Saguna Brahman and Nirguna Brahman

 Nirguna Brahman is the concept that God has no shape or form. This makes Brahman difficult for humans to understand, so Hindus use different ways to represent Brahman, such as the OM/AUM symbol. The aum or om symbol represents the sound that was present when the world was created.

Saguna Brahman

Another way in which Brahman can be understood is Saguna Brahman. Saguna Brahman, is the idea that Brahman has form and can be understood through images. These images are manifestations of God.

The depictions each show a different manifestation of Brahman, where Brahman appears in human or animal form. This means that Hindus can understand Brahman through the thousands of different  in Hinduism and their qualities or attributes.

For example, by looking at an image of the god Shiva, Hindus can understand part of Brahman through seeing his qualities. Shiva is often depicted holding a trident (a three-pronged spear), which symbolises the destructive element of Brahman.