# Is the Trinity Like the Hindu Trimurti? > A Vishnu Purana prayer bows to one who creates, maintains, and destroys. The Trinity is one God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. - Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/hinduism/is-the-trinity-like-the-trimurti - Religions: Hinduism - Denominations: none - Beliefs: none - Tags: hinduism, trinity, gods - Updated: 2026-10-14 - Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) ([GitHub](https://github.com/hi-its-paul)) The Trimurti is a Hindu way of naming creation, maintenance, and destruction together, often as Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. A prayer in the Vishnu Purana bows to one Vishnu who does all three, under more than one name. The Trinity is the Christian confession that the one God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and that the Son is Jesus, who became flesh, died, and rose. Jesus is God. The two are not the same teaching under two labels. [How Many Gods Are in Hinduism?](/hinduism/hindu-gods) is the Hindu side of the names. [The Trinity](/christianity/the-trinity) is the Christian confession. ## Key Points - The [Vishnu Purana, in Dutt’s English](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/66208/pg66208-images.html) [(1)](#ref-1), has Parāçara bow to Hiranyagarbha, to Hara and Sankara, and to Vasudeva, “even him who bringeth about creation, maintenance and destruction to everything.” - The same prayer calls Vishnu the cause of final salvation and the cause of the creation, sustenance, and extinction of everything. - [How Many Gods Are in Hinduism?](/hinduism/hindu-gods) quotes Swami Paramananda: Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva are names and forms, and no one of them fully represents the Whole. That sentence is his commentary, not this Purana prayer. - [Deuteronomy 6:4](/bible/deuteronomy/6/4) [(4)](#ref-4) says the LORD our God is one LORD. [Isaiah 43:10](/bible/isaiah/43/10) [(2)](#ref-2) says before him no God was formed, and after him there will be none. - [Matthew 28:19](/bible/matthew/28/19) [(3)](#ref-3) names “the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” as one name in baptism. - Christians do not confess three gods who divide creating, preserving, and destroying. They confess one God. The Son is the man Jesus. ## What Is the Trimurti? Readers use Trimurti for the three, and “Hindu trinity” for the same trio. In the Vishnu Purana the prayer does not use the English word trinity. It gathers the work into Vishnu and still bows under several names. Paramananda’s commentary, quoted on [How Many Gods Are in Hinduism?](/hinduism/hindu-gods), uses “Hindu Trinity” for Brahma as a person and then says Brahman is the Absolute. This page stays with the Purana’s own prayer. [What Do Hindus Believe?](/hinduism/what-do-hindus-believe) is the wider shelf. ## Who Are the Three of the Trimurti? Parāçara’s prayer, in Manmatha Nath Dutt’s translation of the Vishnu Purana, says: > I bow unto Hiranyagarbha, unto Hara and Sankara, unto Vasudeva the saviour, even him who bringeth about creation, maintenance and destruction to everything. The next lines of that prayer bow to one who is uniform and yet has a multiplicity of forms, and then to Vishnu as the supreme Soul, “the fundamental cause of the creation, sustenance and extinction of everything.” Hiranyagarbha, Hara and Sankara, and Vasudeva are the names in the sentence. Later Hindu teaching pairs those offices with Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer. Paramananda’s commentary on the Kena Upanishad, already on the gods page, uses Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva for that trio. The Purana prayer’s own claim is that one figure brings about all three works. That is a real concession. The text does not leave creation, maintenance, and destruction as three unrelated gods with no unity. It bows to Vishnu as the cause of all three, and it uses more than one name while it does so. ## What the Trinity Confesses [Deuteronomy 6:4](/bible/deuteronomy/6/4) [(4)](#ref-4) says, “The LORD our God is one LORD.” [Isaiah 43:10](/bible/isaiah/43/10) [(2)](#ref-2) says, “before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.” [Matthew 28:19](/bible/matthew/28/19) [(3)](#ref-3) sends the disciples to baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” One name. Three who bear it. The Son is Jesus. [John 1:1](/bible/john/1/1) says the Word was God. [John 1:14](/bible/john/1/14) says the Word was made flesh. The Christian confession is not that God takes the office of creator, then of preserver, then of destroyer, under three divine names. It is that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the one God, and that the Son alone became the man who was crucified and raised. [The Trinity](/christianity/the-trinity), [What Is the Deity of Christ?](/christianity/deity-of-christ), and [Is Jesus God?](/christianity/is-jesus-god) are those pages. A Latter-day Saint page uses three beings, one in purpose. That is a third teaching, not this Purana and not the Nicene confession. [Do Mormons Believe in the Trinity?](/latter-day-saints/the-godhead-in-latter-day-saint-teaching) ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Is the Hindu Trinity the Christian Trinity? Paramananda’s phrase “Hindu Trinity” is discussed on [How Many Gods Are in Hinduism?](/hinduism/hindu-gods). The Purana prayer above unites creation, maintenance, and destruction in Vishnu. The Christian Trinity is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God, and the Son is Jesus. The offices do not match the persons. ### Can a Hindu Pray to Jesus? [John 6:35](/bible/john/6/35) is Jesus saying, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger.” The Purana prayer bows to Vishnu, named also as Hiranyagarbha, Hara, Sankara, and Vasudeva. Those are two addresses. This page does not rewrite either text. ### Is Jesus the Son of Krishna? The Gospels call God the Father of Jesus. [John 10:30](/bible/john/10/30) says, “I and my Father are one.” They do not call Krishna his father, and this Purana prayer does not call Vasudeva the father of Jesus. ### Which God Is Jesus’ Father? [Matthew 28:19](/bible/matthew/28/19) [(3)](#ref-3) names the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The Father in that line is the Father of Jesus. [John 20:17](/bible/john/20/17) has Jesus say, “my Father, and your Father.” The Purana’s trio is not that sentence. ### Did Jesus Meet Krishna? The Gospels do not record a meeting with Krishna. The Purana prayer quoted here does not record one either. [Did Jesus Really Exist?](/christianity/did-jesus-exist) is the historical question about Jesus. ## Keep Reading - [How Many Gods Are in Hinduism?](/hinduism/hindu-gods) - [What Do Hindus Believe?](/hinduism/what-do-hindus-believe) - [The Trinity](/christianity/the-trinity) - [Is Jesus God?](/christianity/is-jesus-god) ## Passages Quoted on This Page ### Deuteronomy 6:4 King James Version. > Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: ### Isaiah 43:10 King James Version. > Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. ### Matthew 28:19 King James Version. > Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: ### John 1:1 King James Version. > In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ### John 1:14 King James Version. > And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. ### John 6:35 King James Version. > And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. ### John 20:17 King James Version. > Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. ## Sources Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site. 1. [Vishnu Purana, Parāçara’s prayer, Book I](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/66208/pg66208-images.html) (English prose by Manmatha Nath Dutt, drawing on H. H. Wilson. Project Gutenberg ebook 66208. Public domain in the United States. The prayer names Hiranyagarbha, Hara and Sankara, and Vasudeva, and creation, maintenance, and destruction.) 2. [Book of Isaiah, 43:10](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/isaiah/43/10). King James Version 3. [Gospel of Matthew, 28:19](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/matthew/28/19). King James Version 4. [Book of Deuteronomy, 6:4](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/deuteronomy/6/4). King James Version ## See Also - [How Many Gods Are in Hinduism?](https://apologetics.wiki/hinduism/hindu-gods) — Swami Paramananda distinguishes Brahman, the One without a second, from Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, and says no one of those names fully represents the Whole. - [What Do Hindus Believe?](https://apologetics.wiki/hinduism/what-do-hindus-believe) — The Bhagavad Gita, in Edwin Arnold’s translation, has Krishna say he is unborn and that he takes visible shape from age to age. Christians confess one God, and that Jesus is God. - [Are Mormons Christians?](https://apologetics.wiki/latter-day-saints/are-mormons-christians) — Latter-day Saints worship Jesus Christ and use his name. Their teaching of God, of Jesus, and of salvation is not the Nicene confession, so they are not a denomination inside Trinitarian Christianity. - [Can God Have a Son?](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/can-god-have-a-son) — The Qur'an condemns the claim that God has taken a son, especially a son by a consort. Christians deny that picture and still confess the eternal Son. - [Do Mormons Believe in the Trinity?](https://apologetics.wiki/latter-day-saints/the-godhead-in-latter-day-saint-teaching) — No. Latter-day Saints teach that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are three separate beings, one in purpose. That is not the Nicene confession of one God in three persons.