Before time began there was no heaven, no earth and no space between. A vast dark ocean washed upon the shores of nothingness and licked the edges of night. A giant cobra floated on the waters. Asleep within its endless coils lay the Lord Vishnu. He was watched over by the mighty serpent. Everything was so peaceful and silent that Vishnu slept undisturbed by dreams or motion.
From the depths a humming sound began to tremble, Om. It grew and spread, filling the emptiness and throbbing with energy. The night had ended. Vishnu awoke. As the dawn began to break, from Vishnu's navel grew a magnificent lotus flower. In the middle of the blossom sat Vishnu's servant, Brahma. He awaited the Lord's command.
Vishnu spoke to his servant: 'It is time to begin.' Brahma bowed. Vishnu commanded: 'Create the world.'
A wind swept up the waters. Vishnu and the serpent vanished. Brahma remained in the lotus flower, floating and tossing on the sea. He lifted up his arms and calmed the wind and the ocean. Then Brahma split the lotus flower into three. He stretched one part into the heavens. He made another part into the earth. With the third part of the flower he created the skies.
The earth was bare. Brahma set to work. He created grass, flowers, trees and plants of all kinds. To these he gave feeling. Next he created the animals and the insects to live on the land. He made birds to fly in the air and many fish to swim in the sea. To all these creatures, he gave the senses of touch and smell. He gave them power to see, hear and move.
The world was soon bristling with life and the air was filled with the sounds of Brahma's creation.
As good as any other explanation i ever heard.
I believe this might be more appropriately placed in the "six twenty-four hours..." thread. it's a pretty accurate rendering of the same story I got from Dr. Pavan Kumar. But if it's as good as any other explanation you ever heard, then you must not have heard the Maya story of the cosmos. FYI: when a hindu refers to the "Trinity" it means Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma. And when a hindu refers to the Mother of God he is talking about Sree Rama.
By the way, the Western concept of Shiva is Entropy. Of Brahma is Enthalpy. The nice part of that tale is that it is metaphorically consistent with Modern Physics, which may be why South Asians do so well in the upper-division chemistry and physics courses. Of course, the Maya story is rather interesting as well.
