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Brahman

April 25, 2023

Not to be confused with Brahma (the Hindu god), Brahmana (a layer of text in the Vedas), Parabrahman (the "Supreme Brahman"), Brahmanism (the religion), Brahmin (varna), Brahman (leather product maker), or American Brahman (Cow raised for meat).
For other uses, see Brahman (disambiguation).

In Hinduism, Brahman (Sanskrit: ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.[1][2][3] In major schools of Hindu philosophy, it is the material, efficient, formal and final cause of all that exists.[2][4][5] It is the pervasive, infinite, eternal truth, consciousness and bliss which does not change, yet is the cause of all changes.[1][3][6] Brahman as a metaphysical concept refers to the single binding unity behind diversity in all that exists in the universe.[7]

(Om) signifies the essence of Brahman, the ultimate reality.
A drop in the ocean: an analogy for Ātman merging into Brahman.

Brahman is a Vedic Sanskrit word, and it is conceptualized in Hinduism, states Paul Deussen, as the "creative principle which lies realized in the whole world".[8] Brahman is a key concept found in the Vedas, and it is extensively discussed in the early Upanishads.[9] The Vedas conceptualize Brahman as the Cosmic Principle.[10] In the Upanishads, it has been variously described as Sat-cit-ānanda (truth-consciousness-bliss)[11][12] and as the unchanging, permanent, highest reality.[13][14][note 1][note 2]

Brahman is discussed in Hindu texts with the concept of Atman (Sanskrit: आत्मन्), (Self),[9][17] personal,[note 3] impersonal[note 4] or Para Brahman,[note 5] or in various combinations of these qualities depending on the philosophical school.[18] In dualistic schools of Hinduism such as the theistic Dvaita Vedanta, Brahman is different from Atman (Self) in each being.[5][19][20] In non-dual schools such as the Advaita Vedanta, the substance of Brahman is identical to the substance of Atman, is everywhere and inside each living being, and there is connected spiritual oneness in all existence.[6][21][22]

Etymology and related terms

Sanskrit (ब्रह्मन्) Brahman (an n-stem, nominative bráhma, from a root bṛh- "to swell, expand, grow, enlarge") is a neuter noun to be distinguished from the masculine brahmán—denoting a person associated with Brahman, and from Brahmā, the creator God in the Hindu Trinity, the Trimurti. Brahman is thus a gender-neutral concept that implies greater impersonality than masculine or feminine conceptions of the deity. Brahman is referred to as the supreme self. Puligandla states it as "the unchanging reality amidst and beyond the world",[23] while Sinar states Brahman is a concept that "cannot be exactly defined".[24]

In Vedic Sanskrit:

  • Brahma (ब्रह्म) (nominative singular), brahman (ब्रह्मन्) (stem) (neuter[25] gender) from root bṛh-, means "to be or make firm, strong, solid, expand, promote".[26]
  • Brahmana (ब्रह्मन) (nominative singular, never plural), from stems brha (to make firm, strong, expand) + Sanskrit -man- which denotes some manifest form of "definite power, inherent firmness, supporting or fundamental principle".[26]

In later Sanskrit usage:

  • Brahma (ब्रह्म) (nominative singular), brahman (ब्रह्मन्) (stem) (neuter[25] gender) means the concept of the transcendent and immanent ultimate reality, Supreme Cosmic Spirit in Hinduism. The concept is central to Hindu philosophy, especially Vedanta; this is discussed below.
  • Brahmā (ब्रह्मा) (nominative singular), 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. This is because Brahmā, the creator-god, is long-lived but not eternal i.e. Brahmā gets absorbed back into Purusha at the end of an aeon, and is born again at the beginning of a new kalpa.

