Brahma: The Hindu Creator God and His Place in Yoga

Brahma (Sanskrit: ब्रह्मा) is the Hindu god of creation. Together with Vishnu, who preserves the world, and Shiva, who destroys it so it can begin again, he forms the Trimurti, the "three forms" of the divine. He is shown with four faces, sitting on a lotus, and he rides a swan. In yoga you meet his name in words like Brahma Mudra, Brahma muhurta and Brahma granthi.

What does Brahma mean?

The name comes from the Sanskrit root brh, usually translated as "to grow" or "to expand". The same root gives several words that look almost identical in English and mean different things:

• Brahma (with a long final a, Brahmā): the creator god, a person with a face and a story.
• Brahman: the ultimate reality behind everything in the Upanishads. Brahman has no form and no gender, and it is not a god you pray to.
• Brahmin (brahmana): the priestly class in traditional Indian society. The Brahmanas are also a group of Vedic ritual texts.
• Brahmacharya: one of the yamas of yoga, literally "conduct in Brahman", often read as moderation or celibacy.

Mixing up Brahma and Brahman is the most common mistake. Brahma creates the world. Brahman is what the world, and Brahma with it, is made of.

Other names for Brahma

Hindu texts give Brahma many titles. Each one points to a different story about where he came from.

• Svayambhu: "self-born". In some accounts nothing gave birth to him.
• Hiranyagarbha: "golden womb" or "golden egg". An older creation image from the Rigveda, later tied to Brahma: he forms inside a golden egg floating on the cosmic waters and splits it open to make heaven and earth.
• Pitamaha: "grandfather", the ancestor of all beings.
• Prajapati: "lord of creatures", the creator figure of the Vedic ritual texts, whom later writers identified with Brahma.

Other texts tell it differently. In stories of the Vaishnava tradition, Brahma is born on a lotus that grows from the navel of Vishnu, who lies asleep on the cosmic ocean. So whether Brahma is self-born or born of another god depends on which text you read.

How Brahma is shown

Once you know the signs, you recognise him in any temple carving or painting.

• Four faces, one looking in each direction. The Puranas say the four Vedas came from his four mouths.
• Four arms, often holding a book (the Vedas), a water pot (kamandalu), a string of prayer beads (mala) and a lotus or a ritual ladle.
• A white beard, which marks him as the oldest of the gods and a figure of wisdom.
• A lotus seat. He is often shown sitting cross-legged on an open lotus, the same shape the seated posture Padmasana (Lotus Pose) is named after.
• The swan (hamsa), his vehicle. In Indian poetry the hamsa can separate milk from water, so it stands for discernment: telling the real from the unreal.

You will often read that the four arms stand for four parts of the inner self: mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), ego (ahamkara) and memory or consciousness (chitta). This is a modern teaching reading. It uses real terms from yoga philosophy, but it does not come from the old texts about Brahma.

Why Brahma has four heads and not five

Several Puranas say Brahma once had five heads and that Shiva cut one off. The reason changes with the text.

In one story Brahma and Vishnu argue over which of them is greater. A pillar of fire appears between them, the linga of Shiva. Vishnu dives down to find its base, Brahma flies up to find its top. Neither succeeds, but Brahma claims he did, and Shiva punishes the lie. In other versions Brahma's fifth head is cut off for arrogance, or for his desire for a goddess he had created himself. What the versions share: a creator who oversteps and is put in his place.

Brahma in yoga practice

Few yoga students pray to Brahma. His name still turns up in class and in the texts:

• Brahma Mudra: a slow neck exercise in which you turn your head to each side, then look up and down, one direction for each of Brahma's four faces. Our 5-minute Brahma Mudra tutorial works the neck, jaw and upper back, and the muscles of the eyes.
• Brahma muhurta: "Brahma's hour", the time before sunrise, traditionally about an hour and a half before dawn. Many traditions recommend it for meditation and practice because the house is quiet and the mind is fresh.
• Brahma granthi: the first of the three granthis, the energetic knots of Hatha yoga, placed low in the body. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika describes the breath and energy piercing it in advanced practice.
• Om: some teachers link the three sounds of A-U-M to Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva: creation, keeping and dissolving. The idea appears in later Upanishads. It is one reading of Om among several.

Buddhists know the name too. In Buddhist texts Brahma is a powerful god, though not the creator, and it is Brahma Sahampati who asks the Buddha to teach after his awakening. The four brahmaviharas, the "dwellings of Brahma", are friendliness, compassion, joy in the joy of others and equanimity. Patanjali lists the same four attitudes in Yoga Sutra 1.33 as a way to keep the mind clear.

Where the sources disagree

Brahma is one of those figures where the popular summary is tidier than the texts.

Is he the highest god? Many introductions call Brahma the most senior of the gods. Hindu tradition does not agree on this. Vaishnava texts place Vishnu above him, since Brahma is born from Vishnu's lotus. Shaiva texts place Shiva above him, which is the point of the story of the fifth head. Brahma is the oldest in appearance, with the white beard, and the one who makes the world. He is rarely the one at the top.

Is the Trimurti ancient? The neat set of creator, preserver and destroyer is a Puranic idea, written down roughly in the first millennium CE. Brahma as a god with his own stories appears in the epics and Puranas. The Vedas have Prajapati and Hiranyagarbha, creator figures that were later merged with him.

Why are there so few Brahma temples? Vishnu and Shiva have temples everywhere. Brahma has a handful, and the best known is at Pushkar in Rajasthan. The traditional answer is a curse: in the Pushkar legend his wife Savitri curses him to be worshipped almost nowhere. Historians give another answer: as devotion to Vishnu and Shiva grew, a creator whose work was finished had less to offer a worshipper. Both explanations are told, and they do not rule each other out.

If the Sanskrit words in this post are new, our list of 50 Sanskrit yoga terms covers the ones you hear most in class, and the post on Atman, the true self explains how the self relates to Brahman.

For the philosophy behind these words, start with our yoga philosophy classes, where the Yoga Sutras are read one sutra at a time.

Frequently asked questions

What is Brahma the god of?

Brahma is the Hindu god of creation. In the Trimurti he creates the world, Vishnu keeps it going and Shiva dissolves it so that a new cycle can begin. He is also linked to knowledge, since the four Vedas are said to come from his four mouths.

What is the difference between Brahma and Brahman?

Brahma is a god with a form, a family and stories. Brahman is the formless ultimate reality of the Upanishads, the ground of everything, including the gods. The words share a Sanskrit root meaning "to grow" or "to expand", which is why they look so alike.

When was Brahma born, and does he die?

Brahma is a figure of myth, not a historical person, so there is no birth date. In Puranic time he does have a lifespan. One day of Brahma, a kalpa, lasts 4.32 billion human years, and he lives for 100 of his own years. When he dies the universe dissolves and a new Brahma begins again.

How many wives does Brahma have?

His consort is Saraswati, the goddess of learning, music and speech. Some texts and the Pushkar legend also name Savitri and Gayatri, and in some versions these are different names for the same goddess.

Why is Brahma not worshipped like Vishnu and Shiva?

Legends say he was cursed, by his wife Savitri or by a sage, to be worshipped in only a few places. Historians point out that devotional movements grew around Vishnu and Shiva, while Brahma's task of creation was seen as done. The best-known Brahma temple is at Pushkar in Rajasthan.

What is Brahma Mudra in yoga?

Brahma Mudra is a gentle neck exercise named after Brahma's four faces. You sit tall and turn your head slowly right, left, up and down, moving with the breath. It loosens the neck and shoulders and suits anyone who sits at a screen.