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Brahman (bráhman-, nominative bráhma ब्रह्म) is a concept of Hinduism. Brahman is the unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality which is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this Universe. The nature of Brahman is described as transpersonal, personal and impersonal by different philosophical schools. In the Rig Veda, Brahman gives rise to the primordial being Hiranyagarbha that is equated with the creator God Brahmā. The trimurti can thus be considered a personification of hiranyagarbha as the active principle behind the phenomena of the universe. The seers who inspired the composition of the Upanisads asserted that the liberated soul (jivanmukta) has realized his identity with Brahman as his true self (see Atman (Hinduism)).
The word "Brahman" is derived from the verb brh (Sanskrit:to grow), and connotes greatness. The Mundaka Upanishad says:
Om- That supreme Brahman is infinite, and this conditioned Brahman is infinite. The infinite proceeds from infinite. Then through knowledge, realizing the infinitude of the infinite, it remains as infinite alone.
Note that "Brahman" is different from "Brahmin," the Priests/Holy Men of the Indo-Aryan Caste System that still influences India today. The confusion between the terms can be dated back to the translation of the Upanishads into modern English.
Conceptualization
The Supreme Cosmic Spirit or Absolute Reality called Brahman (not to be confused with the Creator god Brahmā) is said to be eternal, genderless, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and ultimately indescribable in human language. The sage-seers of the Upanishads had fully realised Brahman as the reality behind their own being and of everything else in this universe. They were thus Brahmins in the true sense of the word. These rishis described Brahman as infinite Being, infinite Consciousness and infinite Bliss (satcitananda). Brahman is regarded as the source and essence of the material universe. In its purest reality it is unmanifest (Nirguna Brahman) and thus beyond being and non-being. The Rig Veda records that in its initial manifestation (Saguna Brahman) as pure primordial Being Brahman is Hiranyagarbha (lit. golden womb), a fertile substrate (which Radhakrishnan calls the 'world-soul') out of which all worlds, organisms and even Gods and other divine beings (devas) arise:
"Great indeed are the devas who have sprung out of Brahman." — Atharva Veda
Nirguna Brahman corresponds to the concept of 'Godhead' and Saguna Brahman to God as the Primordial Being.
It is said that Brahman cannot be known by material means, that we cannot be made conscious of it, because Brahman is our very consciousness. Brahman is also not restricted to the usual dimensional perspectives of being, and thus enlightenment, moksha, yoga, samadhi, nirvana, etc. do not merely mean to know Brahman, but to realise one's 'brahman-hood', to actually realise that one is and always was of Brahman nature (cf. the Mahayana concept of Buddha Nature). Indeed, closely related to the Self concept of Brahman is the idea that it is synonymous with jiva-atma, or individual souls, our atman (or soul) being readily identifiable with the greater soul (paramatma) of Brahman.
Generally, Vedanta rejects the notion of an evolving Brahman since Brahman contains within it the potentiality and archetypes behind all possible manifest phenomenal forms. The Vedas, though they are in some respects historically conditioned are considered by Hindus to convey a knowledge[1] eternal, timeless and always contemporaneous with Brahman. This knowledge is considered to have been handed down by realised yogins to students many generations before the vedas were committed to writing. Written texts of the Vedas are a relatively recent phenomenon.
Connected with the ritual of pre-Vedantic Hinduism, Brahman signified the power to grow, the expansive and self-altering process of ritual and sacrifice, often visually realised in the sputtering of flames as they received the all important ghee (clarified butter) and rose in concert with the mantras of the Vedas. Brahmin came to refer to the highest of the four castes, the Brahmins, who by virtue of their purity and priesthood are held to have such powers.
It is claimed by certain Hindu sects to be the first instance of monism in organized religion and they also claim that Hinduism remains the only religion with this concept. [original research?] To call this concept 'God' would be imprecise. The closest interpretation of the term can be found in the Taittariya Upanishad (II.1) where Brahman is described in the following manner: satyam jnanam anantam brahman - "Brahman is of the nature of truth, knowledge and infinity". Thus, Brahman is the origin and end of all things, material or otherwise. Brahman is the root source and Divine Ground of everything that exists, and does not exist in Hinduism. It is defined as unknowable and Satchitananda (Truth-Consciousness-Bliss). Since it is eternal and infinite, it comprises the only truth. The goal of Hinduism, through the various yogas, is to realize that the soul (Atman) is actually nothing but Brahman. The Hindu pantheon of gods is said, in the Vedas and Upanishads, to be only higher manifestations of Brahman. For this reason, "ekam sat" (all is one), and all is Brahman. This explains the Hindu view that "All paths lead to the one Brahman, though many sages [and religions] call him different things."
