The Development of Hindu Iconography c19.s1.3

c19.s1.3

The concept of the concrete god Brahmā, also known by such names as Prajāpati, Dhātā, Vidhātā, Pitāmaha, etc., was further developed in the epic literature, though it does not necessarily mean that his position *vis-à-vis* that of the other great cult gods was made more prominent.¹ But it is at the same time apparent that he was enjoying some importance in the period during which the earlier sections of the epics were composed. The various mythologies associated with him there invest him with some power which he undoubtedly inherited from his late Vedic and Brahmanic prototypes. He is regarded as the creator, preserver and destroyer, all at the same time, and it is in the later sections of the two epics that his position is gradually weakened and his honours and activities become more or less of a titular character. One of the causes of this gradual decline may be traced to the fundamental weakness of his character, which led him to be equally susceptible to the ascetic practices not only of the gods, but also of the demons who on many occasions bring disaster to the universe with the power acquired by propitiating Brahmā by the practice of severe austerities. In fact, the epic and Purāṇic tales about the great cult gods Viṣṇu and Śiva exerting themselves to set matters right on these occasions emphasise in a way the greatness of these gods in comparison with that of Brahmā. The latter now gets subservient to them; he is born from the lotus issuing forth from Viṣṇu's navel, he worships the horse-headed form of Viṣṇu and receives the law from him, and he becomes the demiurge of the great cult god. In some epic passages Śiva is described as creating the creator, Brahmā praises the greatness of Śiva, and reveals to Indra the great power of Mahādeva. The Mandasor Stone Inscription of Yaśodharman Viṣṇuvardhana of the Mālava Samvat 589 (A.D. 533-34) refers, it is true, to Brahmā as creator, preserver and destroyer, but in all these acts Svayambhū is employed by Śambhu (Śiva) and is obedient to Śiva's commands, and Śiva is described in the same context as *bhavasṛj*, i.e., ‘the creator of the universe’ (C.I.I., III, p. 152-55). Thus, Brahmā is merely a figurehead in these matters. This decline in Brahmā's position is persistent, and some of the Purāṇas take advantage of many of the vaguely allegorical, deprecatory myths associated with Prajāpati in the later Vedic texts and the Brāhmaṇas, and cast all sorts of opprobrium on him.¹ One of the early Purāṇas, the Mārkaṇḍeya, paints him as helpless to defend himself from the demons Madhu and Kaiṭabha, from whose clutches he is saved by Viṣṇu's timely intervention.