TRIMURTI

Maurice Winternitz notes that there are very few places in Indian literature where the Trimurti is mentioned.The identification of Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma as one being is strongly emphasized in the Kūrma Purāṇa, where in 1.6 Brahman is worshipped as Trimurti; 1.9 especially inculcates the unity of the three gods, and 1.26 relates to the same theme.

Historian A. L. Basham explains the background of the trimurti as follows, noting Western interest in the idea of trinity:

Early western students of Hinduism were impressed by the parallel between the Hindu trinity and that of Christianity. In fact the parallel is not very close, and the Hindu trinity, unlike the Holy Trinity of Christianity, never really "caught on". All Hindu trinitarianism tended to favor one god of the three; thus, from the context it is clear that Kālidāsa's hymn to the Trimūrti is really addressed to Brahmā, here looked on as the high god. TheTrimūrti was in fact an artificial growth, and had little real influence.

Freda Matchett characterizes the Trimurti system as one of "several frameworks into which various divine figures can be fitted at different levels."

The concept of trimurthi is also present in the Maitri Upanishad, where the three gods are explained as three of his supreme forms.