Several mahā-vākyas, or great sayings, indicate what the principle of Brahman is:
prajnānam brahma[2] | "Brahman is knowledge" | |
ayam ātmā brahma[3] | "The Self (or the Soul) is Brahman " | |
aham brahmāsmi[4] | "I am Brahman" | |
tat tvam asi[5] | "Thou are that" | |
sarvam khalv idam brahma[6] | "All this that we see in the world is Brahman", | |
sachchidānanda brahma[7][8] | "Brahman is existence, consciousness, and bliss". |
Another way to describe Brahman, as mentioned in the Brihadaranyaka Upanisad, is to say, "Brahman is not this.. Brahman is not that.." Until everything in the infinite universe has been eliminated and only Brahman remains -- implying that indeed Brahman in infinite set universes is the empty set. This is often paraphrased as [weasel words] "everything is true of the elements of the empty set." Thus all and none in one that is not but still is everywhere and nowhere in particular.
In terms of astronomical or quantum universes it is referred to [who?] as Vacuum -- ever present surrounding all, always within you as it is without you.
Etymology
Sanskrit bráhman (an n-stem, nominative bráhmā) is from a root bṛh " to swell, grow, enlarge". brahmán is a masculine derivation of bráhman, denoting a person associated with bráhman. The further origin of bṛh is unclear. According to Pokorny's IE Etymological Lexicon IE root bhreu-, bhreu-d- denotes to swell, sprout (cf Slovenian brsteti - to sprout.)Bragi. Some, including Georges Dumézil, have said that the Latin word flāmen "priest" may also be cognate.[citation needed]
Semantics and pronunciation
- Here the underlined vowels carry the Vedic Sanskrit udātta pitch accent. It is usual to use an acute accent symbol for this purpose.
In Vedic Sanskrit:-
- brahma (ब्रह्म) (nominative singular), brahman (ब्रह्मन्) (stem)(neuter[9] gender) means "growth", "development", "swelling"; and then "pious utterance", "worship", perhaps via the idea of saying during prayers and ceremonies that God or the deities are great. Later it came to mean the Supreme Cosmic Spirit.
- brahmā (nom.sg.), brahman (stem) (masculine gender) means "priest" (compare Latin flamen = "priest"). But in this sense, the neuter form's plural Brahmāņi was also used. See Vedic priest.
In later Sanskrit usage:-
- brahma (nominative singular), brahman (stem) (neuter[9] gender) means the concept of the Supreme transcendent and immanent Reality or the One Godhead or Cosmic Spirit in Hinduism; the concept is central to Hindu philosophy, especially Vedanta; this is discussed below. Also note that the word Brahman in this sense is exceptionally treated as masculine (see the Merrill-Webster Sanskrit Dictionary). It is called "the Brahman" in English.
- Brahmā (ब्रह्मा) (nom.sg.), Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) (stem) (masculine gender), means the deity or deva Prajāpati Brahmā. He is one of the members of the Hindu trinity and associated with creation, but does not have a cult in present day India.
One must not confuse these with:
- A brāhmaņa (ब्राह्मण, masc., pronounced as /brα:h mə Ņə/ - the N being retroflex), (which literally means "pertaining to prayer") is a prose commentary on the Vedic mantras—an integral part of the Vedic literature.
- A brāhmaņa (masc., same pronunciation as above), is a member of the Hindu priestly caste; in this usage the word is usually rendered in English as "Brahmin". This usage is also found in the Atharva Veda.
- Ishvara, or the Supreme God (lit., Supreme Lord), which may be completely identified with the Supreme Truth Brahman, as by the Dvaita philosophy, or partially as a worldly manifestation of the Brahman having (positive) attributes.
