Page 17 - Hinduism

attract the Jīvas and annex them to Himself. His five aspects may be briefly explained as follows: Brahman is the God of the Upaniṣads and he is pure and perfect in the world beyond. His nature cannot be explained adequately but his essential qualities are mentioned in a way as satyam, jñānam, anantam and ānandam. Brahman is sat or reality, or truth itself and is eternal and changeless unlike prakṛti. He is ever self-luminous and is more effulgent than all the Suns, Moons and Stars. He is supremely good or amala and is free from all imperfections. He is by nature blissful or ānanda and love itself. Brahman is the one without a second, though He has many qualities and His chief quality is love by which He imparts His nature to the Jīvas and makes them like Himself. The whole universe has its being in Him and He is the supreme end of our life.
Brahman in relation to the world or cosmos is called Īśvara and it is He who creates it, sustains it and destroys it. He does the three functions of sṛṣti, creation, sthiti, preservations and samhāra, destruction in the three forms of Brahma, Viṣṇu and Śiva. This threefold function is described in detail in the eighteen Purāṇas of which the chief are Viṣṇupurāṇa and Bhāgavatapurāṇa. The world consists of Jīvas and Prakṛti but they are eternal and not created out of nothing. Before creation they were in a latent stage in Pralaya like the seed before it becomes the tree. In creation they are given new 17