While Brahm[=a] is represented here as identical with Vishnu he is at the same time a distinctly inferior personality, created by Vishnu for the purpose of creating worlds, a factor of inferior godliness to that of the World-Spirit, Krishna-Vishnu.
It had been stated by Holtzmann[28] that Brahm[=a] sometimes appears in the epic as a god superior to Vishnu, and on the strength of this L. von Schroeder has put the date of the early epic between the seventh and fourth centuries B.C, because at that time Brahm[=a] was the chief god.[29] von Schroeder rather exaggerates Holtzmann's results, and asserts that "in the original form of the poem Brahm[=a] appears throughout as the highest and most revered god, while the worship of Vishnu and Çiva as great gods is apparently a later intrusion" (loc. cit.). This asseveration will have to be taken cum grano. Had von Schroeder said 'pantheistic gods' he would have been correct in this regard, but we think that both Vishnu and Çiva were great gods, equal, if not superior to Brahm[=a], when the epic proper began. And, moreover, when one speaks of the original form of the poem he cannot mean the pseudo-epic or the ancient legends which have been woven into the epic, themselves of earlier date. No one means by the 'early epic' the tales of Agastya, of the creation of Death, of the making of ambrosia, but the story of the war in its earliest shape; for the epic poem must have begun with its own subject-matter. Now it is not true that Brahm[=a] is regarded 'throughout' the early poem as a chief god at all. If one investigate the cases where Vishnu or Çiva appears 'below' Brahm[=a] he will see, in almost every case that Holtzmann has registered, that this condition of affairs is recorded not in the epic proper but in the Brahmanic portions of the pseudo-epic, or in ancient legends alone. Thus in the story of the winning of ambrosia, of Agastya drinking ocean, and of R[=a]ma, Brahm[=a] appears to be above Vishnu, and also in some extracts from the pseudo-epic. For the real epic we know of but two cases that can be put into this category, and neither is sufficient to support the hypothesis built upon it.
For Krishna, when he ingeniously plots to have Bh[=i]ma slay Jar[=a]sandha, is said to have renounced killing Jar[=a]sandha himself, 'putting Brahm[=a]'s injunction before him' (ii. 22. 36), i.e. recalling Brahm[=a]'s admonition that only Bh[=i]ima was fated to slay the foe. And when Krishna and S[=a]tyaki salute Krishna's elder brother they do so (for being an elder brother Baladeva is Krishna's Guru) respectfully, 'just as Indra and Upendra salute Brahm[=a] the lord of devas' (ix. 34. 18). Upendra is Indra's younger brother, i.e., Vishnu (above). But these passages are scanty proof for the statement that Brahm[=a] appears throughout the early epic as the highest god;[30] nor is there even so much evidence as this in the case of Çiva. Here, too, it is in the tale of the churning of ocean, of Sunda and Upasunda, of the creation of the death-power, and in late didactic (Brahmanic) passages, where Brahm[=a] makes Çiva to destroy earth and Çiva is born of Brahm[=a], and only in such tales, or extracts from the Book of Peace, etc, that Brahm[=a] appears as superior. In all other cases, in the real action of the epic, he is subordinate to Vishnu and Çiva whenever he is compared with them. When he is not compared he appears, of course, as the great old Father-god who creates and foresees, but even here he is not untouched by passion, he is not all-knowing, and his rôle as Creator is one that, with the allotment of duties among the gods, does not make him the highest god. All the old gods are great till greater appear on the scene. There is scarcely a supreme Brahm[=a] in the epic itself, but there is a great Brahm[=a], and a greater (older) than the sectarian gods in the old Brahmanic legends, while the old Brahmanhood reasserts itself sporadically in the Ç[=a]nti, etc, and tells how the sectarian gods became supreme, how they quarrelled and laid the strife.
