Brahma — The Creator, First Emanation

Brahma is the first deva of the Trimurti, the fourfold-faced Prajapati who utters the cosmos into existence through Vac (sacred speech). The Aitareya Upanishad teaches that Brahman willed 'let me create the worlds,' and from that sankalpa Brahma emanated as the creative function of the Absolute. He holds the Vedas and sits upon the lotus sprung from Vishnu's navel — srshti (creation) personified, whose four faces look toward the four directions, encompassing the totality of manifested space.