Why did Shiva cut the fifth head of Brahma?

 Initially, Lord Brahma had 5 heads. But then, once, Lord Brahma was doing Veda Paaraayana. At that time, the fifth head, due to Srihari’s will only was doing the Veda Paaraayana in apasvara, or wrongly. Hearing this, Lord Shiva was angry, and he cut off the fifth head of Lord Brahma. But now, Lord Shiva incurred a Brahma Hatya Dosha because of that. And because of that, Lord Brahma’s head was stuck in Lord Shiva’s hand.

He tried to remove the head of Lord Brahma from His hand, but it wasn’t coming off. He tried a lot to remove His Brahma Hatya Dosha. He went in the 10 directions and preached the mahima of Srihari’s naama and its role in removing sins. He went to Yamuna, but the Yamuna water was dried up. He even went to Plakshadvipa, but it was invisible to Him. After that, Lord Shiva went to Pushkara Kshetra, and there too Pushkara refused to remove the Brahma Hatya Dosha.

He went to Alakananda-Ganga Sangama and dipped His hand in the water, and Brahma’s fifth head was detached from His hands. Even today, at this place, there is a place named Brahma Kapaala. Therefore, finally He went to Kurukshetra, where He saw Lord Vishnu in the form of Keshava. (Keshava roopa is one of the 24 forms of Lord Vishnu. For simple visualization of Lord Keshava, just bring Lord Vishnu in front of you. Swap the Shankha and Chakra positions; that is Keshava roopa of Lord Vishnu).

Then, Lord Mahadeva, on seeing Lord Keshava, was overjoyed and praised Him. Lord Keshava was pleased by Lord Mahadeva’s devotion and removed the Brahma Hatya Dosha. Even the Matsya Purana narrates a story about why Lord Shankara removed the fifth head of Lord Brahma. Once, when Lord Brahma had created Shataroopa Devi, He was attracted towards her. On seeing this, Lord Shiva was angry and cut off Brahma’s head and incurred Brahma Hatya Dosha.

But does this indicate that Lord Shiva is greater than Lord Brahma? No. As per SrimadBhagavatam, Lord Shiva was born from Lord Brahma’s forehead, and hence He is the son of Lord Brahma. This all happened because of Srihari’s will. Lord Shiva made Lord Brahma into Chaturmukha. And this is also one of the reasons why Lord Rama installed the Shivalinga, to remove the Brahma Hatya dosha of Lord Shiva.

Lord Rama hadn’t incurred any Brahma Hatya Dosha by killing Raavana. Because Ravana was a rakshasa. When a child is born, he/she gets the Maatrujaati. Ravana’s mother, Kaikasi, is a Rakshasi, though Ravana is the son of Sage Vishravas, who is a Brahmin. So, Ravana gets the Maatrujaati and hence is a rakshasa. So, he isn’t a Brahmin. And he was a lustful demon who lusted after women, which is the opposite of what Brahmins should do. Therefore, he wasn’t a Brahmin. And hence, Lord Ramachandra didn’t incur any Brahma Hatya Dosha for killing Ravana.

But did Lord Ramachandra install the Shivalinga after killing Ravana? So, the answer is no. Rama didn’t install the Shivalinga after killing Ravana, but before. Rama is Narayana, and even the Vedas say:

निष्कलङ्को निरञ्जनो निर्विकल्पो निराख्यातः शुद्धो देव एको नारायणः। न द्वितीयोऽस्ति कश्चित्॥
The one Supreme Lord is Narayana—completely flawless, untainted by material bonds, unchanging, indescribable, and eternally pure. There is absolutely no second to Him.
[Narayana Upanishad]

And Lord Rama is Lord Narayana Himself, and hence cannot incur any kind of Dosha. Krishna Himself says that He doesn’t have Karma Phala lepa. Lord Rama, being the Parabrahman, doesn’t need to worship Lord Shiva at all. It is because Lord Vishnu, in the Padma Purana, said,

अहमप्यवतारेषु त्वां च रुद्र महाबल ।
तामसानां मोहनार्थं पूजयामि युगे युगे ॥ ३५ ॥
O Rudra of immense strength! In My various incarnations, I too will offer worship to you, age after age, solely for the purpose of deluding those of a Tamasic disposition.
[Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda, Adhyaaya 235, Shloka 35]