- Devas, the celestial beings of Hinduism, which may be regarded as deities, demi-gods, spirits or angels. In Vedic Hinduism, there were 33 devas, which later became exaggerated to 330 million devas. In fact, all the devas are themselves regarded as more mundane manifestations of the One and the Supreme Brahman, for devotional worship. The Hindus do not literally worship 330 million separate gods. The Sanskrit word for "ten million" also means "group", and "330 million devas" originally meant "33 types of divine manifestation".
Brahm is sometimes found as a variant form of Brahma or Brahman.
In Hindi, one might find Brahma as being pronounced as /brəm hə/, and consequently BrāhmaNa as /brα:m həN/.
Brahman and Atman
Philosopher mystics of the Upanishads identify Brahman, the world soul, with Atman, the inner essence of the human being also known as "Micro-soul-spark" of Brahman[citation needed]. The Ultimate Truth is expressed as Nirguna Brahman, or lord of all "Gods". Nirguna means "formless", "attributeless", mega-soul also known as. "spirit" only. While Advaita philosophy considers Brahman to be without any form, qualities, or attributes, Dvaita philosophy understands nir-guna as without material form or without bad qualities.
In Dvaita, Vishnu is Brahman since the followers stress a personal God. Advaita, on the other hand, considers all personal forms of God including Vishnu and Shiva as different aspects of God in personal form or God with attributes, Saguna Brahman.
According to some, God's energy is personified as Devi, the Divine Mother. For Vaishnavites who follow Ramunjacharaya's philosophy, Devi is Lakshmi, who is the Mother of all and who pleads with Vishnu for mankind who is entrenched in sin. For Gaudiya Vaishnavas she is Radha. For Shaivites, Devi is Parvati.For Viswakarmas Devi is Gayatri or Vac or Saraswathy. For Shaktas, who worship Durga or Kali, Devi is the personal form of God to attain the impersonal Absolute, God. For them, Shiva is personified as God without attributes. See this Hinduism Today article.
The phrase that is seen to be the only possible (and still thoroughly inadequate) description of Brahman that humans, with limited minds and being, can entertain is the Sanskrit word Sacchidānanda, which is combined from sat-chit-ānanda, meaning "being - consciousness - bliss".
In Mandukya Upanishad Brahman and Atman are defined as the same:
सर्वं ह्येतद् ब्रह्मायमात्मा ब्रह्म सोयमात्मा चतुष्पात्
sarvam hyetad brahmāyamātmā brahma soyamātmā chatushpāt - Mandukya Upanishad, verse-2
- Translation:-
sarvam (सर्वम्)- whole/all/everything; hi (हि)- really/surely/indeed; etad (एतद्)- this here/this; brahma (ब्रह्म)- Brahma/Brahman; ayam (अयम्)- this/here; ātmā(आत्मा)- atma/atman; sah(सः)- he; ayam (अयम्)- this/here; chatus(चतुस्)- four/quadruple; pāt(पात्)- step/foot/quarter
- With the sandhi expanded:-
सर्वम् हि एतद् ब्रह्म अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म सः अयम् आत्मा चतुस पात्
sarvam hi etad brahma ayam ātmā brahm sah ayam ātmā chatus paat
- Simple meaning:-
All indeed is this Brahman; He is Atman; He has four steps/quarters.
Enlightenment and Brahman
While Brahman lies behind the sum total of the objective universe, some human minds boggle at any attempt to explain it with only the tools provided by reason. Brahman is beyond the senses, beyond the mind, beyond intelligence, beyond imagination. Indeed, the highest idea is that Brahman is beyond both existence and non-existence, transcending and including time, causation and space, and thus can never be known in the same material sense as one traditionally 'understands' a given concept or object.
Imagine a person who is blind from birth and has not seen anything. Is it possible for us to explain to him what light is like? Is any amount of thinking or reasoning on his part ever going to make him understand the sensation of light? In a similar fashion the idea of Brahman cannot be explained or understood through material reasoning or any form of human communication. Brahman is like light; those who can sense it cannot explain or argue with those who have never sensed it.
Brahman is considered the all pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. (brahmano hi pratisthaham, Bhagavad Gita 14.27)
Advaita concept
The universe is not just conscious, but it is consciousness, and this consciousness is Brahman. Human consciousness has forgotten its identity, that of Brahman, as if a drop of water from a vast ocean thought itself separate, and that the only path to merge back into that Brahman or supreme consciousness is through the paths of devotion, moral living, following the eight-fold path of Ashtanga Yoga meditation, often expressed in various systems of spiritual practices known as yogas.
