Stories 14
All as one: the Smarta Panchayatana
The Smarta school worships five deities — Ganesha, Shiva, Shakti, Vishnu and Surya, with Kartikeya added in the south — set in a quincunx around the worshipper's chosen one, as equal forms of the one Brahman; tradition credits Adi Shankara, though the practice is older.
Bhrigu tests the three gods
Sages send Bhrigu to find out which god is greatest. Brahma swallows his anger, Shiva raises his trident until his consort calms him, and Vishnu apologises after being kicked; the sages choose Vishnu. Temple and popular tellings add Lakshmi's departure, the Tirumala descent and curses on Brahma and Shiva.
Hanuman as Shiva's own avatar
Shaiva texts and popular tellings say that when Vishnu chose to be born as Rama, Shiva chose to be born as Hanuman — his eleventh Rudra — to serve him; Vaishnava schools call Hanuman the son and incarnation of Vayu.
How Vishnu and Shiva became one body
Vishnu and Shiva merge into a single form — to end a dispute among devotees, to kill Guhasura whom neither could kill alone, or at Parvati's prayer to reconcile two serpent kings. Shiva is the right half, Vishnu the left, in every telling.
Madhu and Kaitabha
Two demons born from Vishnu's ear-wax threaten Brahma and steal the Vedas; who saves the day depends on the sect — Vishnu as Hayagriva in the epic line, or the Goddess who must first leave Vishnu's body in the Devi Mahatmya.
Purusha and Narayana on the waters
The cosmic person of the Purusha Sukta and the Narayana who rests on the waters are fused into Vishnu's cosmic identity, pictured as Anantashayana.
The burning of the three cities
The gods build Shiva a cosmic chariot with Brahma as charioteer and Vishnu as the arrow to destroy the three cities of Taraka's sons; the Shaiva prelude has Vishnu send a heretical teacher to strip the cities of merit, while the Bhagavata has Vishnu as a cow and Brahma as a calf drink the demons' reviving well dry.
The pillar of light
Brahma and Vishnu quarrel over who is greater; Shiva appears as a column of fire without end; Brahma flies up as a gander and Vishnu digs down as a boar; Vishnu admits failure, Brahma lies with the ketaki as witness and is cursed. Tamil tradition roots the pillar at Tiruvannamalai.
The so-called Trimurti cave at Mahabalipuram
Three Pallava shrines on one platform: Shiva in the centre, Vishnu on the right, and a disputed left shrine read as Brahma by Vogel but as Subrahmanya or Brahmasasta by later scholars; a Durga panel stands beside.
Vishnu cannot wake until the Goddess withdraws
In the Devi Mahatmya Vishnu lies in yogic sleep on the waters while Madhu and Kaitabha threaten Brahma; only when Brahma praises Mahamaya and she leaves Vishnu's body can he rise and fight.
Vishnu created from Shiva's left side
The Shiva Purana has Shiva bring Vishnu forth from the left of his body as the embodiment of sattva and assign him the work of preservation.
Who made whom: the Bhagavata's creation frame
Brahma, himself born from Vishnu's navel lotus, grows angry when his mind-born sons refuse to procreate; from between his brows a crying child is born and named Rudra, given eleven places, names and consorts, and told to stop creating and practise austerity.
Who made whom: the Devi Bhagavata's frame
The Goddess creates the three gods to do the work of creation, preservation and destruction, carries them to her island Manidvipa, turns them into women for a hundred years, and returns them with their consorts to their tasks.
Who made whom: the Shiva Purana's creation frame
Shiva creates Vishnu from the left of his body and Brahma from the right (through the lotus from Vishnu's navel), assigns creation, preservation and destruction, and stands beyond all three.