A reader asks:
Question:
According to hindu belief brahma lives above 100 brahma years
does he start work as soon as he is born?
it mean he works from the moment he is born?
does he have any holidays?
does he retire by voluntry?
it is also said works all day and goes to sleep by night.
a day of brahma is 1000 yugas.. So what will happen to humans during that period?
if he has holidays or weekends when is it?
If human wants to break and come out of this life death life death cycle what can he do?
or is it something like people can never come out?
if it is so how do a person got into this trap?
My reply:
Hi A,
Brahma does not enjoy the type of worship afforded to most other devas. Why this is so is debated. I will try and explain.
Understand that Hinduism is a very diverse system and its proponents differ on many (most) points of belief and doctrine.
The understandings of the devas (gods) varies group by group but while Lord Visnu and Lord Rudra/Siva enjoy active worship, holidays, etc. Lord Brahma does not, as a general statement. These three of course are known as the Trimurti, the three eternal forms of God, the Creator (Brahma), Maintainer (Visnu) and Transformer (Siva).
According to many, In the "beginning," Lord Brahma brings everything within the material multiverse into existence or manifestation (the spiritual realm is eternal). With the creation, begins the first of four ages. Understanding these ages is important to understand the nature of the gods. Lord Brahma has greater involvement in the earlier ages. As we go downward through the ages his influence lessens.
The first age is called Satya-yuga ("first" or "high" age). This age lasts for 1,728,000 years and is a time of peace and plenty. During this yuga (age) the One Veda is given to the human race. This One Veda contains all knowledge, all truth. During this age Lord Brahma rules supreme. When we say this, it is also important to remember that 'God is One, the sages use different names'. Therefore the Trimurti is in actually Ek Devata (One God). What this means of course differs group to group.
In time, the living entities begin acting in less pure ways and we see the beginnings of imperfection popping up. Thus begins the second age, Treta-yuga. The One Veda is still known, but people do not pay heed to it fully. This age lasts for 1,296,000 years. The world is still a paradise compared to our world, but it is not as "good" as it once was. Life spans are slightly reduced, spirituality, health and so on slightly declines. While people still know the Truth, they begin losing interest in and respect for One Veda.
Eventually, conditions worsen and the third age, Dvapara-yuga begins.
This is the "Vedic Age" described in many of the Indian scriptures. This age lasts 864,000 years. During Dvapara-yuga "religion" begins replacing "spirituality" and towards the end, people begin to forget the Vedic injunctions and ignorance begins as a real influence throughout the earth.
Towards the end of this age, the One Veda is divided into quarters. How this happens is debated, but that it happens is agreed upon by everyone. Even after the Veda is quartered however, the [fallen] people can not understand it, and so sages arise who present commentaries on the Vedas such as the Puranas, Upanishads and so on.
Meanwhile, around the planet wars and revolutions broke out. In some cases, these were sparked by people claiming that the quarter of the Vedas they received was "higher" than the one others clung to, that "my" side has better manuscripts etc. than "your" side. At the same time, other people abandoned the Vedas all together and entered into barbarous chaos, while yet others composed entirely new scriptures based on the experiences of their own ethnic group. Into these new scriptures they included many the old [Vedic] stories in altered states harmonious with their own beliefs and cultures.
For instance, the Vedas tell of a great man of faith named Manu. Once the entire world was flooded by water due to the wrath of the gods, but the righteous Manu saved the human race by creating a boat and keeping animals safe until the flood waters subsided. This ancient Vedic story is now part of most religious texts, as are several others. Indeed, the influence of the Vedas are everywhere evident, including the very Indo-European languages we are using to communicate.
Things finally got so "bad" on the earth, the inhabitants had become so irreligious, that God Himself took birth on the planet to restore the essential Vedic truth to the people according to the Vaisnavas (worshipers of Lord Visnu).
His advent marks the beginning of the fourth and final age, Kali-yuga, the Age of Quarrel and Confusion.