Since the adjustment of the relations between the persons of the later trinity is one of the most important questions in the theology of the completed epic, it will be necessary to go a little further afield and see what the latest books, which hitherto we have refrained as much as possible from citing, have to say on the subject. As it seems to be true that it was felt necessary by the Çivaite to offset the laud of Vishnu by antithetic laud of Çiva,[31] so after the completion of the Book of Peace, itself a late addition to the epic, and one that is markedly Vishnuitic, there was, before the Genealogy of Vishnu, an antithetic Book of Law, which is as markedly Çivaitic. In these books one finds the climax of sectarianism, in so far as it is represented by the epic; although in earlier books isolated passages of late addition are sporadically to be found which have much the same nature. Everywhere in these last additions Brahm[=a] is on a plane which is as much lower than that of the Supreme God as it is higher than that of Indra. Thus in viii. 33. 45, Indra takes refuge with Brahm[=a], but Brahm[=a] turns for help to Çiva (Bhava, Sth[=a]nu, Jishnu, etc.) with a hymn sung by the gods and seers. Then comes a description of Çankara's[32] (Çiva's) war-car, with its metaphorical arms, where Vishnu is the point of Civa's arrow (which consists of Vishnu, Soma, Agni), and of this war-car Brahm[=a] himself is the charioteer (ib. 34. 76). With customary inconsistency, however, when Çiva wishes his son to be exalted he prostrates himself before Brahm[=a], who then gives this youth (kum[=a]ra), called K[=a]rtikeya, the 'generalship' over all beings (s[=a]in[=a]patyam, ix. 44. 43-49). There is even a 'celebration of Brahm[=a],' a sort of harvest festival, shared, as the text tells, by all the castes; and it must have been something like the religious games of the Greeks, for it was celebrated by athletic contests.[33] Brahm[=a], as the old independent creator, sometimes keeps his place, transmitting posterity through his 'seven mind-born sons,' the great seers (iii. 133; xii. 166. 11 ff.). But Brahm[=a] himself is born either in the golden egg, as a secondary growth (as in xii. 312. 1-7), or, as is usually the case, he is born in the lotus which springs from the navel of musing[34] Vishnu (iii. 203. 14). In this passage Brahm[=a] has four faces (Vedas) and four forms, caturm[=u]rtis (15), and this epithet in other sections is transferred to Vishnu. Thus in vii. 29. 26, Vishnu(Vishu in the original) says caturm[=u]rtir aham, "I have four forms," but he never says trim[=u]rtir aham ('I have three forms'). There is one passage, however, that makes for a belief in a trinity. It stands in contrast to the various Vishnuite hymns, one of which may well be reviewed as an example of the regular Vishnuite laudation affected by the Krishna sect (iii. 12. 21 ff.): "Krishna is Vishnu, Brahm[=a], Soma, the Sun, Right, the Creator ('founder'), Yama, Fire, Wind, Çiva, Time, Space, Earth, and the cardinal points. Thou, Krishna, art the Creator ('emitter'); thou, chief of gods, didst worship the highest; thou, Vishnu called, becamest Indra's younger brother, entering into sonship with Aditi; as a child with three steps thou didst fill the sky, space, and earth, and pass in glory…. At the end of the age thou returnest all things into thyself. At the beginning of the age Brahm[=a] was born from thy lotus-navel as the venerable preceptor of all things (the same epithet is in vs. 22 applied to Vishnu himself); and Çiva sprang from thy angry forehead when the demons would kill him (Brahm[=a]); both are born of thee, in whom is the universe." The following verses (45 ff.) are like those of the Divine Song: "Thou, Knight Arjuna, art the soul of Krishna; thou art mine alone and thine alone am I; they that are mine are thine; he that hates thee hates Me, and he that is for thee, is for Me; thou art Nara ('man') and I am N[=a]r[=a]yana ('whose home is on the waters,' god);[35] we are the same, there is no difference between us." Again, like the Divine Song in the following verses (51-54) is the expression 'the sacrifice and he that sacrifices,' etc, together with the statement that Vishnu plays 'like a boy with playthings,' with the crowds of gods, Brahm[=a], Çiva, Indra, etc. The passage opposed to this, and to other identifications of Vishnu with many gods, is one of the most flagrant interpolations in the epic. If there be anything that the Supreme God in Çivaite or Vishnuite form does not do it is to extol at length, without obvious reason, his rivals' acts and incarnations, Yet in this clumsy passage just such an extended laudation of Vishnu is put into the mouth of Çiva. In fact, iii. 272, from 30 to 76, is an interpretation of the most naïve sort, and it is here that we find the approach to the later trim[=u]rti (trinity): "Having the form of Brahm[=a] he creates; having a human body (as Krishna) he protects, in the nature of Çiva he would destroy—these are the three appearances or conditions (avasth[=a]s) of the Father-god". (Praj[=a]pati).