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Brahman

God or gods?

Contrary to popular understanding, Hindus recognise one God, Brahman, the eternal origin who is the cause and foundation of all existence.

The gods of the Hindu faith represent different expressions of Brahman.

Different Hindu communities may have their own divinities whom they worship, but these are simply different ways of approaching the Ultimate.

Hindus recognise three principal gods:

  • Brahma, who creates the universe
  • Vishnu, who preserves the universe
  • Shiva, who destroys the universe.

Brahma

Brahma is the Creator. However, Brahma is not worshipped in the same way as other gods because it is believed that his work - that of creation - has been done.

Hindus worship other expressions of Brahman (not Brahma), which take a variety of forms.

Hindus are often classified into three groups according to which form of Brahman they worship:

  • Those who worship Vishnu (the preserver) and Vishnu's important incarnations Rama, Krishna and Narasimha;
  • Those who worship Shiva (the destroyer)
  • Those who worship the Mother Goddess, Shakti, also called Parvati, Mahalakshmi, Durga or Kali.

In this article

  1. Brahman
  2. Vishnu, Shiva and other deities

This page was last updated 2003-07-31

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