Sri Ram Janam Bhoomi Prana Pratishta competition logo.jpg

Sri Ram Janam Bhoomi Prana Pratisha Article Competition winners

Rāmāyaṇa where ideology and arts meet narrative and historical context by Prof. Nalini Rao

Rāmāyaṇa tradition in northeast Bhārat by Virag Pachpore

Talk:Brahman

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Brahman literally means ‘that which is big or great’.

Meanings of Brahman[edit]

One of the most widely used terms in the religious literature, the word ‘Brahman’ has several senses:

  • The Vedas
  • Hymns of praise
  • A priest
  • One of the four principal priests in a sacrifice representing the Atharvaveda
  • A brāhmaṇa
  • Tapas or austerity
  • God, the Creator - the four-faced Brahmā
  • The Supreme Spirit or the Absolute

However it is in the last sense that it is extensively used and hence needs greater explanation.

Brahman as per Upaniṣads[edit]

An oft-occurring theme in the Upaniṣads is the assumption and search for the unity in diversity. ‘What is that, by knowing which, everything else is known?’ is a typical question that is raised in them.[1][2][3] The sages of the Upaniṣads realized in the depths of their mystical experience, that there was a basic reality underlying the entire universe of multiplicity, the One without a second, and called it ‘Brahman’.

Origin of Word Brahman[edit]

The word ‘Brahman’ is derived from the root ‘bṛh’[4] and hence means that which is immense and that from which everything else has come out. In other words, it is from Brahman that this world has evolved, it is in Brahman that it rests even after this evolution and again, it is to that Brahman that it returns at the time of involution. ‘Sṛṣti,’ ‘sthiti’ and ‘laya’ or ‘pralaya’ are the three words generally used to indicate these processes.

Brahman & Creation[edit]

However, the Brahman remains unaffected by this evolution or involution and is ever full and perfect[5] in itself. The intrinsic power of Brahman with which it creates this world, sustains it and withdraws it into itself, is called ‘māyā’. Since creation is only an evolution of Brahman, which evolution is considered as only apparent and not real, according to some schools of Vedānta, Brahman continues to exist in it as the immanent reality. Thus it is both transcendent and immanent simultaneously. Quite often, the Upaniṣads use the word ‘Ātman’ to be synonymous with Brahman. Sat, Akṣara and Bhumā are some of the other terms used to indicate Brahman.

The evolution of the world from the Brahman/Ātman is generally traced as follows:

  • From the Brahman evolves ākāśa[6]
  • From ākāśa comes vāyu[7]
  • From vāyu comes agni[8]
  • From agni comes ap[9]
  • From ap comes pṛthvi[10]
  • Vegetation and then, life including the human beings evolve out of this earth.

Aspects of Brahman[edit]

In the Vedāntic works based on the Upaniṣads, four aspects of Brahman have been put forth:

  1. The Absolute called Brahman
  2. The creative spirit īśvara[11]
  3. The world-spirit Hiraṇyagarbha
  4. The world, Virāj

It can be delineated as follows:

  • The totality of creation which is none other than Brahman in essence, is the Virāj.
  • When Brahman is thought of as the spirit moving everywhere in the world, it is called Hiraṇyagarbha.
  • When conceived as the personal God engaged in the act of creation, protection and destruction of the world, it is called īśvara.
  • When believed to be established in itself independent of any creation, it is Brahman, the Absolute.

The Reality is not a sum of these. It is an ineffable unity in which these conceptual distinctions are made.

Brahman, the Absolute[edit]

Brahman, the Absolute, is unique and different from all that we know and experience here. Hence it can be predicated only in negative terms, ‘neti, neti,’ ‘not this, not this’. This should not mislead us into thinking that it is a non-entity. While it is non-empirical, it is also inclusive of the whole empirical world. It has an essential nature of its own: ‘sat’ or being, ‘cit’ or consciousness and ‘ānanda’ or bliss. These are not its characteristics but are different phrases for the same being:

  • Self-being
  • Self-consciousness
  • Self-delight

References About Brahman[edit]

There are also passages in the Upaniṣads that describe Brahman as Puruṣa or the Supreme Being. It can be pointed out as belows:

  • He is the Aupaniṣada-puruṣa, the Being described in the Upaniṣads and known only through them.
  • He is the Hiranmaya-puruṣa, the golden Being, the Supreme Soul existing in the āditya or the sun.[12][13]
  • He is the Mahāpuruṣa, the great Person, by knowing whom one can transcend death.[14]
  • He is greater than the greatest and smaller than the smallest.[15]
  • He has pervaded everything and has established himself as the inmost Self in all the beings.[16][17]
  • He is the Lord of the lords and God of the gods. There is none that is superior to him or even his equal.[18]
  • He bestows boons on his devotees that worship him.[19]
  • The Vedāntic schools of Rāmānuja[20] and Madhva[21] identify Brahman with Viṣṇu/ Nārāyaṇa.


References[edit]

  1. ↑ Mundaka Upaniṣad. 1.1.3
  2. ↑ Bṛhadāranyaka Upaniṣad. 4.5.6
  3. ↑ Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.1.3
  4. ↑ Bṛh means ‘to grow,’ ‘to burst forth’.
  5. ↑ Perfect means Purṇa.
  6. ↑ Ākāśa means ether.
  7. ↑ Vāyu means wind.
  8. ↑ Agni means fire.
  9. ↑ Ap means water.
  10. ↑ Pṛthvi means earth.
  11. ↑ Īśvara means Lord, God.
  12. ↑ Brhadāranyaka Upaniṣad 3.9.26
  13. ↑ Chāndogya Upaniṣad 1.6.6
  14. ↑ Svetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.8
  15. ↑ Kathā Upaniṣad 1.2.20
  16. ↑ Īśāvasya Upaniṣad 1
  17. ↑ Kathā Upaniṣad 2.2.12
  18. ↑ Svetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.7-9
  19. ↑ Kathā Upaniṣad 1.3.2
  20. ↑ He lived in A. D. 1017-1137.
  21. ↑ He lived in A. D. 1238- 1317.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore
Retrieved from "https://hindupedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Brahman&oldid=121017"