Comparing the Iconography and Mythology of Two Major Hindu Deities
In Hindu tradition, Brahma created the universe, Vishnu maintained it
and Shiva destroyed it. These three gods comprise the Hindu trinity
(the trimurti) and are considered to be the leading gods of the
religion, especially Brahma, who is the oldest of all the gods. This
point is questionable though as the Visnu Purana talks of Brahma
emerging from Vishnu's navel to maintain the world after Vishnu has
created it and then he returns to the navel after Shiva has destroyed
it. If this is the case then Vishnu's position as a god is elevated
from merely the maintainer to the creator. This essay intends to
compare and contrast the iconography and mythology of the two major
Hindu deities Vishnu and Shiva with reference to their relationship
with Brahma as part of the Hindu trinity.
The Hindu god Vishnu is very powerful to his followers, the Vaishnavas,
and he is found as an icon in many temples although he is also
believed to dwell in the heart of all beings. Vishnu is said to be
young compared to the other gods and blue in colour. He is depicted as
having four hands holding a lotus, symbolising purity, mace, a conch
shell to blow and a discus as a weapon. Vishnu is married to the
goddesses Sri and Laksmi who were initially individuals but eventually
merged into one being. Vishnu has a curl of hair on his chest given to
him by his wife Sri to show her devotion and in this particular
depiction, is seen wearing the jewel kaustubha which arose from the
ocean of milk after being churned up. Another image of the deity
Vishnu is of him "lying asleep upon the coils of the great cos...
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... symbolises his purity and the fire Shiva encircles is representing the
life cycle of the universe. However, this essay does not attempt to
deny the importance of the scriptures, as without them, the pictures
are merely pictures and not visions of spirituality. In conclusion,
although this essay has looked at Vishnu and Shiva individually as
separate deities, the focus must be left on them as one, for that is
what they are, existing only with each other. The cycle of the
universe relies on all of them, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, to continue
for if one were to disappear, the chain of the creation, destruction
and recreation of the world would be broken. "Germination creates the
tree, destroys the seed and preserves the species; the joiner creates
the table, destroys the tree and preserves the wood" (Larousse,
1965:211).
After just glancing at the artwork in the chapter about the Ancient Near East and the chapter about Egypt, the one thing that strikes me the most is the great size of some of these structures and the great detail that is shown in them. It is amazing to see that people who lived thousands of years before us, created such things in a society much less advanced then our society of today. For instance how did they build the Palace of Shapur, or the Great Pyramids? It is mind boggling to think that such great things were built without the help of a modern day crane or machine, but rather by manpower.
Hinduism and Christianity are two religions that have been around for thousands of years. Both of these religions have developed many philosophies on different aspects that can be compared to show their similarities and differences. The Hindu and Christian religion agree on many things. Based on humanity, our society follows some of the rules also because of the religion and laws. From the holy literature, there have been many different concepts that have been pledged but they all are supposed to lead you to the same effects such as a happy, healthy life, contribution to the world around us humans, and some kind of freedom after death. Some of the main subjects that can be reflected upon after learning of the history and fundamentals of these religions are the paths to enlightenment and/or salvation, the style of treating women through religions aspects, and the afterlife. This paper will give an analytic comparison of these two religions relating to the topics.
Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism gained importance and popularity during a time of great religious exploration. While these religions have some similarities, they also have some distinct differences. The key to all three of these is enlightment. Let’s look at some other similarities between them.
Throughout the ages religion has been a very important part of history. It shaped many cultures and allowed us to further understand numerous civilizations. Through art we have been able to interpret the beliefs, and value of each culture. Two of these cultures include the Christians and Greeks. Both which had many similarities and differences in their beliefs and their depiction of God/gods.
given a holy like look as the top of his head is cut short like a
Lamia was the queen of Libya which is another name for North Africa in greek and roman mythology. She became a child eating daemon. Lamia was known for being beautiful. She was a mistress of Zeus. One of his many. Zeus is known as the god of the sky. He was also married to a woman named Hera. Hera was the goddess of women and marriage. She was known for being jealous of Zeus lovers and children. Hera was said to have killed all of lamias children. She killed them out of jealousy, and she kept one alive. The child of lamias she kept alive is named Scylla. The reasoning for keeping Scylla alive is because she was left cursed.