If one seeks Brahman via true knowledge, Atman seeks truth and accepts it no matter what it is. Atman accepts all truths of the self/ego, and thus is able to accept the fact that it is not separate from its surroundings. Then Atman is permanently absorbed into Brahman and become one and the same with it. This is how one forever escapes rebirth.
In Advaita Vedanta, Brahman is without attributes and strictly impersonal. It can be best described as infinite Being, infinite Consciousness and infinite Bliss. It is pure knowledge itself, similar to a source of infinite radiance. Since the Advaitins regard Brahman to be the Ultimate Truth, so in comparison to Brahman, every other thing, including the material world, its distinctness, the individuality of the living creatures and even Ishvara (the Supreme Lord) itself are all untrue. Brahman is the effulgent cause of everything that exists and can possibly exist. Since it is beyond human comprehension, it is without any attributes, for assigning attributes to it would be distorting the true nature of Brahman. Advaitins believe in the existence of both Saguna Brahman and Nirguna Brahman, however they consider Nirguna Brahman to be the absolute supreme truth.
When man tries to know the attributeless Brahman with his mind, under the influence of an illusionary power of Brahman called Maya, Brahman becomes God (Ishvara). God is the reflection of the Brahman in the environment of illusion(Maya). Just like reflection of moon, in a pool of water. The material world also appears as such due to Maya. God is Saguna Brahman, or Brahman with attributes. He is omniscient, omnipresent, incorporeal, independent, Creator of the world, its ruler and also destroyer. He is eternal and unchangeable. He is both immanent and transcedent, as well as full of love and justice. He may be even regarded to have a personality. He is the subject of worship. He is the basis of morality and giver of the fruits of one's Karma. He rules the world with his Maya. However, while God is the Lord of Maya and she (ie, Maya) is always under his control, living beings (jīva, in the sense of humans) are the servants of Maya (in the form of ignorance). This ignorance is the cause of all material experiences in the mortal world. While God is Infinite Bliss, humans, under the influence of Maya consider themselves limited by the body and the material, observable world. This misperception of Brahman as the observed Universe results in human emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger and fear. The Ultimate reality remains Brahman and nothing else. The Advaita equation is simple. It is due to Maya that the one single Atman (the individual soul) appears to the people as many Atmans, each in a single body. Once the curtain of maya is lifted, the Atman is exactly equal to the Brahman. Thus, due to true knowledge, an individual loses the sense of ego (Aham-kara) and achieves liberation, or Moksha. Also see Advaita Vedanta.
In Bhagavad Gita, the term Iswara is used to explain Nirguna Brahman, and the term Brahma for Saguna Brahman:
paramam aksharam brahma uchyathe [Bhagavad Gita, chapter 8, verse 3]
The great akshara is said to be Brahma.
yasmad ksharamatheethohaksharadapichothama: athohasmi loke vede cha pradhitha: purushothama: [Bhagavad Gita, chapter 15, verse 18]
I (Iswara) am beyond kshara (perishable world), and also greater than the akshara(Brahma). So in the world, I am denoted as purushothama in the Vedas.
brahmano hi prathishtahamamrithasyavyayasya cha sashwathasya cha dharmasya sukhasyaikanthikasya cha [Bhagavad Gita, chapter 14, verse 27]
I (Iswara) am the basis or seat of the imperishable Brahma, the everlasting dharma (course of right action), and definitely of all joy.
bahyasparsheshwasakthathma vindathyathmani yathsukham sa brahmayogayukthathma sukhamakshayamasnuthe [Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 5, verse 21]
Similar to a person who is not attached to outside pleasures but enjoys happiness in the Athma (Soul or God within), the person who perceives Brahma (the Cosmic Body) in and as every body or thing feels everlasting joy.
"Satchidananda Brahma" underlines this concept, meaning pure, true happiness of mind is Brahma.
VisishtAdvaita
The concept of Brahman in VisishtAdvaita consists of an inseparable triad of Ishwara-Chit-Achit. Ishwara, the Supreme Self (ParamAtman)is the indwelling spirit (Antaryami) in all. Both the Chit (sentient objects) and Achit (insentient object) entities are pervaded and permeated by Ishwara.