These are distinct from:

  • A brāhmaṇa (ब्राह्मण) (masculine, pronounced [ˈbɽaːɦmɐɳɐ]), (which literally means "pertaining to prayer") is a prose commentary on the Vedic mantras—an integral part of the Vedic literature.
  • A brāhmaṇa (ब्राह्मण) (masculine, same pronunciation as above), means priest; in this usage the word is usually rendered in English as "Brahmin". This usage is also found in the Atharva Veda. In neuter plural form, Brahmāṇi. See Vedic priest.
  • Ishvara, (lit., Supreme Lord), in Advaita, is identified as a partial worldly manifestation (with limited attributes) of the ultimate reality, the attributeless Brahman. In Visishtadvaita and Dvaita, however, Ishvara (the Supreme Controller) has infinite attributes and the source of the impersonal Brahman.
  • Devas, the expansions of Brahman/God into various forms, each with a certain quality. In the Vedic religion, there were 33 devas, which later became exaggerated to 330 million devas. In fact, devas are themselves regarded as more mundane manifestations of the One and the Supreme Brahman (See Para Brahman). The Sanskrit word for "ten million" also means group, and 330 million devas originally meant 33 types of divine manifestations.

History and literature

Vedic

Brahman is a concept present in Vedic Samhitas, the oldest layer of the Vedas dated to the late 2nd millennium BCE. For example,[27]

The Ṛcs are limited (parimita),
The Samans are limited,
And the Yajuses are limited,
But of the Word Brahman, there is no end.

— Taittiriya Samhita VII.3.1.4, Translated by Barbara Holdrege[27]

The concept Brahman is referred to in hundreds of hymns in the Vedic literature.[28] The word Brahma is found in Rig veda hymns such as 2.2.10,[29] 6.21.8,[30] 10.72.2[31] and in Atharva veda hymns such as 6.122.5, 10.1.12, and 14.1.131.[28] The concept is found in various layers of the Vedic literature; for example:[28] Aitareya Brahmana 1.18.3, Kausitaki Brahmana 6.12, Satapatha Brahmana 13.5.2.5, Taittiriya Brahmana 2.8.8.10, Jaiminiya Brahmana 1.129, Taittiriya Aranyaka 4.4.1 through 5.4.1, Vajasaneyi Samhita 22.4 through 23.25, Maitrayani Samhita 3.12.1:16.2 through 4.9.2:122.15. The concept is extensively discussed in the Upanishads embedded in the Vedas (see next section), and also mentioned in the vedāṅga (the limbs of Vedas) such as the Srauta sutra 1.12.12 and Paraskara Gryhasutra 3.2.10 through 3.4.5.[28]

Jan Gonda states that the diverse reference of Brahman in the Vedic literature, starting with Rigveda Samhitas, convey "different senses or different shades of meaning".[32] There is no one single word in modern Western languages that can render the various shades of meaning of the word Brahman in the Vedic literature, according to Jan Gonda.[32] In verses considered as the most ancient, the Vedic idea of Brahman is the "power immanent in the sound, words, verses and formulas of Vedas". However, states Gonda, the verses suggest that this ancient meaning was never the only meaning, and the concept evolved and expanded in ancient India.[33]

Barbara Holdrege states that the concept Brahman is discussed in the Vedas along four major themes: as the Word or verses (Sabdabrahman),[34] as Knowledge embodied in Creator Principle, as Creation itself, and a Corpus of traditions.[35] Hananya Goodman states that the Vedas conceptualize Brahman as the Cosmic Principles underlying all that exists.[10] Gavin Flood states that the Vedic era witnessed a process of abstraction, where the concept of Brahman evolved and expanded from the power of sound, words and rituals to the "essence of the universe", the "deeper foundation of all phenomena", the "essence of the self (Atman, Self)", and the deeper "truth of a person beyond apparent difference".[36]

Upanishads

 
Swan (Hansa, हंस) is the symbol for Brahman-Atman in Hindu iconography.[37][38]

The primary focus on the early Upanishads is Brahmavidya and Atmavidya, that is the knowledge of Brahman and the knowledge of Atman (Self), what it is and how it is understood.[39] The texts do not present a single unified theory, rather they present a variety of themes with multiple possible interpretations, which flowered in post-Vedic era as premises for the diverse schools of Hinduism.[9]

Paul Deussen states that the concept of Brahman in the Upanishads expands to metaphysical, ontological and soteriological themes, such as it being the "primordial reality that creates, maintains and withdraws within it the universe",[40] the "principle of the world",[40] the "absolute",[41] the "general, universal",[42] the "cosmic principle",[43] the "ultimate that is the cause of everything including all gods",[44] the "divine being, Lord, distinct God, or God within oneself",[45] the "knowledge",[46] the "Self, sense of self of each human being that is fearless, luminuous, exalted and blissful",[47] the "essence of liberation, of spiritual freedom",[48] the "universe within each living being and the universe outside",[47] the "essence and everything innate in all that exists inside, outside and everywhere".[49]

