While Hinduism may lay claim to millions of gods, in actual practice there are certain favorite gods that have become the focal point for various sects within Hinduism. Three of the most prominent gods are included in what Hindus call Trimurti, a trinity, or triad of gods. The triad consists of Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Siva the Destroyer, and each has at least one wife or consort. Brahma is wedded to Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge. Vishnu’s wife is Lakshmi, while Siva’s first wife was Sati, who committed suicide. She was the first woman to enter sacrificial fire, and thus she became the first suttee. Following her mythological example, thousands of Hindu widows over the centuries have sacrificed themselves on their husband’s funeral pyre, although this practice is now illegal. Siva also has another wife known by several names and titles. In her benign form, she is Parvati and Uma, as well as Gauri, the Golden One. As Durga or Kali, she is a terrifying goddess. Professor E. Washburn Hopkins said of the trinities of Hinduism, Buddhism and Christendom: “The three trinities as religious expressions are identical. . . . One may say: I believe in God as godhead, and in the divine incarnation, and in the creative Holy Spirit, as a Christian, a Vishnuite, or a Buddhist.” However, the trinity is just one example of many doctrines and practices, found both in Christendom and in the Oriental religions, and which originated in the “mysteries” of Babylon. Cardinal Newman, a spokesman for the Catholic religion, supports this view in his Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine: “The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; . . . holydays and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessings on the fields; sacerdotal vestments, . . . images at a later date, perhaps the ecclesiastical chant, . . . are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the church.” To the cardinal’s list might be added the rosary, repetitious prayers, halos—in fact, the Oriental who visits the West, or the westerner who visits the Orient, cannot fail to be struck by the similarity of the two systems of religion. It all descends from Babylon of old!

Hinduism doesn't have a trinity; it has triads. Triads are three gods in a relationship. The Trinity is a relationship so complex it's studied for a whole semester at seminaries. The Trinity is NOT the same as Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Look, I studied the subject for a semester and passed an exam on it. I actually know what I'm talking about, instead of just having an opinion. You can't plug the names Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva into the three ecumenical creeds and come out with Hindu doctrine, which is not to criticize Hindu doctrine, it's just to say that it's not Christian doctrine (big surprise) any more than the triads of Greek mythology are Hindu or Christian doctrine, or that the resurrection of Mithras is equivalent to the resurrection of Jesus. There are similarities, same as there are similarities between an oxcart and a tractor. But the differences are just as great, and a little bit longer (took a semester, after all) than you'd have the patience to read or I to type.