Brahma

Brahma (brä`mə), a god often identified, with Vishnu and Shiva, as one of the three supreme gods in Hinduism. In the late Vedic period he was called Prajapati, the primeval man whose sacrifice permitted the original act of creation. His popularity has declined since the Gupta era (A.D. 320–550), and today only one temple near modern Ajmer is devoted to him. He is regarded as the creator and is periodically reborn in a lotus that grows from the navel of the sleeping Vishnu. His consort Sarasvati is the patroness of art, music, and letters, and the traditional inventor of the Sanskrit language. The kalpa or "day of Brahma," equal to 4,320,000,000 earthly years, is a basic unit in Hindu chronology. The neuter form of the masculine name Brahma is Brahman.

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Brahma

One of three major gods in late Vedic Hinduism, c. 500 BC–c. AD 500. He was gradually eclipsed by the other two, Vishnu and Shiva. In classical times the doctrine of Trimurti identified the three as aspects of a supreme deity. Brahma was associated with the creator god Prajapati, whose identity he came to assume. All temples of Shiva or Vishnu contain an image of Brahma, but today there is no sect or cult devoted exclusively to him.

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Brahma¹

1. a Hindu god: in later Hindu tradition, the Creator who, with Vishnu, the Preserver, and Shiva, the Destroyer, constitutes the triad known as the Trimurti

2. another name for Brahman

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Brahma²

a heavy breed of domestic fowl with profusely feathered legs and feet