The key identifier of Brahman in VisishtAdvaita is as the Antaryami (i.e. the In-dwelling spirit in all there is). The relationship between Ishwara-Chit-Achit is understood by two ideas.
1. The Sarira-Sariri Concept
Ishwara has the Chit (JIvAtman) and Achit (Prakriti, Jagat) entities for his body and being the Supreme Self, exercises complete control over it.
2. Substance-Attribute Concept
Ishwara is the substance and the Jiva and Prakriti are his modes (or) attributes. An attribute cannot have an existence independent of an underlying substance. The substance-attribute idea establishes an uninterrupted, non-reciprocal relationship between Ishwara and two modes
Dvaita
Vedanta Sutra 3.2.23 states, "The form of Brahman is unmanifest, so the scriptures say" (tat avyaktam aha). The next sutra adds, "But even the form of Brahman becomes directly visible to one who worships devoutly - so teach the scriptures" (api samradhane pratyaksa anumanabhyam)[citation needed].[10]
Dvaita schools argue against the Advaita idea that upon attaining liberation one realizes that God is formless since this idea is contradicted by Vedanta Sutra 3.2.16: "The scriptures declare that the form of the Supreme consists of the very essence of His Self" (aha ca tanmatram). And furthermore Vedanta Sutra 3.3.36 asserts that within the realm of Brahman the devotees see other divine manifestations which appear even as physical objects in a city (antara bhuta gramavat svatmanah).[11]
They identify the personal form of God indicated here as the transcendental form of Vishnu or Krishna (see Vaishnavism). The brahma-pura (city within Brahman) is identified as the divine realm of Vishnu known as Vaikuntha. This conclusion is corroborated by the Bhagavata Purana, written by Vyasa as his own "natural commentary" on Vedanta-sutra. The first verse of Bhagavata Purana begins with the phrase "I offer my respectful obeisances to Bhagavan Vasudeva, the source of everything" (om namo bhagavate vasudevaya janmadyasya yatah). Vyasa employs the words "janmadyasya yatah", which comprise the second sutra of the Vedanta Sutra, in the first verse of the Bhagavata Purana to establish that Krishna is Brahman, the Absolute Truth. This is clear testimony of the author's own conclusion about the ultimate goal of all Vedic knowledge.
Modern Evolutionary View
According to modern spiritual teachers like Sri Aurobindo, Brahman is both the unmanifest and the manifest; the One and the Many; the Being and the Becoming. It is actually more than their sum, but their combination and their integration. All (and more) is then Brahman. And yet Brahman cannot be known by Mind. One most move to the highest point of spiritualized mind, even above Intuition to have the vision of the integral oneness of the Unmanifest and Manifest that is Brahman. When we move to the soul, our minds move to the supra-mental heights where we perceive the integral view of Brahman, which is the ultimate perception of the Reality, the Absolute. Thus, in life everything is an expression of Brahman, even that which is unevolved and is in the process of evolving.
See also
Notes and references
- ^ Veda means 'knowledge' and not merely epistemic knowledge but knowledge of the eternal truth that one's ultimate nature is pure consciousness and independent of material form (cf. Gnosis
- ^ Aitareya Upanishad 3.3
- ^ Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.5,
- ^ Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10,
- ^ Chhāndogya Upanishad 6.8.7 et seq.
- ^ Chhāndogya Upanishad 3.14.1
- ^ Nrisimhauttaratāpini, cited in Swami Nikhilananda, The Upanishads: A new Translation Vol. I.
- ^ In the Bhagavad Gītā, Krishna also describes the nature of Brahman. For example, he says "And I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman, which is immortal, imperishable and eternal and is the constitutional position of ultimate happiness" (brahmano hi pratishthaham...) B-Gita (As-it-Is) 14.27 Translation by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
- ^ a b Not Masculine or Feminine (see Grammatical gender).
- ^ api - but, samradhane - intense worship, pratyaksa - as directly visible, anumanabhyam - as inferred from scripture
- ^ antara - inside, bhuta - physical, gramavat - like a city, svatmanah - to His own, i.e. to His devotees