अन्यं देहि वरं देव प्रसिद्धं सर्वजन्तुषु ।
मूर्तो भूत्वा भवानेव मामाराधय केशव ॥ ४२ ॥

मां वहस्व च देवेश वरं मत्तो गृहाण च ।
येनाहं सर्वदेवानां पूज्यात् पूज्यतरो भवे ॥ ४३ ॥

देवकार्यावतारेषु मानुषत्वमुपागतः ।
त्वामेवाराधयिष्यामि त्वं च मे वरदो भव ॥ ४४ ॥

(Lord Shiva says to Lord Vishnu): "O Lord, grant me another boon that will be famous among all living beings. O Keshava, assuming a manifest physical form, you yourself must worship me! Carry me as well, O Lord of the gods, and accept a boon from me—by which I may become even more worthy of honor than all other worshiped gods."

(Lord Vishnu replies): "Whenever I descend into human forms during my incarnations for the tasks of the gods, I will worship you alone, and you shall be the bestower of boons unto me."

[Varaha Purana, Adhyaaya 73, Rudra Geeta, Shlokas 42–44]

And this statement from the Kurma Purana is sufficient to say that the installation of Lord Shiva, before Lord Rama killed Ravana, was just the fulfillment of the boon provided by Him as Lord Vishnu, to Lord Shankara.

सेतुमध्ये महादेवमीशानं कृत्तिवाससम् ।
स्थापयामास लिङ्गं तत् पूजयामास राघवः ॥
तस्य देवो महादेवः स्थावरं वरमुत्तमम् ।
In the middle of the bridge, Mahadeva, Eeshaana, clad in (elephant) skin, was established as a linga that was worshiped by Raghava.

[Kurma Purana]

Thus, it wasn’t Lord Rama who incurred the Brahmahatya dosha. Rather, Lord Rama installed the Shivalinga to fulfill the boon given to Lord Shiva. But then, Lord Rama even did that to remove the Brahmahatya dosha that Lord Shiva had incurred by cutting Brahma’s 5th head. So, when Lord Rama installed the Shivalinga, it was facing towards the Rama Setu. The Shaastras say that doing darshan of Rama Setu removes even higher aparadhas like Brahma Hatya dosha because it is the setu where Lord Rama walked. So, by installing the Shivalinga, Lord Rama removed the Brahma Hatya dosha of Lord Shiva.

So, this was the reason why Lord Shiva cut the head of Lord Brahma and how He got freed from that dosha by the blessings of Lord Keshava/Lord Rama.

NOTE: Here, Lord Shiva incurring Brahma Hatya Dosha is a very rare incident. Because He is a devata shreshtha and Mahadeva, and is the Parama Bhakta of Lord Vishnu, He doesn’t perform any ill acts. But very rarely this happens with the devatas. Lord Shiva is the Jagadguru and is infinitely greater than Indra and other devatas. If that’s the case, we aren’t even a speck in front of Him.

When listing these incidents, some people tend to mock Lord Shiva, saying it was He who incurred Brahma Hatya dosha, but they must keep in mind how great Mahadeva is, because insulting Mahadeva is a great sin. Insulting Lord Shankara is not acceptable to Lord Vishnu, and insulting Lord Vishnu is not acceptable to Mahadeva, because Mahadeva is a Bhakta of Lord Vishnu; so a Bhakta cannot tolerate the insult of Bhagavan, and Bhagavan can’t tolerate the insult of a Bhakta.

Hope this helps!
Jay SriRam!
ShriShiva Antargata ShriBhaaratiRamana Mukhyaprana Antargata ShriJayaa Sankarshana Abhinna ShriLakshmiNarasimha Abhinna ShriKrishnarpanamastu!

What if the famous story of Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu was never really about deciding who was more powerful, but about discovering the limits of knowledge, ego, and the human mind?

 Yes, it is never about who is more powerful as these are the three names of divine cosmic energy or the Ultimate consciousness.

Human mind tries to compare, but the absolute truth is oneness (Advaita), and these are three forms of One Divine Reality known as Para Brahman which is eternally auspicious and is without beginning or end in its own bliss. It can also be understood as the pervasive energy which is everywhere and it is beyond time, space and imagination.

It is like the infinite sky. In fact, the oneness of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva can be best understood with the Om or Omkara (the Pranava) which is actually Aum.

A (Akaar)– Associated with Brahma, it is the seed, i.e., creation which is expressed out.

