Brahmam according to Hinduism is the source, the seed as well as the creator of everything in this world. He is also the sacred knowledge revealers which includes the Vedas. He emerged as the first ego during creation from the universal waters. He is referred to as svayambhu because in real life he was created by non as he is believed to have created himself. He has different names like Viraj, Hitanyagarbha to mean the cosmic germ, Pitamaha to mean the father of fathers, lokesa to mean the ruler of the world, Vidhi to mean the ordainer and dhatr to mean he is the sustainer (Gupta, 2007).
Brahma in some Upanishads is always compared to the Nature or Macrocosm. He is considered the Heavens’ immortal Lord, who receives souls that are liberated when people die. Prajapata was being worshipped originally by Kashtriyas and was regarded as the highest god and after the decline of the Vedic period, he was replaced by other gods who were more popular.
Brahma is the father of demons, gods and humans.
Upanishads believed that he taught them the importance of Virtue and the Vedas. Both Indra, who was the leader of gods and Vairocana, who was the leader of demons, took considerable time with Brahma in a move to acquire Atman knowledge. Brahma also taught what is considered as the three most important virtues in his three children classes, beginning with syllable, ‘da’ (Elkman and Gosvami, 2006). He taught restraint from gods to those who were seeking pleasure in other things, kindness to the demons for those who were cruel to nature and charity to the people who were selfish and greedy in their attitude. He also taught a number of Upanishads to the sages and seers.
Brahma came from Manifested Brahma, like the rest of human beings, including Siva and Vishnu during creation. Compared to Siva and Vishnu, Brahma is not that known in the Hindu pantheon, although in functions and name, he is considered the closest to Brahman. With reference to function, Brahma does not have many devotees now that his creation duty demands complete concentration, introversion and undivided attention making him the least attractive option as a personal God (Flood, 2006).
The Brihaspati and Brahmanaspati of the Vedas as well as the Hindu’s Trinity Brahma are believed to be the same person. Brahma is also the early Rigvedic hymns’ Purusha, the sacrifice product, from whom the world emerged, the social order and the beings. Brahma lost his importance gradually in the Hindu pantheon and paved way for the two gods, Vishnu and Siva, in the Hindu Trinity.
The Narayana title to mean creator was originally ascribed to him, but was later given to Vishnu. Similarity, the incarnations of tortoise, fish and boar were attributed originally to Brahma but this attribute was later given to Vishnu. This followed the increased popularity of Saivism and Vainshnavism together with the functions division in the concept of Trinity development where Vishnu alone as the world’s sustainer would incarnate.
Brahma was also referred as Kanja to mean water born and Hiranyagarbha to mean the universal germ and this is because during creation, he is believed to have come out of the golden egg which emerged from the primal waters. After manifesting himself, he created sound, referred to as Sarawathi. The goddess was so gracious and beautiful, that he made her his consort. It is believed that the all the beings in the world emanated from this union.
Symbolically, Saraswathi and Brahma signify a lot of things. Brahma symbolizes the creative will while Saraswathi the intelligence which executes Brahma’s will. Together the two constitute the consciousness of humans. In addition, Brahma also symbolizes the Vedas personified while Saraswathi symbolizes vibration hidden in the Vac mantras.