Gods of Hinduism

Brahma (the Earth creator) Every form of life on Mother

nay in whole Cosmos owes its existence to Lord Brahma.

In order to produce the human race,

Brahma made a goddess out of himself. It is half man and half woman

He has four heads but used to have

five heads.

The four vedas sprung from his

head.

Vishnu (the preserver) In others Vishnu pervades the

universe and is to be found in all its forms.

the one who enters the body of

every living being.

is said to have descended to this

earth in the form of incarnations or avatars. There are said to be ten incarnations.

Shiva (the destroyer) Lord Shiva destroys negative

presences such as evil, ignorance, and death.

Shiva protects souls until they are

ready for recreation at the hands of Brahma.

also regarded as a reproductive

power, which restores what has been dissolved. As one who restores, he is represented as the linga or phallus, a symbol of

The Four Vedas

The Rig Veda: The Book of Mantra a collection of inspired songs or hymns and is a
main source of information on the Rig Vedic civilization.

the oldest book in any Indo-European language

and contains the earliest form of all Sanskrit mantras that date back to 1500 B.C. - 1000 B.C.

consists of 1,017 hymns or suktas, covering

about 10,600 stanzas, divided into eight astakas each having eight adhayayas or chapters, which are sub-divided into various

 is purely a liturgical collection of melodies

(saman).

The Sama Veda: The Book of Song

The hymns in the Sama Veda, used as musical

notes, were almost completely drawn from the Rig Veda and have no distinctive lessons of their own.

 is also a liturgical collection and was made to

meet the demands of a ceremonial religion.

The Yajur Veda: The Book of Ritual

served as a guidebook for the priests who

execute sacrificial acts muttering simultaneously the prose prayers and the sacrificial formulae (yajus).

There are no less than six complete recessions

of Yajur Veda - Madyandina, Kanva, Taittiriya, Kathaka, Maitrayani and Kapishthala.

The Atharva Veda: The Book of Spell

this is completely different from the other three
Vedas and is next in importance to Rig-Veda with regard to history and sociology.

its hymns are of a more diverse character than

the Rig Veda and are also simpler in language.

The Atharva Veda consists of spells and charms

prevalent at its time, and portrays a clearer picture of the Vedic society.