Indian traditions, Nivedita and Coomaraswamy
Brahma
Brahma appears to Valmiki as the four-faced creator and authorises the composition of Rama’s story in the newly discovered metre. The poem’s traditional origin is thus linked to a divine commission. The concluding cosmology assigns creation at the beginning of a cycle to the Brahma aspect of Ishvara, followed by Vishnu’s sustaining activity and Shiva’s dissolution of the world.
Also known as Brahmā · The grandsire
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalBrahma appears to Valmiki as the four-faced creator and authorises the composition of Rama’s story in the newly discovered metre. The poem’s traditional origin is thus linked to a divine commission.
Further detail
TraditionalThe concluding cosmology assigns creation at the beginning of a cycle to the Brahma aspect of Ishvara, followed by Vishnu’s sustaining activity and Shiva’s dissolution of the world.
Context & interpretation
Brahma, the personal creator figure, is distinguished here from Brahman, the absolute reality in the collection’s scheme. The commission and cosmic cycle are attributed religious accounts. The selected passages do not survey every Brahma narrative or establish an empirical cosmology.
Original passages
Source 1
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
four-faced shining Brahma, the Creator of the WorldOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Nivedita and Coomaraswamy, Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (1914), active reader leaf 45
Exact passage checked against the active edition text and original-leaf mapping; whitespace and scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0109-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0109-E001-P0045
- Original scan leaf
- 45
- Recorded leaf number
- 45
- Current Reader position
- 36
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
the world is created by the Brahma aspect of IshvaraOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Nivedita and Coomaraswamy, Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (1914), active reader leaf 474
Exact passage checked against the active edition text and original-leaf mapping; whitespace and scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0109-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0109-E001-P0474
- Original scan leaf
- 474
- Recorded leaf number
- 474
- Current Reader position
- 465
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
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