Four Kumaras
Encyclopedia
Brahma
Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
from the Puranic texts of Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
named Sanaka, Sanatana
Sanatana
Sanatana was one of the Four Kumaras or Catursana, the manasputras of Brahma from the Puranic texts of Hinduism, like the Bhagavata Purana others being Sanaka, Sanandana and Sanatkumara....
, Sanandana and Sanatkumara
Sanatkumara
Sage Sanatkumara was one of the Four Kumaras, the four Manasputras or spiritual sons of Brahma according to Puranic texts of Hinduism, including the Bhagavata Purana, whose other sons were Sanaka, Sanatana, and Sanandana . Sanatkumara in Sanskrit means "eternal youth"....
.
Born from Brahma's mind, the four sons are described as great sages
Rishi
Rishi denotes the composers of Vedic hymns. However, according to post-Vedic tradition, the rishi is a "seer" to whom the Vedas were "originally revealed" through states of higher consciousness. The rishis were prominent when Vedic Hinduism took shape, as far back as some three thousand years...
who undertook lifelong vows of celibacy (brahmacharya
Brahmacharya
Brahmacharya is one of the four stages of life in an age-based social system as laid out in the Manu Smrti and later Classical Sanskrit texts in Hinduism. It refers to an educational period of 14–20 years which starts before the age of puberty. During this time the traditional vedic sciences are...
) against the wishes of their father.
The Bhagavata Purana
Bhagavata purana
The Bhāgavata Purāṇa is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hindu literature, with its primary focus on bhakti to the incarnations of Vishnu, particularly Krishna...
lists the Kumaras among the twelve Mahajanas (great devotees or bhaktas
Bhakti
In Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either...
) who although being eternally liberated souls
Jiva
In Hinduism and Jainism, a jiva is a living being, or more specifically, the immortal essence of a living organism which survives physical death. It has a very similar usage to atma, but whereas atma refers to "the cosmic self", jiva is used to denote an individual 'living entity' or 'living...
from birth, still became attracted to the devotional service of Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
from their already enlightened state. Despite being very senior in age the Four Kumaras are said to wander the universe in the forms of small children . They play a significant role in a number Hindu spiritual traditions, especially those associated with the worship of Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
and Vishnu.
Nimbarka Sampradaya
Four kumaras are the acharya in parampara of nimbarka sampradaya of vaishnavismVaishnavism
Vaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu, or his associated Avatars such as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God....
.Also called as Chatuh Sana Sampradaya
External links
- Prithu Maharaja's Meeting with the Four Kumaras (vedabase.net)
- The Four Kumaras (dharmakshetra.com)