U (Ukaar)– Associated with Vishnu, it is the cosmic energy that carries/holds or preservers or sustains the creation.

M (Makaar)– Associated with Mahesh, it is the cosmic force that causes the dissolution of the creation back into the absolute oneness, so that recreation can happen, the seed can again be generated.

So the essence remains the non-duality of these three as one complete reality as they are inseparable fundamentally.

Cosmic play of Tridev (Brahmā Viṣṇu Śiva)

The story you are asking about is the story of Lingodbhava. Although the story Shiva centric but it's message is non-dual nature of Brahman. So it can very much be viewed with the non-sectarian lens.

According to the story, once Brahma visited Vishnu who was in his yoga nidra, the divine sleep. Since he was in a deep slumber, he didn't welcome Brahma.

Brahma then gets offended and wakes him up. Vishnu then asks him the reason behind anger to which Brahma claims that he is greater than Vishnu. In response, Vishnu denies it.

This leads to an argument between them. So in order to settle the conflict, Shiva appears there and takes up the form of the eternal pillar or the column or fire.

The fire pillar form of Shiva was very large and it led to their curosity to explore it. Shiva then asks Brahma and Vishnu to search the origin or end point of the pillar.

So Vishnu takes the form of Varaha (wild boar) and goes deep down to search the end point. While Brahma takes the form of a swan and goes upwards to find the origin of the pillar.

But after a long time, Vishnu comes out and accepts that the pillar was indeed without an end. Brahma on the other hand had a plan in his mind as he wanted to win the contest in any case, so he uses his divine powers to make the Ketaki flowers speak in favour of him. He then came out, declared the flowers as the witness and claimed that he has successfully found out the origin of the eternal, infinite pillar.

Since Shiva was aware about the lie, he disqualified Brahma and said that he won't be worshipped because he was deceitful while taking part in the competition. On the other hand, Shiva declared Vishnu as the winner and declared that he would be worshipped with great honour.

But Brahma’s fifth head out of arrogance said that he is better than Shiva and Vishnu.

So in order to remove that ignorance, Mahadeva manifested his divine anger because of which Bhairava emerged from his third eye 👁️.

Kaal Bhairava then cuts the fifth head of Brahma which represented ego. Vishnu then requests Shiva to forgive Brahma, then Brahma apologizes to Shiva.

Shiva forgives Brahma and blesses him by calling him as his dear. Shiva did the same with Ketaki flowers, he cursed the flower by stating that his worship will not include Ketaki flower but when the flower accepted its fault and apologized for the mistake, Shiva blessed it by saying that the flower would be definitely used for decoration.

Thus Bhagwan Shankar didn't punish Brahma, he enlightened him to be overcome his ego and understand the non-dual reality by becoming humble.

However, the human mind tries to create the difference by evaluating Shiva or Vishnu as the Supreme and Brahma as inferior or anyone as the Supreme and other two as inferior or if the story doesn't suit the reader, he/she might call it fake or something like that.

The message here itself is oneness but in a true sense. Doing comparison and claiming one as superior to others or downgrading others is wrong, the ultimate reality remains oneness. When Shiva in the form of Bhairava chopped Brahma’s head of ego, he did not attack a different entity from himself. Basically he did a lila, a cosmic play to teach the importance of truthfulness and humbleness.

Brahma in this case has to be considered as Shiva’s very own form in which he acted in a particular manner and so Shiva cuts off his head in order to show the side effects of growing arrogance within an individual.

Similarly, Shiva and Vishnu also are to be considered as one. Vishnu acknowledged the never ending ultimate truth, Shiva thus praised him for being truthful and showed that one can surely get the benefit for being righteous.

So the absolute truth (oneness) is about revering all as one Ultimate Reality rather than wasting time and energy in comparisons. Thus the bond of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva remains unbreakable as the three forms of One Ultimate Brahman.

In Hindu mythology, why was Brahma born from Vishnu's navel but not from Shankar’s navel?

 Yajna is called the navel of the universe and as per vedas , Vishnu is Yajna.

• ayaṃ yajño viśvasya bhuvanasya nābhiḥ
• “This sacrifice is the navel of the whole universe.”
• Ṛgveda 1.164.35
• सुपादर्धगर्भा भुवनस्य रेतो विष्णोस्तिष्ठन्ति प्रदिशा विधर्मणि ।
• ते धीतीभिर्मनसा ते विपश्चितः परिभुवः परि भवन्ति विश्वतः ॥ १७ ॥
• “The seven half-embryos, well established, are the generative principle of the universe associated with Viṣṇu; they stand throughout the regions according to their cosmic functions. Endowed with intelligence and mind, these all-encompassing powers pervade the universe in every direction.”
• Atharvaveda Śaunakīya 9.10.17
• भुवनस्य रेतो विष्णोः
• “the generative seed of the universe, belonging to Viṣṇu.”

