No Temple For Creator

Why There Is No Temple for Brahma
--According to the Shiva Puranam


Once Brahma, the Lord of Creation, looking at the variety and beauty of all his creations, became exceedingly conceited and proud of his achievements. On the other side, Vishnu, the Lord of Preservation, became proud of his rare capability in taking care of the entire universe. One day Brahma, with the sole purpose of showing his superiority, went to Vaikuntha to meet Vishnu and said “Oh Vishnu! If only I had not created the Universe, how could you have looked after it? Don’t forget the fact that without me you would have been nobody. In fact, even now I could remove you and create a new authority for preservation”. Speaking further to Vishnu with a sense of arrogance and haughtiness, Brahma told Vishnu “You can never be my equal, let alone being superior to me”

Incensed by Brahma’s teasing, Vishnu retorted “I find your arrogant bragging quite amusing. May be you have forgotten what happened when you annoyed Lord Shiva. You were under the impression that just because you had five heads like Him
Your power was also like that of the Lord. So when you exhibited your arrogance before Lord Shiva, you may recollect what happened. Lord Shiva plucked off one of your five heads and you were totally helpless in having it restored. You, who boast of your prowess to create limitless worlds, were unable to create just a head, that too for your own self.
When that is the factual position, how can you consider yourself invincible or superior to all others?”

This verbal debate between Brahma and Vishnu, each trying to establish his superiority over the other, went on for several days. What started as a verbal duel soon became a hot debate and finally led to a physical battle. Thus, when the Creator and the Preserver started fighting between themselves incessantly, the entire creation suffered and there was utter chaos everywhere. Things went to such a pitch that the even the celestial Beings [Devatas] found it difficult to put up with the situation. They went to Lord Shiva, the All-Powerful, and appealed to Him to intervene and settle the dispute.
The All-Knowing Lord Shiva was already fully aware of all these developments. He agreed to intervene and settle the dispute. Shiva was also aware of the arrogance of both Brahma and Vishnu and evolved his own strategy to settle the dispute so that both could learn a lesson.

As Brahma and Vishnu were busy fighting, they suddenly saw an endless column of fire that suddenly manifested beside them. Simultaneously the primal sound of OMKARA filled the air. Brahma and Vishnu marveled at the sight and paused to consider the origin of the wonderful phenomenon. Soon, it occurred to them that this marvellous manifestation could serve as a practical purpose in settling their dispute. They decided that they should find out the limits [extremities] of the seemingly endless column of Divine Light. It was agreed that whoever could reach one of the ends first should be considered superior to the other.

Brahma took the form of a swan and flew upwards determined to reach the top of the column. About this decision of Brahma, the Shiva Purana says “Brahma, who could recite the four Vedas simultaneously with his four mouths and is the Lord of the Goddess of Learning [Saraswathi] took the form of an ordinary bird. Does this not tell us how badly he was affected by the rise of his Ego?” The author’s intention is to point out the irony of the wisest of gods taking just the form of a bird and flying off, unworthy of his position. This would never have happened if only Brahma has subdued his ego. Vishnu, on the other hand, took the form of a boar and started digging deep into the earth to locate the extremity of the column. Vishnu, the mighty Lord, who could measure all the three worlds just by three footsteps, was burying deep into the earth. He was intent on pushing himself more and more deeply into the earth. This teaches us a lesson that when the Ego is allowed to assert itself, even the greatest being starts behaving in a trivial manner unbecoming of his position.

Brahma flew and flew for years and could not locate the top of the column. The feathers in his swan-body started dropping off. He became so desperate that he almost decided to withdraw from the competition and return to earth. At that moment he saw a Ketaki flower [Taale in Kannada, Screw pine in English, Tazhambu in Tamil] dropping downwards. He asked the flower “Where are you coming from?” The flower replied “I slipped from Lord Shiva’s [Column] crown and have been falling down for years. As yet I have not got even a glimpse of the bottom of the column. I am tired of this journey. Please move aside and let me pass so that I can reach the bottom of the column early”. The words of the Ketaki flower at once gave an idea to Brahma. He told the flower “I have just come from the earth and I will carry you down to the surface of the earth on one condition. Being too much exhausted, the flower would accept any condition if only it could help it in reaching the bottom. Brahma requested the flower to promise and support his claim that he himself had travelled to the top of the column and had plucked the flower directly from the top of the column. The flower agreed. Brahma hurried downwards with the Ketaki flower on his wings, fully confident of his victory and his ability to convince Vishnu that he had located the top of the column.

In the meanwhile, Vishnu went to the depths of the inner core of the earth but was not able to locate the bottom extremity of the column. He decided to return and admit his defeat. Here lies the greatness of Vishnu. Even though he was as proud as Brahma in the beginning, he realized his limitations very soon and had the courage to admit his inability. When Vishnu returned to earth, Brahma met him and proudly announced “Vishnu, now you will know who is superior. I reached the top of the column. This column is indeed a manifestation of Lord Shiva, for I saw his matted locks at the top of the column. Look, I have even brought a flower for you from his crown”.
The Ketaki flower confirmed Brahma’s statement.

The very next moment the Column exploded and Lord Shiva appeared before them.
“Brahma!” thundered Lord Shiva “Your claims are fantastic indeed! Really your words amuse me”. The sarcastic laughter of Shiva shook Brahma who immediately realized the extent of his foolishness and how his false claims got exposed. He fell at the feet of the Lord and begged pardon. Vishnu too prostrated before the Lord and sang His praise with utmost humility and devotion. The Lord was pleased with Vishnu’s sincere devotion and granted him several boons. Then, turning towards to Brahma, the Lord cursed him saying “You shall no longer be worshipped as a god. There shall be no temple for you on the earth”. Thereafter the Lord turned towards the Ketaki flower and cursed it for having endorsed a false claim. He ordained that the Ketaki flower would no longer be offered to the Lord in worship

In commemoration of the episode of Lord Shiva [who represents Pure Awareness] quelling the pride of Brahma [who represents Buddhi] and the pride of Vishnu [who represents Ahamkara] by Himself appearing before them as a huge column of Fire, every year a big cauldron of ghee and camphor is lit on the summit of Arunachala, the abode of Sri Ramanashram, on ‘Deepam Day’. This is celebrated on the full moon night in the month of Kartigai [November-December]. It is also the holy day when seekers are blessed by the Lord reminding them of His Presence in their hearts as the Light of Pure Awareness. Lakhs of devotees all over the world come to Tiruvannamalai to witness the Deepam.


. B. M.N. Murthy


Note: The only exception to the existence of a Brahma Temple in India appears to be the one at Pushkar, Ajmer


ARTICLE NO. 455--Why there is no Temple for Brahma
Created: Friday, August 1, 2008 11:05 AM