In the initial part of the Vedas there was no single Supreme Being, but a collection of Gods. One or another of these Gods, who represented the various forces of nature, was worshipped as supreme in turn. This is discussed in the article “From Polytheism to Monotheism”. Towards the end of the Vedic period monism evolved, in which the manifestation of the Supreme Being as the universe was central. This is discussed in the article “Polytheism, Monotheism and Monism”. This philosophy was developed in the Upanishads to its logical conclusions. It worked very well as a metaphysical enquiry but was not convincing on theological grounds.
If everything and everybody was equivalent, the how could the Supreme Being be superior? And if God is not superior to mortals then he is no God. Also if the universe functioned according to divine laws but without divine intervention, then the continued purpose of a Supreme Being became questionable. The Upanishads explained morality, sin, evil and suffering in terms that were beyond the understanding of the society at large. The need of the society was that that divine intervention was essential to punish evil and reward good and its perception of the Supreme Being necessarily had to be anthropomorphic.
Hence while the philosophy of the Upanishads was evolving there was a parallel development of thought at the purely religious level. This development reached its final form by the Epic period. The Supreme Being was the anthropomorphic trinity of Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. There can be no doubt that each of the trinity is a different manifestation of the One Supreme Being performing different functions. Brahma is associated with Creation, Vishnu with Preservation and Shiva with Destruction. The Creation and Destruction are cyclic and go on forever. The trinity is also perceived as three separate Supreme Gods, sometimes colluding and sometimes interfering in each other’s work. And despite the ideal of equality among the trinity, different sects perceived their favorite Supreme Being as superior. This perception of the Supreme Being appears contradictory if one follows a logical line of enquiry. However religion is not subject to reasoning but to experience and belief.
With the perception of the Supreme Being as the trinity of anthropomorphic Gods, the concepts of good and evil and morality and immorality took on more familiar meanings. The active Supreme Trinity would ensure that righteousness would prevail. This is epitomized in Verses 7 and 8 of Chapter 4 of the Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna tells Arjun that whenever Evil is widespread He will descend on earth to get rid of the wicked and reestablish righteousness.
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