Great acharyas like Ramanujacharya have stated that Lord Narayana is the supreme being and other gods like Brahma and Shiva occupy subordinate positions. Yet many common people believe that all 3 gods in the trinity are the same. Do the vedas support such a position?
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1Yes. Taittiriya Aranyaka MahAnArAyaNa upanishad (Andhra recension) says - sa brahmA sa Siva sa harih sendrah soksharah...He (Narayana) is brahmA, Siva, Hari, Indra, Akshara...– user16581Commented Dec 29, 2019 at 9:27
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The acharya you mentioned was a Vaishnava acharya. So, for him obviously Vishnu will be supreme. What he said is therefore not at all surprising. BTW the fact that one should see trinities equally without discriminating between them is mentioned in the Puranas and not in the Vedas.– RickrossCommented Dec 29, 2019 at 10:50
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Oh yeah and by the way, Narayana himself says exactly the same thing to Markandeya in the Mahabharata Vana parva 3.187 - Apo nArA iti proktAH sa~nj~nAnAma kRRitaM mayA | tena nArAyaNo.asmyukto mama taddhyayanaM sadA || 3|| ahaM nArAyaNo nAma prabhavaH shAshvato.avyayaH | vidhAtA sarvabhUtAnAM saMhartA cha dvijottama || 4|| ahaM viShNurahaM brahmA shakrashchAhaM surAdhipaH | ahaM vaishravaNo rAjA yamaH pretAdhipastathA || 5|| ahaM shivashcha somashcha kashyapashcha prajApatiH | ahaM dhAtA vidhAtA cha yaj~nashchAhaM dvijottama || 6||– user16581Commented Dec 29, 2019 at 10:52
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Let the OP clarify, as to what does he/she mean by Veda? Were mantras from Rig Veda alone or mantras from Rig , yaju, sAma, atharva Veda or something else? @I will close your question– Srimannarayana K VCommented Dec 29, 2019 at 11:16
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9Does this answer your question? How were the Trimurthi born?– Sanatan DarshanCommented Dec 30, 2019 at 6:23
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1 Answer
Not only 3 gods, but all gods and goddesses are the same. If you haven't already heard of the famous Rig Vedic verse 1.164.46:
इन्द्रं मित्रं वरुणमग्निमाहुरथो दिव्यः स सुपर्णो गरुत्मान् ।
एकं सद् विप्रा बहुधा वदन्त्यग्निं यमं मातरिश्वानमाहुः ॥
They call Agni as Indra, Mitra, Varuna, and the divine golden-feathered great being. The one reality Agni, the sages call variously, as Yama and Matarishva.
Also, the great Niruktakara Yaskacharya says (7.4):
माहाभाग्याद् देवताया एक आत्मा बहुधा स्तूयते । एकस्यात्मनोऽन्ये देवाः प्रत्यङ्गानि भवन्ति । ... इतरेतरजन्मानो भवन्ति । इतरेतरप्रकृतयः । कर्मजन्मानः । आत्मजन्मानः । ... आत्मा सर्वं देवस्य ।
Due to the majesty of the deity, one Atman is praised in many ways. Of the one Atman, the many deities are limbs... They are born from one another. They have each other's nature. They are born because of their specific function. They are born from the Atman. The Atman is the all-in-all of the deity.
