of the same caste as the brahmanas. The girl then became known as Gayatri, “one who was pulled through a cow.”

 

When Sarasvati arrived to find seated next to her husband another woman – Gayatri – she became angry and cursed him and some of the other devas present. But Gayatri adjusted the curses so that they would turn out favorably. For example, although Sarasvati had cursed Brahma that he would be worshipped only on the full-moon day of the month of Karttika, Gayatri declared that whoever worshipped Brahma would be blessed with wealth and a good family and would be reunited with Brahma.

 

Sarasvati Devi left the sacrifice in anger and went off to a nearby hill to perform penance.

 

Today pilgrims to Puskara can visit the temples of both Sarasvati Devi and Gayatri Devi.

 

Sarasvati Devi is also present in this world in the form of a river. Five branches of that river – Sarasvati, Supapra, Candra, Kanaka, and Nanda – flow in the Puskara area, but at present they are invisible to ordinary eyes.

 

The Place of Sages

 

Puskara has been known as a holy place for millennia, and today various sites around Puskara honor well-known Vedic sages who performed penance there, including Agastya, Pulastya, and Markendeya. It was at Puskara that the heavenly maiden Menaka distracted Visvamitra, a warrior performing meditation to become a brahma-rsi, a brahmana sage. Later Visvamitra attained his goal at Puskara.

 

Today, thousands of years after the time of Visvamitra, pilgrims still come to Puskara to fulfill their desires. Those with the highest understanding pray to the holy place – and its presiding deity, Lord Brahma – to fulfill only one desire: that they may someday develop pure love for Krsna.

 

[Bhaktavasya]

 

A verse from Srila Rupa Goswami's Padyavali:

 

"Go ahead and worship Lord Brahma! Go ahead and worship Lord Shiva! Go ahead and worship the Supreme Brahman; I shall not follow you! I shall simply worship the Vrndavan forest, which brought transcendental delight to Lord Krishna.

 

 

From the Raghupati Upadhayaya

 

"Those who are afraid of material existence worship Vedic literature; some worship smrti, and others worship the Mahabharata. As far as I am concerned, I worship Maharaja Nanda, in whose courtyard the Supreme Brahman, Krishna, is playing.