Sunday, March 19, 2023

158 - Brahmanistic Mythology


The religion that developed from the ancient Indian scriptures, the Vedas, is called Brahmanism, and the mythology derived from it is called Brahmanistic mythology.

In ancient India, the forces of nature were deified and worshipped as gods. In Brahmanism, which is based on the Vedas, the supreme deity was Indra, who presided over thunder and storms. 

Indra was worshipped as a war god who rode on an elephant and defeated the asuras, and as a god who moistened the earth with the blessings of rain, but he was eventually replaced by other deities.

Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu replaced Indra, and with these three gods at the top, Brahmanism became Hinduism, which further developed by incorporating various folk beliefs.

Therefore, Brahmanism and Hinduism are a series of streams, and the myths passed down in these streams are part of Brahmanistic mythology. Incidentally, Hinduism means "the religion of the Indians".


In Hinduism, Brahma is the supreme creator god, but since he originally existed as the principle of the universe, there are few myths about him and he is the least popular of the three gods.

Vishnu is depicted as the sun god in charge of blessings, while Shiva is depicted as a dualistic god of destruction and creation.


These ancient Indian deities were transformed into Buddhist deities, such as Indra as Taishakuten, Brahma as Bonten, and Shiva as Acala, and were incorporated into Buddhism as protective deities.

[I've been using the Japanese names as they denote a difference in religion, however, most of them are still called the same. Shiva and Acala are an exception, as depending on the source, they can actually be considered different beings. Additionally, Acala's Japanese name is Fudou Myou'ou.]

No comments:

Post a Comment