[36] This comes after an account of the four-faced lotus-born Brahm[=a], who, seeing the world a void, emitted his sons, the seers, mind-born, like to himself (now nine in number), who in turn begot all beings, including men (vss. 44-47). If, on the other hand, one take the later sectarian account of Vishnu (for the above is more in honor of Krishna the man-god than of Vishnu, the form of the Supreme God), he will see that even in the pseudo-epic the summit of the theological conceptions is the emphasis not of trinity or of multifariousness but of unity. According to the text the P[=a]ñcak[=a]lajñas are the same with the Vishnuite sect called P[=a]ñcar[=a]tras, and these are most emphatically ek[=a]ntinas, i.e., Unitarians (xii. 336; 337. 46; 339. 66-67).[37] In this same passage 341. 106, Vishnu is again caturm[=u]rtidh[r.]t, 'the bearer of four forms,' an entirely different conception of him (below). So that even in this most advanced sectarian literature there is no real threefoldness of the Supreme as one in three. In the following chapter (xii. 335. 1 ff.) there is a passage like the great Ka hymn of the Rig Veda, 'whom as god shall one worship?' The sages say to Vishnu: "All men worship thee; to whom dost thou offer worship?" and he says, 'to the Eternal Spirit.' The conception of the functions of Brahm[=a] and Çiva in relation to Vishnu is plainly shown in xii. 342. 19: "Brahm[=a] and Çiva create and destroy at the will of Vishnu; they are born of his grace and his anger." In regard to Çiva himself, his nature and place in Vishnuism have been sufficiently explained. The worship of this god is referred to 'Vedic texts' (the çata-rudriyam, vii. 202. 120);[38] Vishnu is made to adore the terrible god (ib. 201. 69) who appears as a mad ascetic, a wild rover, a monster, a satire on man and gods, though he piously carries a rosary, and has other late traits in his personal appearance.[39] The strength of Çivaism lay in the eumenidean (Çiva is 'prospering,' 'kindly') euphemism and fear alike, which shrank in speech and mind from the object of fear. But this religion in the epic had a firmer hold than that of fear. It was essentially phallic in its outward form (VII. 201. 93-96), and as such was deeply rooted in the religious conscience of a people to whom one may venture perhaps to ascribe such a form of worship even in the time of the Rig Veda, although the signs thereof in great part have been suppressed. This may be doubted,[40] indeed, for the earlier age; but there is no question that epic Çivaism, like Çivaism to-day, is dependent wholly on phallic worship (XIII. 14. 230 ff.). It is the parallel of Bacchic rites and orgies, as well as of the worship of the demons in distinction from that of good powers. Çiva represents the ascetic, dark, awful, bloody side of religion: Vishnu, the gracious, calm, hopeful, loving side; the former is fearful, mysterious, demoniac; the latter is joyful, erotic, divine. In their later developments it is not surprising to see that Vishnuism, in the form of Krishnaism, becomes more and more erotic, while Çivaism becomes more and more ghastly and ghoulish. Wild and varied as are the beliefs of the epic, there is space but to show a few more characteristic sides of its theology—a phase that may seem questionable, yet, since the devout Hindu believes the teachings of the epic, they must all to him constitute one theology, although it was gradually amalgamated out of different creeds.
In connection with Çiva stands, closely united, his son, Ganeça, "leader of troops," still worshipped as one of the popular gods, and the battle-god, Skanda, the son first of Agni then of Çiva, the conqueror of the demons, d[=a]navas, and later representative of Indra, with whom the epic identifies him. For it is Skanda that is the real battle-god of the later epic; though in its original form Indra was still the warrior's refuge, as attests the stereotyped phraseology. In III. 225-232 honor and praise are ascribed to Skanda in much the same language with that used to portray his father, Çiva. "The god of a thousand arms, the Lord of all, the creator of gods and demons" are phrases used in his eulogy. He too has a list of names; his nurse is the "maiden of the red (bloody) sea," called Loh[=i]t[=a]yan[=i]. His terrible appearance and fearful acts make him the equal of Çiva.[41] His sign is a kukku[t.]a, cock; ib. 229. 33.
