Ever since I visited the temple dedicated to Brahma in Brahmapureeshwar (a temple near Tiruchirappalli in Tamilnadu, India), I have been thinking why there are very few (rather rare temples for Brahma). We all know that the trinity of Hindu Philosophy are Brahma (The Creator), Vishnu (The Preserver) and Shiva (The Destroyer). One would find large number of temples for Vishnu and Shiva, but not Brahma. The scriptures define places of importance for Vishnu as well as Shiva (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divya_Desams). While there are many stories in mythology that explains that Brahma had a curse because of which he is not worshiped.
I normally try to think beyond the mythology. If we consider the concept of trinity to the type of people we interact from our birth to death, we will notice the following:
- Our first encounter is always with our Creator (Brahma) and we know them as our Parents.
- There after we meet two kinds of people as long as we live. One who are our Benefactors and then those who are threat to us.
The Creator
If one tries to examine the way most of use respond to Our Creator (our parents), there is a strange coincidence. All through the history and today, we can find;
- Revolting against parents to get the power
- Parents getting neglected (possibly Vanaprastha was designed to avoid such situations)
- Significant number of Old Age and Retirement Villages
Possibly to reduce the impact of such instances, we had always highlighted the exceptional people who went beyond the normal to take care of their parents. One prominent example is Pundalik (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pundalik).
Even if one has to believe that the neglect on parents (The Creators) is not true, it is not difficult to accept that we do not take care of them with the same spirit and deeper emotion as they would have taken care of us while creating us. Though I seriously doubt if we can, even if we want.
The Preserver and The Destroyer
If we look deeper into our behaviour, we are thankful to so many people who have played a role in shaping our current and continue to play that role. We thank them and acknowledge and praise them. We use all the opportunity to make others know that they have helped us. Is this not similar to praising Vishnu on several occasion? We do not hesitate in seeking the help of those who can help us in preserving our life and comfort.
If are careful of people who could destroy us. We do all that is necessary to “keep such people in good mood” to avoid any trouble from them. If you notice, most Shiva lingams are arranged to get a continuous sources water or other items flowing on top of the Lingam.
Don’t you think the status of the Trinity as they receive from us, is similar to what we practice or experience in society.