DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.635#0079
66 BENARES, THE SACRED CITY
power; and Shiva, the quality of Bliss, the perfect
beatitude of Nirvana. Purusha and Prakriti being
inert by themselves, each of the Trimurti have their
saktis, or divine powers, which enable them to perform
their functions in the universe. In popular Hinduism the
saktis are regarded as the wives of the Trimurti. The
sakti of Brahma is deified as Saraswati, the goddess of
learning and wisdom; the sakti of Vishnu is Lakshmi,
the goddess of prosperity; and the saktiof Shiva, Durga,
Gauri, or Kali, terrible goddesses to whom bloody
sacrifices, and sometimes human victims, are offered.
The worship of Brahma has almost ceased as a
jjopular religion, because his work in the universe is
considered to be finished. Shiva is the presiding
deity at Benares, and all the principal temples are
dedicated to him. But Shiva at Benares is Mahadeva,
the great god, or Ishwara, representing the powers of
all the Trimurti; for the followers of particular cults,
like that of Shiva, Vishnu, or of Kali, generally ascribe
to their special deity the exercise of all the divine
functions. It must also be noted that each one of the
Trimurti, besides the two main qualities, or gunas,
attributed to him, has countless sub-manifestations
corresponding to the infinite subdivisions of their
duties in the cosmic order. Thus there are hundreds
of temples and shrines at Benares with names ending
in "-eshwar" (Ishwara), such as Tarak-eshwar, Ratn-
eshwar, Som-eshwar, &c, all of which are Shiva temples
dedicated to some particular manifestation of the
Supreme Ishwara. The Hindu pantheon is estimated
to contain 300,000,000 deities, but the Brahminical
teaching clearly explains them as indicating the infinite
manifestations of the One Supreme.
power; and Shiva, the quality of Bliss, the perfect
beatitude of Nirvana. Purusha and Prakriti being
inert by themselves, each of the Trimurti have their
saktis, or divine powers, which enable them to perform
their functions in the universe. In popular Hinduism the
saktis are regarded as the wives of the Trimurti. The
sakti of Brahma is deified as Saraswati, the goddess of
learning and wisdom; the sakti of Vishnu is Lakshmi,
the goddess of prosperity; and the saktiof Shiva, Durga,
Gauri, or Kali, terrible goddesses to whom bloody
sacrifices, and sometimes human victims, are offered.
The worship of Brahma has almost ceased as a
jjopular religion, because his work in the universe is
considered to be finished. Shiva is the presiding
deity at Benares, and all the principal temples are
dedicated to him. But Shiva at Benares is Mahadeva,
the great god, or Ishwara, representing the powers of
all the Trimurti; for the followers of particular cults,
like that of Shiva, Vishnu, or of Kali, generally ascribe
to their special deity the exercise of all the divine
functions. It must also be noted that each one of the
Trimurti, besides the two main qualities, or gunas,
attributed to him, has countless sub-manifestations
corresponding to the infinite subdivisions of their
duties in the cosmic order. Thus there are hundreds
of temples and shrines at Benares with names ending
in "-eshwar" (Ishwara), such as Tarak-eshwar, Ratn-
eshwar, Som-eshwar, &c, all of which are Shiva temples
dedicated to some particular manifestation of the
Supreme Ishwara. The Hindu pantheon is estimated
to contain 300,000,000 deities, but the Brahminical
teaching clearly explains them as indicating the infinite
manifestations of the One Supreme.