Gods and Deities

Shiva

     While there are many Gods in Hinduism, Shiva is among the most important.  Shiva is the god of destruction, but not in a negative sense.  Hindus believe that everything is destroyed eventually, and this is done by Shiva.  In order to pave way for a better world, parts of the previous world must be destroyed.  Shiva is both good and evil, and is appointed to combining contradictory elements.  Shiva is known for untamed passion and an extreme behavior.  He is sometimes resistant to all human pleasure, other times indulgent.  His only control is his wife, Parvati.  She balances his emotions and allows him to both be resistant to pleasure and a lover, within his marriage of course.  Shiva is primarily represented as a man, although he is sometimes shown as half man half woman, split down the middle.  The woman half is his wife Parvati.  Shiva always has a blue face and throat; his body is either white or blue.  Shiva’s figure contains much symbolism.  His third eye represent wisdom and insight, and is also the source of his wild energy.  This eye is covered by three white lines drawn with ash, or vibhunti.  These lines represent Shiva’s world changing behavior, his great godly power, and his wealth.  Shiva wears a cobra necklace and holds a trident.  The necklace represents his power over the dangerous creatures in the world, and his power of destruction and recreation.  The snake sheds it’s rough, old skin in order to have new, smooth skin.  The trident represents the three categories of Hindu worship, and the three main gods that control the samsara cycle. 

Vishnu

Another important God, maybe even more vital to the Hindu cycle, is Vishnu.  Vishnu is the god of preservation and is the protector of the universe.  His duty is to uphold Dharma in the universe and balance good and evil.  Vishnu is represented as a four armed human, each hand holding a symbolic items.  The items go as follows: A conch (which emits the sound “Om”), representing the sound of creation, a chakra (or discus) which symbolizes the mind, a lotus flower, symbolizing glorious existence and liberation, and a mace, which represents mental and physical strength.  He is often seen next to Lakshmi, his loyal consort.  Many Hindus believe that Vishnu is the best God of all the Gods, and that the other Gods are much weaker and unimportant.  Some even solely worship Vishnu; this is called Vaishnavism.

Saraswati

Another less known goddess is Saraswati.  Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge, music, and the arts.  She is linked to learning and the arts, mainly music.  She is both regarded as a consort to Brahma and as an individual deity who irradiates ignorance and grants wisdom to those who worship her.  She is still prayed to today by students wishing for her help in their academic studies.  Saraswati is normally depicted as a woman with white skin and four arms.  In two arms, she holds a veena, an Indian guitar, and in the other two she holds objects such as prayer beads, a lotus blossom, a vessel of water, or a manuscript.