Trimurti
This is the triple deity of supreme divinity in Hinduism, in which the cosmic functions of creation, preservation, & destruction are personified as a triad of deities. Usually, they’re Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, & Shiva the destroyer. The word “trimurti” means “3 forms.”
The Om symbol of Hinduism is considered to have an allusion or the Trimurti, where the A, the U, & the M phonemes of the word are considered to indicate creation, preservation, & destruction. Adding up to represent Brahman.
There’s a difference between Brahman (with an ‘n’), which refers to Ultimate Reality & Brahma (without the ‘n’), which refers to the creator god.
According to the Shaiva Agama, Shavities believe that Shiva performs 5 actions: creation, preservation, dissolution, grace, & illusion. The first 3 actions are associated with Shiva as Sadyojata (akin to Brahma), Vamadeva (akin to Vishnu), & Aghora (akin to Rudra).
Braham, Vishnu, & Rudra aren’t deities different from Shiva. But rather forms of Shiva. As Brahma/Sadyojata, Shiva creates. As Vishnu/Vamadeva, Shiva preserves. As Rudra/Aghora, Shiva dissolves. Shiva is the supreme god & performs all actions, destruction is only but 1. Ergo, the Trimurti is a form of Shiva himself for Shaivas.
Shaivites believe that Shiva is the supreme. Shiva assumes various critical roles & assumes appropriate names & forms, also stands transcending all these.
Despite the fact that the Vishnu Parana describes that Vishnu manifest as Brahma in order to create & as Rudra (Shiva) in order to destroy.
Vaishnavism generally doesn’t acknowledge the Trimurti concept. Instead, they believe in the avatars of Vishnu like Narashimha, Rama, Krishna, etc.
Also they believe that Shiva & Brahma are both forms of Vishnu. The Dvaita school, for example, holds Vishnu alone to be the supreme god. Shiva is the subordinate & interprets the Puranas differently.
Vijayindra Tirtha, a Dvaita scholar, interprets the 18 Puranas differently. He interprets the Vaishnavite puranas as satvic & Shaivite Puranas as tumasic. Only the satvic Puranas are considered authoritative.
Satvic is 1 of the 3 gunas (modes of existence). This is the quality of goodness, purity, positivity, truth, serenity, balance, peacefulness, & virtuousness. Tamasic is another of the 3 gunas. This is the quality of inertia, inactivity, dullness, or lethargy.
Sri Vaishnavism tradition, in the south, holds that all major deities that are hailed in the puranas are in fact forms of Vishnu & that the Scriptures are dedicated to him alone.
The female-centric denomination of Shaktidharma puts the dominant roles of the 3 forms (Trimurti) of the Supreme Divinity not to the male gods. But to the female goddesses: Mahasarasvati (Creatrix), Mahalaxmi (Preservatrix), & Mahakali (Destructrix).
This girl version of the Trimurti is called Tridevi (“3 goddesses”). The boy gods (Brahma, Vishnu, & Shiva) are then relegated as auxiliary agents of the supreme feminine Tridevi.
Smartism is a denomination of Hinduism that places emphasis on a group of 5 deities rather than just a single 1. The “worship of the 5 forms” (pancayatana puja) system, which was made popular by the 9th century philosopher, Sankaracarya among Orthodox Brahmins of the Smarta tradition, invokes the 5 deities: Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, Shakti, & Surya. Sankaracarya later added Kartikeya to these 5, making 6 in total.
This reformed system was promoted by Sankaracarya primarily to unite the principal deities of the 6 major sects on an equal status. The monistic philosophy preached by Sankaracarya made it possible to choose 1 of these as a preferred principal deity & as these same time worship the other 4 deities as different forms of the same all-pervading Brahman.
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