Brahma Character Analysis in The Ramayana

Brahma is one of the gods that comprises the Hindu Trinity, along with Shiva and Vishnu. Brahma is the creator and has four faces. Though Brahma initially granted Ravana boons that made him very powerful, he asks Vishnu for help in defeating Ravana when Ravana begins to use his powers for evil. Later, Brahma takes it upon himself to remind Rama of his divinity.

Brahma Quotes in The Ramayana

The The Ramayana quotes below are all either spoken by Brahma or refer to Brahma. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Penguin Books edition of The Ramayana published in 2006.

Ravana can be destroyed only by a human being since he never asked for protection from a human being.

Related Characters: (speaker), , , , ,

Page Number and Citation: 4

Explanation and Analysis:

The gods, who had watched this in suspense, were now profoundly relieved but also had an uneasy feeling that Rama had, perhaps, lost sight of his own identity. Again and again this seemed to happen. Rama displayed the tribulations and the limitations of the human frame and it was necessary from time to time to remind him of his divinity.

Related Characters: , , ,

Page Number and Citation: 151

Explanation and Analysis:

Brahma Character Timeline in The Ramayana

The timeline below shows where the character Brahma appears in The Ramayana. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...Ravana extraordinary powers, but Ravana is now using the powers for evil. Neither the gods Brahma nor Shiva can help, as they gave Ravana his powers in the first place. Vishnu... (full context)

...turned to ash learned that his grandfathers' souls were stuck in limbo, he prayed to Brahma for a way to help the souls reach salvation. He prayed to Shiva and then... (full context)

...bows and stands aside. Viswamithra introduces her as Ahalya, and tells her story to Rama. Brahma created her to be absolutely perfect. Indra wanted Ahalya, but Brahma found a sage to... (full context)

...to show himself, and was therefore unable to perform his duties as a god. Later, Brahma asked the sage to somehow remedy the situation. The sage then turned Indra's thousand “marks”... (full context)

...to help Rama. The charioteer introduces himself as Matali, and explains that the gods Indra, Brahma, and Shiva sent him to help Rama, and he lists the chariot's special powers. Rama... (full context)

...Rama is losing sight of his identity. They decide to remind him that he's divine. Brahma addresses Rama and reminds him of the Trinity (Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu), and tells Rama... (full context)