Associated, again, with Skanda are the spirits or 'mothers,' which afflict people. The belief in mother-gods is old, but its epic form is new. The exactness and detail in regard to these beautiful monsters show at least a real belief, which, as one on a lower plane besides the higher religion, cannot be passed over without notice. As in other lands, people are 'possessed' by evil spirits, called possessors or seizers (grahas). These are Skanda's demons,[42] and are both male and female. Until one reaches the age of sixteen he is liable to be possessed by one group of 'seizers,' who must be worshipped in proper form that their wrath may be averted. Others menace mortals from the age of sixteen to seventy. After that only the fever-demon is to be feared. Imps of this sort are of three kinds. One kind indulge only in mischievous sport: another kind lead one to gluttony; the third kind are devoted to lust. They are known as Piç[=a]cas, Yakshas, etc., and when they seize a person he goes mad. They are to be kept at bay by self-restraint and moderation (III. 230. 43-56). In IX. 46 and III. 226 the 'mothers' are described. They are witches, and live in cross-roads, cemeteries, and mountains. They may be of Dravidian origin, and in their epic form, at any rate, are a late intrusion.[43]
Just before the Divine Song begins, the knight who is about to become, illuminated or 'disillusioned' offers a prayer to the terrible goddess Durg[=a], also one of the new, popular, and horrible forms of divine manifestation. In this hymn, VI. 23, Durg[=a] (Um[=a], P[=a]rvat[=i], K[=a]li, etc.) is addressed as "leader of the armies of the blessed, the dweller in Mandara, the youthful woman, K[=a]li, wife of Çiva, she who is red, black, variegated; the savior, the giver of gifts, K[=a]ty[=a]yan[=i], the great benefactress, the terrible one, the victorious one, victory itself … Um[=a], the slayer of demons,"[44] and the usual identification and theft of epithets then follows: "O thou who art the Vedas, who art Revelation, who art virtue, J[=a]tavedasi, … thou art brahma among the sciences, thou art the sleep of incorporate beings, the mother of Skanda, the blessed one, Durg[=a] … thou art the mother of the Vedas and Ved[=a]nta … thou art sleep, illusion, modesty, happiness … thou art satisfaction, growth, contentment, light, the increaser of moon and sun."
Turning from these later parasites,[45] which live on their parent gods and yet tend to reduce them, we now revert to that happiness hereafter to which looks forward the epic knight that has not been tempted to 'renounce' desire. In pantheistic passages he is what the later remodeller makes him. But enough of old belief remains to show that the warrior really cared a great deal more for heaven than he did for absorption. As to the cause of events, as was said above, it is Fate. Repeatedly is heard the lament, "Fate (impersonal) is the highest thing, fie on vain human effort." The knight confesses with his lips to a belief in the new doctrine of absorption, but at heart he is a fatalist. And his aim is to die on the field of battle, that he may go thence directly to the heaven that awaits the good and the brave.[46] Out of a long description of this heaven a few extracts here selected will show what the good knight anticipates:
"Upward goes the path that leads to gods; it is inhabited by them that have sacrificed and have done penance. Unbelieving persons and untruthful persons do not enter there; only they that have duteous souls, that have conquered self, and heroes that bear the marks of battle. There sit the seers and gods, there are shining, self-illumined worlds, made of light, resplendent. And in this heaven there is neither hunger, nor thirst, nor weariness, nor cold, nor heat, nor fear; nothing that is terrible is there, nothing unclean; but pleasing sights, and sounds, and smells. There is no care there, nor age, nor work, nor sorrow. Such is the heaven that is the reward of good acts. Above this is Brahm[=a]'s world, where sit the seers and the three and thirty gods," etc.
Over against this array of advantages stands the one great "fault of heaven," which is stated almost in the words of "nessun maggior dolore," "the thought (when one lives again on the lower plane) of former happiness in the higher life is terrible grief" (vs. 30), i.e., this heaven will pass away at the end of the world-period, when the Eternal draws all in to himself again (iii. 261); and the thought that one has been in heaven, while now he is (re-born) on earth, is a sorrow greater than the joy given by heaven.[47] One is reminded by the epic description of heaven of that poet of the Upanishads who describes his heavenly bliss as consisting in the fact that in that world "there is neither snow nor sorrow." The later version is only an amplification. Even with the assurance that the "fault of heaven" is the disappointment of being dropped to earth again in a new birth, the ordinary mortal is more averse from the bliss of absorption than from the pleasure of heaven. And in truth, except to one very weary of his lot in life, it must be confessed that the religion here shown in all its bearings is one eminently pleasant to believe. Its gist, in a word, is this: "If you feel able to endure it, the best thing to do is to study the plan of the universe, and then conform to it. By severe mental discipline you can attain to this knowledge, and for reward you will be immortally united with God." To this the sectarian adds: "Or believe in my god and the result will be the same." But both philosopher and sectarian continue: "If, however, you do not want to be united with the Supreme Spirit so soon as this, then be virtuous and devout, or simply be brave if you are a warrior; do whatever the rules of morality and caste-custom bid you do, and you will go to heaven for thousands of ages; at the end of which time you will be re-born in a fine family on earth, and may again decide whether to repeat the process of gaining heaven or to join God and become absorbed into the World-Spirit at once." There were probably many that chose rather to repeat their agreeable earthly experience, with an interlude of heaven after each death, than to make the renunciation of earth and heaven, and be absorbed once for all into the All-god.