The Meeting of Divine Messenger and Grieving Sage
In the vast tapestry of the Ramayana, countless episodes illuminate profound spiritual truths. During his heroic search for Sita, Hanuman encountered Sage Kandu, a learned soul whose grief had transformed him. The untimely death of his sixteen-year-old son had filled the sage's heart with such anguish and anger toward the divine order that his emotions manifested as a vast desert around his dwelling—a powerful metaphor for how sorrow can create barrenness in our lives.
This encounter became the setting for one of the most enlightening discourses on the nature of the Supreme Consciousness and its manifestation as the Trimurti—the three primary aspects of the divine.
Understanding the Question of Form and Formlessness
Sage Kandu posed a question that has echoed through millennia of Hindu philosophical inquiry: If the Supreme Consciousness is truly formless, infinite, without beginning or end, why does it take the forms of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva? This fundamental question touches the heart of Hindu spiritual understanding—the relationship between the absolute Brahman and its manifestations in the phenomenal world.
Hanuman, the embodiment of devotion and wisdom, offered an explanation that bridges abstract philosophy with lived experience, revealing how the Trimurti represents not just cosmic functions but the very structure of our temporal existence.
Brahma: The Architect of Our Present Self
Hanuman explained that Brahma represents the past dimension of time—the realm where creation has already occurred. This is not merely cosmological creation but deeply personal. We are, at every moment, the sum total of our past choices, actions, and experiences. Every decision we have made, every word we have spoken, every thought we have nurtured has shaped who we are today.
The Bhagavad Gita reminds us of this principle when Krishna declares: "As a person sheds worn-out garments and wears new ones, likewise, at the time of death, the soul casts off its worn-out body and enters a new one" (Bhagavad Gita 2.22). Our past karma becomes the foundation upon which our present existence stands.
Brahma as the Creator thus symbolizes this immutable truth: we cannot change what has been done. The past is fixed, carved in stone. Our previous actions have created the person reading these words right now. This understanding brings both accountability and liberation—accountability for our choices and liberation from the futile exercise of dwelling in regret.
Vishnu: The Eternal Now
Vishnu represents the present moment—the only dimension of time that truly exists. Hanuman emphasized that the present is where consciousness actually dwells, where life is actually lived. The past is memory; the future is imagination. Only the present is real, tangible, and accessible to our direct experience.
This is why throughout Hindu scriptures and teachings, devotees are encouraged to focus their minds on Vishnu. The Vishnu Sahasranama and countless devotional practices center on Vishnu not because one form is superior to another, but because Vishnu embodies the present—the only time when we can act, choose, love, serve, and experience the divine.
In the present moment, represented by Vishnu as the Preserver, we encounter prakriti—the manifest world. We see, hear, touch, taste, and smell reality only in the now. Every spiritual practice, from meditation to selfless service, can only be performed in the present. The wise who advise us to fix our consciousness on Vishnu are teaching us the profound discipline of presence.
Shiva: The Transformer of Moments
The future belongs to Shiva, the Transformer or Destroyer. But this destruction is not nihilistic; it is the continuous transformation of one moment into the next. Shiva represents the dynamic flux of existence, the constant becoming that characterizes reality.
Each present moment, preserved by Vishnu, must inevitably transform and give way to the next. This is Shiva's cosmic dance—the Tandava—where every moment dies to be reborn as the next. We are continuously being reborn, not just across lifetimes but from moment to moment. The person you were a second ago has already been transformed by Shiva into the person you are now.
This transformation is neither good nor bad; it is the essential nature of time itself. Shiva's role reminds us that clinging to any moment, any circumstance, or any identity is futile. Change is not an aberration but the fundamental law of existence.
The Unity of Mahakala
Hanuman's teaching reveals that the division of the Supreme Consciousness—Mahakala, the Great Time—into three aspects is not arbitrary but represents the three dimensions through which we experience existence. As the Mandukya Upanishad explores states of consciousness, the Trimurti explores states of time.
We are all functions of time and space, purusha and prakriti. The unchanging consciousness (purusha) experiences itself through the changing material reality (prakriti) across the three dimensions of time. The ancient seers divided this experience into Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva to help us understand our relationship with time and eternity.
Modern Relevance and Psychological Wisdom
In our contemporary world, plagued by anxiety about the future and depression about the past, Hanuman's teaching offers profound therapeutic wisdom. Psychology increasingly recognizes the importance of present-moment awareness—what modern mindfulness practices teach was embedded in Hindu philosophy millennia ago.
When we worry about the future, we are lost in Shiva's realm—a domain that doesn't yet exist. When we ruminate on past mistakes or lost opportunities, we are trapped in Brahma's creation—a realm we cannot change. The path to peace lies in Vishnu's domain—the present moment where life actually unfolds.
This understanding doesn't mean we ignore planning or learning from experience. Rather, it means we plan in the present, learn in the present, and act in the present while accepting that the past cannot be altered and the future remains uncertain.
Life Lessons from the Trimurti Teaching
The conversation between Hanuman and Sage Kandu offers several practical insights. First, no divine form is superior to another—they are aspects of the same reality. This promotes religious harmony and understanding that different paths and practices serve the same ultimate truth.
Second, living in the present doesn't mean being careless or spontaneous without wisdom. It means bringing full consciousness to each moment, making choices with awareness, and accepting that this moment is the only canvas on which we can paint our lives.
Third, transformation is inevitable. Resisting change is like fighting against Shiva himself. Instead, we can learn to flow with transformation, understanding that each ending is a new beginning, each death a rebirth.
The Desert and the Heart
The story's setting itself carries meaning. Sage Kandu's grief had created a desert—barren, hostile to life, expansive in its emptiness. This is what happens when we cannot accept the transformations that Shiva brings, when we rage against the past that Brahma has created, when we cannot find peace in Vishnu's present.
Hanuman's teaching offered the sage a way to transform his inner desert back into fertile ground. By understanding the nature of time and divine manifestation, Kandu could release his anger and accept his son's death as part of the great cosmic dance—painful, yet not meaningless.
Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva as Aspects of Time
Hanuman's exposition on the Trimurti remains one of the most accessible and practical explanations of this profound concept. By framing Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva as aspects of time rather than merely cosmic functions, he made abstract philosophy immediately relevant to human experience.
We carry the Trimurti within us—our past shapes us, our present defines us, and our future transforms us. Understanding this helps us navigate life with greater wisdom, accepting what cannot be changed, engaging fully with what is, and remaining open to what will be. This is the path to living not just in time but beyond it, experiencing the eternal in every fleeting moment.