So it makes sense

Did Brahma create Saraswati, or did she exist before creation?

 Goddess Saraswati existed before creation as well since she is no different from Adi Shakti, the Ultimate Power. Generally we associated Goddess Parvati with Adi Shakti the most, but Goddess Lakshmi and Saraswati are also the same, they aren't actually three but one just like God Brahma and God Vishnu are no different from Sadashiva in essence. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva being three forms of One Ultimate Consciousness.

So Maa Saraswati is indeed eternal and always existed.

She then manifested through Brahma in order to assist him in creation, that is why it is said that Brahma created Saraswati, but actually Saraswati is eternal and she manifested through him which makes it appear like that.

Jai Maa Saraswati 🙏

Why do Asuras (demons) always pray to Brahma or Shiva?

 The primary reason why Asuras pray to Brahma or Shiva is to gain power through the virtue of boons obtained by them. This is clear from many cases where Asuras did penance to Brahma/Shiva to obtain boons.

In Ramayana Ravana became invincible to gods and demons due to boon obtained from Brahma after performing penance of thousands of years. Even his sons Indrajit and Atikaya rose to power after praying to Brahma and obtaining boons. Tripura demons and Hirankashyap became a powerful being due to Brahma,’ s boon of virtually being indestructible by tormenting himself through austerities. Even asuras like Mahishasura and Hiranyaksh became powerful as a result of Brahma,’ s boon as per puranas.

When we come to Lord Shiva we see him granting boons to evil in Mahabharata. The likes of Jydratha and Jarasandha obtained boons from Shiva after worshipping him such that Jarasandha was able to defeat all the kings and Jyadratha managed to stop 4 Pandavas except Arjuna on 13th day.

Why didn't Lord Brahma take an active role in the Mahabharata like some other deities? Was there a reason behind his neutrality?

 Actually, if you see, it is a niyama for Lord Brahma that he cannot take an incarnation on earth like other devatas like Vayu, Shiva, Indra, etc. He is the creator, and hence He handles the creation from Satyaloka. If anything goes wrong, or if He wants to give instructions to the devotees, then He would either come Himself or send His representatives for it.

Plus, another reason is that Lord Brahma doesn’t eat Anivedita Maanushaanna (human-made food which is not offered to Bhagavan). That’s why He doesn’t incarnate on earth. This is evident from the Srinivasa Kalyana story wherein Lord Srinivasa assumes the form of a Koravanji (a female fortune teller) and goes to Dharanidevi to convince her to marry her daughter Padmavati to Srinivasa. At that time, Her basket was Lakshmidevi, her danda was Lord Shiva, and a baby was in Her hand. That baby was Lord Brahma. Dharanidevi brought ksheeraanna for that baby. That Koravanji fed the anna to that baby, who spat the anna.

Then, when that Koravanji ate some anna and then fed that baby, it ate with joy and was smiling. This story itself is evidence that Lord Brahma doesn’t eat Anivedita Maanushaanna. There are ample amounts of proofs in the Mahabharata itself that proves that Lord Brahma though didn’t incarnate on the earth, but gave instructions to the devotees or prevented something if something went wrong.

CHANDRA ABDUCTS TAARA
Once, Chandra had abducted Taara, the wife of Devaguru Brihaspatyacharya. At this, Brihaspatyacharya asked Chandra to return Taara to him, but Chandra refused. Then a war took place, wherein Brihaspatyacharya had the devatas led by Lord Shiva Himself. Whereas the Asuras were there to support Chandra. Lord Brahma came there and stopped the fight and instructed Chandra to return Taara to Brihaspatyacharya. At that time, Taara was pregnant. Brihaspatyacharya asked her to tell her whose son it was. At this, she wasn’t in a state to answer it openly. Even the baby born to her was angry at her and said, “Reveal the truth, or else I will curse you!” Lord Brahma rebuked the child and then called her and asked, “Whose son is it?” in a soft tone. At this, Taara said, “This is Chandra’s son”. This son was Budha, one of the Navagraha. From here the Chandravamsha story begins.

