Rama or Brahma is the name that the idolaters of the Indian subcontinent give to the principle of the three gods of the first order, who are the object of their cult; the other two are Vishnu and Shiva. See these articles. The primitive religion of Indians allowed for only one god. It appears in the book called Vedas , which contains their law and their theology, that the Supreme Being created Rama or Brahma ; despite that their religion being corrupted and having degenerated in idolatry, the Brahmins or priests substituted a large number of absurd divinities for the one god of the universe whom the Indians adored in the most remote time. Such was the source of the fortune of Brahma, from a creature he became a god. The different sects of the Indian subcontinent’s idolaters attribute preposterous origins to this god. Some believe that he was created first and that he should be preferred to Vishnu and to Shiva; others, on the contrary, give preference to one of the latter. Regardless of these important disputes, it is said that the Almighty after having created Brahma gave him the power to create the universe and all of the beings therein; as a result, he created different worlds and men; he relied on ministers or subaltern gods to pay attention to small-scale creations, such as the plants, grasses, etc. The Malabar on the other hand, claim that the ability to create was given to him by Vishnu, although others claim that the latter had in his department only the task of ensuring the conservation of beings created by Rama or Brahma . As for the Brahmins, or priests, who claim to take their origin from Brahma , they support his primacy and say that the Almighty gave him the power to create and to govern the universe. They add that God, similar to a great king, scorns at the act of meddling in the affairs of the world, which he has governed by ministers. The role of Brahma is, according to them, to fix good and bad fortune, throughout the duration of life; in short, all the events that occur in the eight worlds. In order to relieve him, one gives him a great number of inferior delegates and a prime minister who presides over them. Following the fictions of Brahmins, the god Brahma was created with five heads, but he now has only four because Vishnu, according to some, and Shiva or Issuren [name of Malabar origin], according to others, cut off one of these heads. According to the Brahma cultists, this god resides in Brahmaloka which is the eighth sky—meaning, the closest to the one where the supreme God resides. Brahma , according to them, is subject to death, and some even claim he dies and resurrects every year. He is said to have two wives: the first is Sarasvati, who is his own daughter; the second’s name is Gayatri. By the first, he had a son named Daksha ; he had another by her who was made by the blood that flowed from his decapitated head, he is called Sagatrakaveshen . He has 500 heads and 1,000 arms. Brahma had again another son named Kapila, who was the father of good and evil angels. Although according to the Vedas , or book of the law, Brahma was created first. There is a sect of Banians who deny him divine honors, the second of the heavenly triumvirate. See Vishnu.