13. Vishnu and Brahma

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Download PDF: PCT-013 Brahma and Vishnu

  • Vishnu is blue and has four arms. He wears a helmet and a flower garland.
  • Hindus say there are many universes. It is like when you blow lots of bubbles in the air. They are all round and empty inside.
  • The universes come from Vishnu. When Vishnu breathes out, all the universes come out. When he breathes in, all the universes are destroyed.
  • Vishnu then goes into each universe and lies down on a big snake. Out of his belly-button grows a huge lotus flower. Brahma is sitting on top of this lotus. Brahman is the first living thing in this world. He is in charge of creation. He has four heads, looking towards the four directions.
  • Brahma starts to make the universe. First, he creates all the stars and planets. He made the sun, the moon and this earth planet. (What are the names of the other planets going around the sun? There are eight altogether.)
  • Brahma divided the planets into three groups. On the top are the heavens. Everyone there lives a long time and they are very beautiful.
  • Then he made the planets like earth. They are in the middle.
  • And at the bottom, he made the lower planets. People who are not so nice live there, and they are dark places. There is more unhappiness there.
  • Brahma made six groups of living things. First, he made the humans. Some of these are gods and goddesses and live in the heavenly planets. Some, like us, live on earth. Then he made five other groups. They are:
    (1) beasts (like horses, dogs, cats, and so on)
    (2) birds (such as eagles, sparrows, crows and swans)
    (3) insects and reptiles (like ants & spiders, and lizards & snakes)
    (4) plants (trees, flowers and grass)
    (5) fish (like the goldfish, the shark and the octopus)
  • Brahma lives for one hundred of his years (a very, very long time for us!). At the end of his life, the universe and all the planets are destroyed.
  • Shiva is in charge of destroying the universe. The three deities – Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva – are called the Trimurti. They are shown on the other side of this card. Brahma is in charge of creating the universe. Vishnu looks after it. Shiva helps to destroy it.
  • After that the universe is made again. It is just like the seasons. Although winter means that the leaves fall off the trees, spring comes again and new leaves are made. So after the universe is destroyed, a new Brahma is born and he makes the universe all over again. This goes on forever!