Actually, we must note that here Chandra had a temporary asuravesha (demonic possession) due to which he acted like this. If you see, the devatas commit such mistakes very rarely, and that too due to such demonic possessions. Otherwise, a person with ego and lust can never come to the devata padavi. Plus, another thing is, this Chandra’s punya had increased even beyond his competence. The Vedas call Bhagavan as Edhamaanadvit, which means “He decreases the punya which has been earned beyond a person’s competence, and makes it equal to the competence of that particular person.” That’s why, to bring Chandra’s excessive punya, Bhagavan made this happen. But Chandra is infinitely greater than us, and hence, we must respect him.

SARPA SATRA INCIDENT
After Parikshita was killed by Takshaka, his son Janamejaya was very much angry, and to wage a revenge against Takshaka, he did a Sarpa Satra/Yagya, wherein the ritviks or the purohits called the serpents by mantras and then gave them as aahuti in the sacrificial fire. All these serpents were actually cursed by their mother Kadru herself. Kadru was the wife of Sage Kashyapa. Garuda’s mother was Vinata. Kadru and Vinata had a competition from the beginning. During the Samudra mathana, the horse named Uchhaishravas came, and they both debated whether the horse was white or black. Thus, Kadru opined that the horse was black, whereas Vinata said it was white. They had a bet that if any of them lost, the loser would become the maid of the winner. So, Kadru, to prove her point, asked her sons - the serpents to cover the horse so that it seemed black, and she would win. But the serpents refused to do so, as it was incorrect. Seeing the sheer disobedience of her children towards her, she cursed them to be burnt in fire and died.

Plus, these serpents were those serpents which troubled others and were evil; that’s why their death was preplanned. But then this Sarpa Satra was for the whole serpent community. So, Vasuki and all serpents went to Brahma. Lord Brahma said, “You have a sister named Jaratkaaru. She should marry a man with the name Jaratkaaru, and from Jaratkaaru and Jaratkaaru, a brahmana will be born named Astika who will stop the Sarpa Yagya.” The same happened. Astika was born. Astika went to the Yagya praised Janamejaya and his yagya, and then, as Takshaka was falling by the mantra shakti of the ritviks/purohits, Astika just said, ‘STOP!’ and Takshaka stopped there itself in the air. Janamejaya had promised Astika that he would fulfill his wishes. So, in that, Astika asked for a boon to stop the Sarpa Yagya immediately, to which Janamejaya had to stop the Sarpa Yagya.

LORD BRAHMA SENDS SAGE NARADA TO THE PANDAVAS
This is mentioned in the Mahabharata that after the Pandavas married Draupadi, Lord Brahma sent Sage Narada to give some instructions to the Pandavas. Sage Narada came and met Yudhishthira, who welcomed him and worshipped him. Now, Sage Narada said to Yudhishthira, “Since you all 5 brothers have married Draupadi, your condition should not be like Sunda and Upasunda. That’s why Lord Brahma sent me to you with a few instructions.” At this Yudhishthira asked, “Who are these Sunda and Upasunda?” At this Sage Naarada said, “Long ago, there were two demons by the name Sunda and Upasunda. They were born in the lineage of Hiranyakashyapu. They had done a very fierce penance-cum-sacrifice, to please Lord Brahma, wherein they gave aahuti of their flesh in the sacrificial fire. Lord Brahma finally appeared and asked them to ask for a boon. They asked for immortality, which Lord Brahma refused but offered to give a boon of winning the three worlds, at which they agreed, and Lord Brahma too said, ‘So be it.’

Thus, Sunda and Upasunda both captured and ruled the three worlds. The devatas, unable to defeat them, went to Lord Brahma and prayed to him. Lord Brahma said, “We don’t need anything special to kill them. Their lust itself will kill them.” Saying thus, he called Vishvakarma and asked him to gather all the beauty from nature and take portions equal to a sesame seed (tila) and make an extremely beautiful girl. Vishvakarma made a girl, and she was known as Tilottama. Tilottama was so beautiful that the devatas were captured by her beauty. Lord Shiva and Lord Indra controlled themselves from seeing Tilottama. Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu were unaffected by her beauty. Tilottama went to Sunda and Upasunda. Both were captivated by her beauty. Sunda, the elder brother, held her hand. Similarly, Upasunda too held her hand. Sunda, at this, said, “Hey, she is my wife and hence is a mother like you. Don’t touch her like that.” Upasunda too said, “Hey, she is my wife and hence is like your daughter. Don’t touch her like that.” Thus, both of them fought with each other and killed each other. So, Lord Brahma wishes that your case should not be like that of Sunda and Upasunda. Lord Brahma has instructed you all that each brother has to stay with Draupadi for a year. Like Yudhishthira will stay with Draupadi for a year, then Bheemasena will stay with Draupadi for a year, and so on.