Thousands of years ago in places around the world, both the Bible and the Greek myths were created. The Bible was created to help people of all societies and denominations to understand and realize God’s divine nature and his true love for us. On the other hand, the Greek myths were created to promote fear in people, and to force worship from ignorant humans. Both, although are immensely different in many aspects, also share similar and shared characteristics that. To fully understand these groups, you have to compare the similarities of their stories and teachings side by side, and then uncover their differences by sifting through the information that remains like an archeologist.
Mythology is the study and interpretation of myth and the body of myths of a particular culture. Myth is a complex cultural phenomenon that can be approached from a number of viewpoints. In general, myth is a narrative that describes and portrays in symbolic language the origin of the basic elements and assumptions of a culture. Mythic narrative relates, for example, how the world began, how humans and animals were created, and how certain customs, gestures, or forms of human activities originated. Almost all cultures possess or at one time possessed and lived in terms of myths.
The physical form of Greek gods and goddesses are described as beautiful bodies, with gorgeous muscles, stunning eyes and hairs, and basically had very enhanced features. The Roman gods and goddesses did not have a physical form; their image was what people imagined them to be
Greek Mythology played a monumental role in the structural development of ancient Greece, not only as a society, but as individuals. Surprisingly, their religion was not exactly one of originality. In fact, their religion was loosely based on earlier cultures’ religions. It bears many strikingly similar resemblances to some of the oldest recorded religions in history. Ancient Greek religion is a type of polytheism called “Monarchial Polytheism.” That is, they believe in several different gods and deities but there is a supreme ruler above all of them. In order to fully understand how similar the mythological systems of religions have been throughout the years, you must look back towards the earliest of recorded civilizations. Polytheism dates back to the Mesopotamian and Ancient Egyptian religions, around the 4th millennium BC and possibly before that.
“If I were asked to define the Hindu creed, I should simply say: Search after truth through non-violent means. A man may not believe in God and still call himself a Hindu. Hinduism is a relentless pursuit after truth... Hinduism is the religion of truth. Truth is God.”
Hindus believe that when a soul expires, it acquires rebirth in a new body. This cycle is called samsara. To be set free from the endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth one must discover their true nature in order to be with the Brahman in Nirvana. In figure G a picture of a Cambodian statue of the A.D. 900 of Brahma meditating is presented. Nirvana is a state where pain, worry and the outer world do not exist. When a person in Hindu religion has bad Karma, they must take rebirth multiple times. The sacred source of all existence is divided among three gods. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the preserver, and Shiva is the destroyer. All three contribute to a person’s life and death and afterlife. In figure H a picture of a Vishnu sculpture is shown, and in figure I a picture of a sculpture of Shiva is
ceremonies were held in the temples of their deities; sacred rituals involved animal sacrifice and stories were told to explain the creation of the earth and mankind. It would be remiss not to mention, after Rome conquered Greece, it adopted Greece’s religious beliefs, including Greece’s creation myth. Willis confirms, “It is not coincidence that the major gods and goddesses of the Roman pantheon were similar in character to Greek deities. Some of them were imported directly from the Greek world.” Roman mythology is a combination of Egyptian, Greek and Celtic mythology. Namely, Roman and Greek gods do appear to correlate with one another with a few differences. Roman deities’ are portrayed with human likeness, as the Greek deities, however their personalities are not as colorful, and
In ancient Greece there were Greek Gods and Goddesses. The Gods and Goddesses consist of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Dionysus, Ares, Athena, Hermes, and Hephaestus. Each of these Gods and Goddesses had important different roles.
India is a very ancient country, the country which has been known to the world since ages because of this the country has been known with many names i.e. Bharath, Aryavarta, Jambudvipa, Hindustan, Bharathvarsha etc. Many historians believe that oldest remains have been found of the era more than 55,000 years back! The Vedas (Oldest Indian Scripture) has been composed during the period of 2000-500 BCE. The Indian subcontinent was many distributed alone the lines of river Ganges. The northwestern plains were divided into many ruling states called "Mahajanpadas" The was flourished in culture, are and literature. There were many ancient scriptures were written as the country has spread its culture upto the distance south India. Gupta Empire has been known as the most important for the growth of classical Sanskrit literature, Indian Science, Medicine and mathematics. The Indian Mythology which has now been called as mythology is not actually a mythology, there is a greater significance of historical data and other evidences based on the ancient scenario of the understanding of the people, their values, culture, knowledge, strategic aptitudes and their society as whole.