Berkowitz 2

Skye Berkowitz
Mrs. Clark
English10B-5
19 March 2014
Stories of the Divine
Hinduism is a complicated, intricate belief system that is interchangeable to the
individual believer; therefore it is practiced in many different ways. Although, the divine
beings depicted in paintings or spoke of in ancient scriptures are all the same throughout
the various branches of Hinduism. These astral deities are all accompanied by stories that
speak of how things came to be, or the purpose as why a certain god was created. I will
start off with some basic divine gods:
Vishnu: Believed to be the preserver aspect of Brahman (the supreme creator
god), Vishnu is considered to be a god whom possesses great amounts of luck. He is
otherwise referred to as Narayana, the ever-present one. Vishnu is believed to keep the
universe preserved and protected, and legend says that he appears on earth in different
forms called avatars. There are 22 known avatars overall, but I will explain a few:
Matsya- A giant fish that saved the seventh manu from great flood.
Kurma- A giant tortoise that appeared in the Churning of the Oceans.
Varaha- As a boar, Vishnu destroyed the demon Hiranyaksha.
Narasimha- Half-man, half-lion, he destroyed the demon Hiranyakashipu.
Buddha- The holy Buddha, founder of Buddhism.
When Vishnu is shown in paintings, he is described to have dark-blue skin with four
arms. Each hand holds a different object, a Padma (lotus), a gada (mace), a shankha

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(conch), and a chakra (discus). Vishnu also uses Garuda, the divine eagle, as a vahaha
(vehicle).
Lakshmi- Described as a beautiful woman, Lakshmi was the daughter of a great
sage named Bhrigu. Her father become enraged with the gods because he was displeased,
and so he set a curse on all divine beings. Lakshmi being one of these divine people, tried
to escape the curse. She hid in the primeval ocean from the curse, and as a result, was
found by gods and demons while churning the ocean wrapped in a lotus flower. Hence,
the reason why she is also referred to as Padma, or Kamala, which both mean Lotus.
Lakshmi was also known as Vishnus wife. When Vishnu would appear on earth in
different forms of his avatars, Lakshmi would be reincarnated to be the wife of those
avatars. She is depicted as a beautiful lady standing in a lotus flower, with four hands. In
each hand she holds something. Two of her hands hold lotus flowers, the third hand
represents wealth in the forms of gold coins, and her fourth hand she blesses her
worshipper.
Shiva-The destroyer and regenerator aspect of Brahman, Shiva has many different
elements. Fear, uncertainty of the unknown, regeneration, powers of death and
destruction, mystic human forces of psyche and some aspects of nature. Also referred to
as Nataraja, the god of dance, Shiva dances in order to control the movements of the
universe. In controlling universal movements, Shiva also is the god of destruction,
considering the universe has some destructive qualities. In this Nataraja form, shiva is
depicted with one face and four arms. In one hand he holds a damaru (a hand-drum that
controls the rhythm of creation), abhaya (protection) is held in the lower right hand, and
in his left salvation. Under his right foot is the demon of ignorance, whom which he

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dances on top of. He has two sons, Ganesha and Kartikeya, with his wife Parvati. Shiva is
also know all the terrible, moon-crested, mountain lord, and dissolver of time.
Ganesha- One of Shivas sons, Ganesha has an interesting story of birth. Once,
Parvati (Shivas wife), made a statue of a young boy and threw it into the river Ganges.
When it was thrown in, the river goddess gave the statue life, and a little boy was born
from the river. Parvati and Ganga (river goddess) both claimed Ganesha of their son,
since one gave him body and the other life. Parvati then told Ganesha to guard their
house while she bathed, at this time Shiva was not home. When Shiva returned, Ganesha
did no allow him in. Enraged, Shiva cut off the young boys head. Parvati then saw the
corpse, and explained to Shiva that he was her son. Shiva, feeling guilt-struken, sent his
servants to find anyone sleeping with their head pointed north. They found a baby
elephant like this, and brought back its head to Shiva. Shiva then attached the head to the
torso and gave him life once again. To this day, Ganesha is worshipped because he is the
god of removing obstacles and good luck. Ganeshas vahaha is a giant rat.