CURSE TO VARUNA AND GANGA
Once, Brahmadeva was sitting near the Ganga-Samudra Sangama, when a drop of water fell on Him. Actually, internally Ganga and Varuna (Samudraraaja) were doing kreeda. Note that Varuna and Ganga are husband-wife. At this, Lord Brahma was angered because in front of an elder they were doing such behaviour, and thus He cursed Varuna to be born as a human on earth. Plus, again once, in the devata sabha led by Lord Brahma, Ganga was coming down. Due to the fast wind blowing, her upper cloth flew away, and hence the devatas bent their heads, including Lord Brahma. But Varuna saw Ganga like that only. Thus, Lord Brahma was angry again, and He cursed Varuna to be born as a human on the earth. Thus, Varuna was born as Shantanu.

CURSE TO THE VASUS
Sage Vasistha had cursed the ashtavasus for stealing his cow named Nandini. But within Sage Vasistha, Lord Brahma was present, and He cursed the Vasus to be born as humans on earth, because Sage Vasistha solely doesn’t have the power to curse the Vasus. Thus, these Vasus were born as the sons of Ganga and Shantanu, and the Dyu naamaka Vasu was Bhishma Pitamaha.

These were some of the incidents where Lord Brahma played His role in the Mahabharata, for the continuation of the story. Hope this helps!
Jay SriRam!
ShriKrishnarpanamastu!

Why is Brahma not worshipped as a primary deity?

 Basically in spirituality, we do believe that God is omnipresent and within us. God is present in us as Tatva.

We have different forms of the Ultimate Power, which also represent different states within us. For example, when Shiva Tatva is active within us we are quite detached, peaceful, compassionate and stable. Bhairava Tatva is about fearless nature, then Shakti Tatva which keeps passionate and active. Similarly Vishnu Tatva which focus on purity, calmness etc. Then there is Indra Tatva which makes us ambitious, the ones who want luxurious life and are materialistic have Indra Tatva active within themselves.

So when it comes to Brahma Tatva, it is active in each and every individual by birth, Brahma is the creator of the material world, so we are automatically his manifestations, we are by default in the state of Brahma and so we don’t have to worship ourselves or our current version, we need upgrade, upliftment. Therefore we do not worship Brahma as primary deity, we worship the Param Tatva which is Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti etc. in order to become one with that Parbrahm Param Shakti, we are already one with Brahma being his design, but aim is to go above this layer of Maya which separates us from the Ultimate source. Brahma won’t grant moksha, only Shiva/Vishnu/Shakti can grant liberation.

So we are already the reflection of Brahma himself.

Now coming to the Puranic texts that exactly mention why Brahma is not worshipped, these events in Puranas are not random stories but they do highlight different aspects of life.

So once Brahma had an argument with Bhagwan Vishnu since he believed that he is Supreme, however Vishnu knew that Brahma had actually manifested from his navel. Later, Vedas too declared Bhagwan Shiva as the Ultimate. But Brahma refused to accept it, in order to bring a solution, Shiva asked Brahma and Vishnu to enter his body, he took the form of a pillar.. The one who would find the origin or end point of the pillar would be declared the winner. Vishnu took the form of boar and went downwards to find end point while Brahma took the form of a swan and went upwards to find origin.

While Vishnu accepted that the pillar is infinite, Brahma used his powers to make the Ketaki flower speak in favour of him, expecting that he is the winner and Vishnu has lost.

Then Shankar Bhagwan appears from the fire pillar, praising Vishnu Bhagwan for his honesty despite participating in the compition and declared that he will be worshipped everywhere. However, Shiva then cursed Brahma for lying about finding the origin point.

From the wrath of Shiva, from his the middle of his brows appeared a fierce deity, known as Bhairava who is none other than Shiva himself but because of maya he appears differently.

