4. For Hindus, there is no one story of creation, but multiple creations stories that tell of cyclic creation and destruction. The story of Vishnu is one creation story.
There was a very large cobra floating along the ocean. Within its coils was a sleeping Vishnu. Suddenly a lotus begins growing from Vishnu’s navel. When the lotus blooms, it is revealed that Brahma, a four-headed demigod, is contained inside. Brahma decides he needs to create and meditates on this for eons. Brahma decides to split the lotus into three separate portions. One part of the lotus becomes the heavens, the second piece of the lotus becomes the sky, and the third part of the lotus becomes the earth. He creates birds, fish, trees, plants, humans and other animals to reside on the earth.
In Hinduism, it is taught that this is not the first universe nor is it the last. There are three deities, Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma, and Lord Shiva. Each specializes in different aspects of creation. Lord Vishnu births the universe from the lotus, Lord Brahma creates the universe and everything in it, and Lord Shiva destroys the universe so that it can then be recreated. These three deities are all integral parts of the creation story and are all parts of one whole: the Supreme One.