According to Hindu mythology, Brahma has a lifespan of 100 years. That may appear way short for a god of Brahma’s standing . (He is the creator of our solar system.) But Brahma and Hindu gods do not follow our traditional 24-hour clock. They represent time in cosmic units of yugas and kalpas. If you don’t understand any of these terms, that’s ok. A kalpa, for instance, is defined as a day of Brahma and translates to 4.32 billion human years. In fact Brahma has a lifespan of 311 trillion years! We explain these colossal timescales, as we introduce Brahma in this book. You will learn that Brahma initially was the supreme deity of Hinduism, but he could not hang on to his position for long. A judgmental lapse is said to have caused his downfall. With Brahma’s descent, Vishnu rose to power. Today, in the Hindu pantheon, Vishnu is a prominent god, and has a following of more than 700 million devotees, who are occasionally identified by the U-shared marks on their foreheads. With a focus on Vishnu and Brahma, we continue our journey beyond the Vedic era. We begin by examining a popular creation myth in which Brahma emerges from the navel of a sleeping Vishnu and starts crafting the world. Further on, we explore the churning of the milky ocean, a crucial event in Hindu mythology and one of the rare occasions when gods and demons collaborated (instead of fighting) to search for the nectar of immortality. Many precious things—and surprises—came out this quest, including Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and consort of Vishnu. We also get to know a critical insight into our ancestry. According to Hinduism, we are all related and descendants of Manu, the father of human race. While this book focuses on Brahma and Vishnu, there will be occasional detours when we pause to look at art and architecture. In particular, we’ll look at Angkor Wat, the largest Hindu temple in the world. Guess what? The fact that Angkor Wat is located outside India has dented Hindu pride from time immemorial. We’ll also peek at ancient paintings from a mythological perspective, especially the unique genre of miniature paintings called ragamala that combines art, music, and poetry. A remarkable shift in worship took place during this period. Bhakti became a major form of worship and pervaded Hindu society forever. If you are unfamiliar with bhakti, then nothing exemplifies bhakti (devotion) more than the dancing-and-chanting Hare Krishnas.

Written with exceptional grace and empathy, Brahma’s Dream explores the richness of relationships and the mystery of how one life is defined through its connection to others. Set in Bombay amid the turbulence of India’s surge towards independence, Brahma’s Dream tells the story of thirteen-year-old Mohini, an unforgettable character whose medical problems set her apart from the world around her, and give her a wisdom and special place in it. Mohini suffers from a rare form of anemia that gradually diminishes her physically but increases her understanding of life in a way incomprehensible to those who move more easily through it. Under her kind, wry gaze, a family, a city, and a country convulse with idealism and hope. Through Mohini the reader encounters the extraordinary characters who live in her family home, Koleshwar Nivas. Vishnupant, Mohini’s grandfather, is a forward-thinking professor of history who has devoted his life to making sense of India’s past so that the country might fulfil the promise of its future. Keshav, Mohini’s father, who, while embracing the prospect of independence, is eager to hold on to any progress made through British rule. But for both men Mohini is the centre of the universe, as she is for her devoted mother, Kamala, who has sacrificed the intimacy of her marriage to care for her child, and Vasanti, Mohini’s aunt who, having lost the chance at a life beyond the confines of family, looks to her remarkable niece for comfort and understanding. The lives of the Oek family are lived against the backdrop of the confrontation between a far-flung empire and the diminutive Mahatma Gandhi. A joyous and moving novel, astute and reflective, Brahma’s Dream explores the Hindu belief that all life and all events are only a part of a vast continuum, and that momentous political and social change, birth, marriage, and even death, are only a twinkling in the eye of a god.

This luxury book serves as an excellent introduction to Hindu myths

Retold in simple language, underlining importance of each Purana, with a lucid summary.

With Great Imagination, Brahma The Creator Has Fashioned All Things On Earth, Even The Greedy Caterpillar. But When It Chomps Its Way Through His Colourful Garden Brahma Gets Very Angry. But Then, It Was Brahma Himself Who Gave The Caterpillar Its Huge Hunger, So What Can The Caterpillar Do? Now, What Will Brahma Do? Brahma'S Butterfly Is An Amusing, Affectionately Rendered Story Of What Happens When The Creator Makes A Small But Big Mistake! The Bright And Lively Pictures Offer A Unique Perspective To The Story.

In the Brahma Sutras of Badarayana, we find what is perhaps the most influential work in the history of Hindu Theology, given that the Brahma Sutras served as the basis for the theologies of all major Hindu theologians, including Sankara, Ramanuja, Nimbarka,Vallabha, and Madhva. In this work Dr. Adams examines the first of the Brahma Sutras four sections in an attempt to identify their original meaning and the theology that Badarayana attempted to express.