Kaal Bhairava chopped off Brahma’s fifth head which represented the ego, arrogance and other negative traits, by this he enlightened Brahma. However, this also meant that he won't worshipped as the primary deity, he can be worshipped along with Shiva, Vishnu etc. but not as primary deity.

After helping Brahma to overcome his ego (that act wasn't for punishing or humiliating), Shiva forgave Brahma on the request of Vishnu (who again is not different from Shiva.. Mahadev and Hari are one).

This was Lila (divine act) to teach us a lesson that we create our own illusions and because of that we have ego and other traits. Also, being truthful is important even if you lose, don't cheat, never do that to win.

Hence, we don't worship Brahma, with whom we already are one. However, it is not a sin if worship Brahma, it’s not like Shiva would get angry if we worship Brahma, but there won't be a requirement to adore the existing version of ourselves, Brahma represents the entire creation, but for upliftment, we worship the higher state of consciousness. However, Brahma being the creative aspect of the Ultimate, he is an integral part of Trinity, hence very significant in Sanatan Dharma. He is the first Brahmin, the best devotee form of God, the greatest when it comes to reciting Vedic mantras or glorifying the other primary forms of God.

Jai Brahma 🙏Jai Vishnu 🙏Jai Mahesh🙏

Why did Shiva cut Brahma's head?

 According to our Puranic texts, Brahma Dev had 5 heads out of which 4 would sing Vedic mantras and all the positive traits were associated with those 4 heads. But the 5th head was the head of ego, ignorance.

Because of that head of ego, Brahma challenged Bhagwan Vishnu stating that he is superior than him and Bhagwan Shiva. This led to a competition between Brahma and Vishnu, both of them had entered the body of Shiva who had taken the form of a pillar. The condition of victory was that the one who finds either the start or the end of the pillar would win. Vishnu after searching the end point, came out and accepted that the infinite cannot have an end. However, Brahma in order to win the competition lied that he had found out the starting point of the pillar. Shiva then cursed Brahma for lying, saying that Brahma would not be worshipped as the primary deity despite becoming the creator of the material world. But because of the fifth head which represented the ego & ignorance, the words of Brahma’s head came out of arrogance and he insulted Shiva. Blinded by the ego, Brahma forgot that Shiva is unborn and Brahma himself had emerged from Vishnu’s navel, despite being a manifestation of Vishnu.. because of maya (illusion), Brahma declares himself superior to Vishnu and Shiva.

In order to destroy the negativity within Brahma, from the wrath of Shiva appeared a terrifying fierce form of Shiva which was called Kaal Bhairava.

Kaal Bhairava chopped off the 5th head of Brahma just by the nail of the small finger of his left arm. This was to enlighten Brahma, helping him to identify his real self. Brahma is the first and foremost Brahmin who gave all the knowledge. This act of Bhairava cutting the fifth head of Brahma was identified as Brahma hatya, it’s a sin though it was a divine act. Although Bhairava (Shiva) is Almighty, he doesn't need to do any penance for anything, but to give a message that the laws of nature are to be followed, Bhairava roams with Brahma’s skull around the world, that skull gets attached to his hand. He roams and asks the question to everyone but no one could answer, finally he goes to Vaikuntha. Vishnu being the purest, quickly identifies that it was only the leela of Shiva and he asks Bhairava to visit Kashi, the city created by Shiva himself which liberation to everyone. Finally after reaching Kashi, the skull of Brahma gets detached from Bhairava’s hand and falls in a place called Kapal mochan.

So here the message is that it's our ego which makes us blind. Bhairava removes that and makes us aware about the reality. Brahma lied because of ego and got his head chopped off, we as Jeevas are the reflection of Brahma, having both positive as well negative traits. Bhairava removes that negativity within us. Brahma’s skull represents the entire Universe because Brahma is the creator of the Universe, but even higher than the Universe is the destroyer Bhairava who is holding the Universe, Vishnu the operator understands it completely.

So when Shiva asks Bhairava (his own form just different for leela purpose) to roam with the skull, going everywhere, it was Vishnu who was able to give the answer that only Kashi can free him from the sin, it is because he was completely free from ego, he is Achyuta, the infallible since ego cannot touch him. Understanding the leela of Shiva, Vishnu gave the right answer which means that when we will be free from our ahankar, that is when we can see the reality as it is.

This was the Hari Har Leela, here Brahma became the medium in order to give us this message through the divine act.

ॐ नमः शिवाय 🙏 ॐ नमो नारायण 🙏