Vishnu - supreme solar deity. Also manifested as one of the zodiac signs (the twelfth aditya) corresponding to the month of Phalguna in the sequence. This is associated with the constellation Leo or the Lion. The month of Aguila encompasses late July/early August (Leo covers the time from July 23 to August 22 in the western astrological system. Visnu is associated with the day.
Brahma - is the creator of time and space who resides at the north celestial pole just above Mount Meru; it is believed that the moon and sun spin around him endlessly. Brahma can be associated with the night.
Devas - gods
Asuras - antigods
Churning Sea Myth - myth
Indra, Yama, Soma (also known as Kubera), and Varuna - four planetary gods representing the four cardinal directions - east, south, north, and west respectively
Mount Meru - mythical mountain of the gods and the axis of the earth. There are a total of 28 god realms on Mount Meru and there are 32 gods who live at the summit of Mount Meru. The realm of the guardians of the four directions cover the lower reaches of Meru, which includes the mansions of the sun and moon (and constellations), the summits of the concentric mountain ranges, and four ascending levels of minor deities on the lower half of the mountain. There is a higher level for the directional gods (Indra, Yama, Soma, and Varuna), which is the first level of the heaven of the gods. Above that level is Indra's heaven and above that there are 24 heavens of gods. The heaven of Brahma is the seventh in this ascending order of 24.
Garuda - a mythical bird associated with the eagle
Sacred Measurements of Time - A year of the gods is 360 days long and a day of the gods is one of our years in length. Thus 360 years of our time equals 1 year for the gods. When celestial years are multiplied by 360 the result is terrestrial time.
Yuga |
Celestial years X 360 = Terrestrial years | |
kali |
1200 |
432,000 |
dvapara |
2400 |
864,000 |
treta |
3600 |
1,296,000 |
krta |
4800 |
1,728,000 |
In Brahman cosmology, the universe is divided into four successive time periods, called yugas. These are repeated over and over again in cycles of time. The kali yuga, our present time, is the worst of all periods. Human life spans are shortest, wars and famine are common, morality and ethics are nearly lost. According to legend this period began a few thousand years ago with a battle in northwestern India. The krta yuga is the first, most perfect and longest period. After the krta yuga follow the treta and dvapara and kali yuga periods in ever degenerating human conditions.
Mandalas - are the foundation plans for a Brahman temple. The diagram is called a vastupurusamandal: vastu means "architecture"; purus means "Person" or the primordial, supreme principle, the cause and essence of existence; the mandala means "cosmic diagram".
Karana - There are 11 karana or lunar deities that preside over the lunar half-days in 1 month. One karana presides over the first half-day; the next 7 karana succeed each other in turn for 56 half-days. The last 3 karana - Sakuni, Naga, and Caturpada - preside over the last 3 half-days. The karana determine when it is best to carry out specific actions and what the results might be for actions performed on specific days.
Yama - the god of death and represents the king of the ancestors
Citragupta - records and widghts the karmic actions of the living so that they may be judged at death.
| Hindu God | Day of the Week | Planet Association | Symbolism |
| Surya | Sunday | Sun | |
| Candra | Monday | Moon | Water |
| Yama | Tuesday | Mars | War |
| Varuna | Wednesday | Mercury | Water, Rivers, Reservoirs, Bridges |
| Indra | Thursday | Jupiter | Thunder, Rain, Lightning |
| Kubera | Friday | Venus | Wealth, Treasure |
| Agni | Saturday | Saturn | Black, Death |