Trinity

Just the other day I was walking down the Wall Street in New York, when an amazing building piqued my interest – The Trinity Church. The Trinity church at the intersection of the Wall Street and Broadway has witnessed the history of New York like no one else.  First built in 1698, the church has withstood the changes of times and has also once enjoyed the title of the tallest building in New York. The church is beautiful and the calm inside the church is mesmerizing, contrasting the helm of affairs on the Wall Street.

However, it was not the church itself but the name –“Trinity” – that remained in the thoughts. I believe the name refers to the well-established Christian doctrine of Trinity. The doctrine states that the God is present in the three persons – Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit.  The three persons are distinct yet are one substance, essence or nature.

The trinity is a concept which is the very essence of the Hinduism as well. Almost all of us have heard the Hindu Trinity – Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. I, just like many of us have grown up listening to stories wherein the supreme trinity upholds the principles of the society and provides a direction to the humans, gods and demons. They play their part in the cosmos in maintaining the balance of power and life. They bless the ones who worship them and are the ultimate problem solvers. When I went to the B-School, my professor pulled me aside and asked me about the Trinity and their importance. I learned a new way of looking at the Trinity from them – Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the manager and Mahesh or Shiva is the destroyer. This was a great definition and helped me to understand the people and organizations from this perspective. More to evangelize on this thought, I would term the entrepreneur involved in startup as the Brahma, the CEO who runs the day-to-day operations as the Vishnu, and the CEO / HR who takes the role of terminating the non-performing businesses as Mahesh.

While listening to the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh, I also listened to the names of the three Goddesses – Lakshmi, Durga and Saraswati. I was always amazed as to why the Trinity never referred to the trio – Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga – when they always work in tandem. In fact, many of the devi temples all across India have three shrines in one, depicting the trio as the Female Trinity. Be it Vaishno devi where the shrine actually represents three forms, or a Durga Pandal during Durga pooja, you'' notice three idols of Goddess - Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga. This forms our second trinity. 

As Dr Devdutt Pattnaik observes in his talks, each of these Goddesses have a stron characteristic of their own. They represent power, intelligence and resources. At the same time they represent a different form of wealth - 

• Lakshmi - represents material wealth
• She holds a pot representing collected / abundant resources
• She tells us to meet our goals to be able to achieve; Thus lakshmi originates from laksha or lakshya
• She rides an owl - representing farsightedness and seeking knowledge even when surrounded in darkness
• Saraswati - represents intellectual wealth
• She holds a book in her hand representing knowledge
• She tells us to use imagination to achieve knowledge; Since imagination is fluid - can take any form, Saraswati comes from saris / salil / sarita - all are forms of water
• She rides a swan who has the ability of differentiating between milk and water and is nearsighted
• Durga - represents emotional wealth
• She holds weapons in her hands representing tools
• She tells us to win over hurdles and feel power, giving us a sense of security; People used to build forts to get security and made them powerful, thus from durg comes Durga
• She rides a lion instilling fear in enemies through sight and roar

When the Male and the Female Trinity of the hindu tradition come together, they form an interesting cosmos. While each of the male trinity members associated with those of the female trinity as consorts, they complement each other in many ways. The male trinity represents the doer, while the female trinity represents the action. 

However, there is one more aspect of the trinity as it exists in the Hindu tradition. When we visit the temples of devi, or even other, we often observe the presence of the Goddess along with other male forms. These male forms either represent son or brothers or protectors. Look at Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu & Kashmir and you'll see the goddess with Bhairav Nath and Langur Devata. Look at Jagannath Puri and you'll notice Subhadra with Krishna and Balbhadra. Look at Sri Ram temples and you'll notice Sita with Ram and Lakshmana. In some tales, the goddess is seen as mother nurturing both Shiva and Vishnu. In a different way to look at them, they represent the two different forms of the male mind – one that detaches itself with the materialism and one that engages with the materialism yet defines spiritualism. One of the male mind rejects the engagement suggesting monk like behavior and submission to spirituality within. The other male mind engages to uphold the principles of nature and maintain balance between Maya and Moksha. The Goddess complements both. She is a powerful being who nurtures both the thoughts and helps one find the way that is well suited for the perspective they want to have. 

All my writing is a result of reading various books and listening to Dr Devdutta Pattnaik. Please do forgive me if I have hurt someone's feelings or have stated anything incorrectly.