So that the people of the world would not forget their glorious history and the religious principles that defines true civilization, a scripture was written known as the Mahabharata, the History of the Great Bharata Family (the family that had previously ruled the entire planet from what we today call India). For this reason, the actual name of India is Bharata-varsa, Land of the Bharata.
This Avatar of Lord Visnu (the Preserver), Sri Krsna (Krishna), revealed this essential truth during the first war of the fourth Yuga, known as the War of Kuruksetra. His teachings are contained within the Mahabharata itself and known as the Srimad Bhagavad-Gita (the Glorious Song of God, often called the "Bible of India"). You can read my translation of this scripture for free at http://www.srijagannatha.com if you are interested.
Following this devastating war, global unity quickly disintegrated and the diverse religions, cultures, and countries known to us historically began to appear.
Kali-yuga, the fourth and present age, began about 5000 years ago (hence the biblical creation chronology and so on) and will last for 432,000 years, hence another 427,000 or so years according to common calculation (it is argued by some, and hinted at in the scripture known as the Srimad Bhagavatam, that Lord Visnu, in the form of Lord Kalki, will soon appear to save us from the worst of the evil influences of this age, surrender the planet to Lord Siva, who will "prematurely" "transform" it, thus bypassing the worse of Kali Yuga; this notion fits well with many of the biblical prophecies if you are interested in such possible correlations).
Hence, from the Hindu perspective, the world is not "evolving" but "devolving." When it is renewed again it will be re-filled with the Light of Lord Brahma.
Indians disagree on many many points. Some worship Lord Visnu as the principle Deity, at least for our age, using many different names (such as Narayana, Krsna, Rama) and traditions, others worship Lord Siva, in various forms (such as Adi Sankara, Rudra, Siva-lingam) or the Goddess Devi in Her countless forms (such as Kali, Durga), and so on, and yet despite the many differences, Hinduism reaches out as one dharma (truth), determined to grasp the Universal Truth (Sanatana Dharma) concealed in all religions.
Of course, most groups believe they hold the Truth more correctly than others -- this is human nature -- but essentially, as is proclaimed in the Vedas:
Truth is One.
In the present age we are too fallen to have much experience with the utter purity of Lord Brahma.
One day of Lord Brahma is one set of these four yugas. At the end of one set the universe is said to "sleep" and awaken with Satya Yuga.
In the "beginning" the Ek Devata, as Maha Visnu, who eternally resides on the causal ocean (the Karanodak), glances out across the potentiality of non-being and manifests and "seeds" "being" (via Maha Maya). This gives rise to the elemental realities like sky, fire, water, air and ether. With their creations come Mind, Intelligence and false ego.
Next, Lord Brahma sprouts from Lord Maha Visnu's forehead and creates the differentiated living entities (the jiva or atman). Maha Visnu personally enters into material existence and animates/sparks the life created by Lord Brahma. These living entities are likened to sprouting from his pores (or better, the world in which they abide sprout from His pores. As Ek Devata, the one God, begins this work He comes to be known as Garbodakshayi Vishnu. Within this form all the separated forms exist. It is in this context that all beings are "part and parcel of God."
In a very general way this is how the process begins. Every time Lord Brahma is reborn this eternal process begins anew.
Once 100 such yugas pass all existence again merges into the totality of Lord Brahma, who is "folded," into the Person of the Maha Visnu, Who is absorbed into the Body of Ek Devata on the Causal Sea and in "time" the process is repeated.
It is debated if the individual jivas survive the death of Lord Brahma, in other words if they are truly eternal or merely incredibly long lived. I believe we are eternal beings, eternally "part and partial" of the Whole.
As for the jiva getting out of material existence, this is process of the various yoga systems. According to the system (sadhana) one practices one can gradually be elevated and leave the material multiverses and return Home to the spiritual realms of existence.
Hope this helps,
This reply may be more that you were expecting, but if this does not suffice let me know,
~ John of AllFaith
~ Jagannatha Prakasa
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