Gavin Flood summarizes the concept of Brahman in the Upanishads to be the "essence, the smallest particle of the cosmos and the infinite universe", the "essence of all things which cannot be seen, though it can be experienced", the "Self within each person, each being", the "truth", the "reality", the "absolute", the "bliss" (ananda).[36]

According to Radhakrishnan, the sages of the Upanishads teach Brahman as the ultimate essence of material phenomena that cannot be seen or heard, but whose nature can be known through the development of self-knowledge (atma jnana).[50]

The Upanishads contain several mahā-vākyas or "Great Sayings" on the concept of Brahman:[51]

Text Upanishad Translation Reference
अहं ब्रह्म अस्मि
aham brahmāsmi		 Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10 "I am Brahman" [52]
अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म
ayam ātmā brahma		 Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.5 "The Self is Brahman" [53]
सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्म
sarvam khalvidam brahma		 Chandogya Upanishad 3.14.1 "All this is Brahman" [54]
एकमेवाद्वितीयम्
ekam evadvitiyam		 Chandogya Upanishad 6.2.1 "That [Brahman] is one, without a second" [55]
तत्त्वमसि
tat tvam asi		 Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7 et seq. "Thou art that" ("You are Brahman") [56][57]
प्रज्ञानं ब्रह्म
prajnānam brahma		 Aitareya Upanishad 3.3.7 "Wisdom is Brahman" [58]

The Upanishad discuss the metaphysical concept of Brahman in many ways, such as the Śāṇḍilya doctrine in Chapter 3 of the Chandogya Upanishad, among of the oldest Upanishadic texts.[59] The Śāṇḍilya doctrine on Brahman is not unique to Chandogya Upanishad, but found in other ancient texts such as the Satapatha Brahmana in section 10.6.3. It asserts that Atman (the inner essence, Self inside man) exists, the Brahman is identical with Atman, that the Brahman is inside man—thematic quotations that are frequently cited by later schools of Hinduism and modern studies on Indian philosophies.[59][60][61]

This whole universe is Brahman. In tranquility, let one worship It, as Tajjalan (that from which he came forth, as that into which he will be dissolved, as that in which he breathes).

— Chandogya Upanishad 3.14.1[59][62]

Man is a creature of his Kratumaya (क्रतुमयः, will, purpose). Let him therefore have for himself this will, this purpose: The intelligent, whose body is imbued with life-principle, whose form is light, whose thoughts are driven by truth, whose self is like space (invisible but ever present), from whom all works, all desires, all sensory feelings encompassing this whole world, the silent, the unconcerned, this is me, my Self, my Soul within my heart.

— Chandogya Upanishad 3.14.1 – 3.14.3[59][63]

This is my Soul in the innermost heart, greater than the earth, greater than the aerial space, greater than these worlds. This Soul, this Self of mine is that Brahman.

— Chandogya Upanishad 3.14.3 – 3.14.4[62][63]

Paul Deussen notes that teachings similar to above on Brahman, re-appeared centuries later in the words of the 3rd century CE Neoplatonic Roman philosopher Plotinus in Enneades 5.1.2.[62]

Criticism to this concept of Mahā-vākya

Following are the words of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, from a selected part of the purport of Ādi 7.128[64]

The Māyāvādī philosophers consider many Vedic mantras to be the mahā-vākya, or principal Vedic mantra, such as tat tvam asi (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.8.7), idaṁ sarvaṁ yad ayam ātmā and brahmedaṁ sarvam (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.5.1), ātmaivedaṁ sarvam (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.25.2) and neha nānāsti kiñcana (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.1.11). That is a great mistake. Only oṁkāra is the mahā-vākya. All these other mantras that the Māyāvādīs accept as the mahā-vākya are only incidental. They cannot be taken as the mahā-vākya, or mahā-mantra. The mantra tat tvam asi indicates only a partial understanding of the Vedas, unlike oṁkāra, which represents the full understanding of the Vedas. Therefore the transcendental sound that includes all Vedic knowledge is oṁkāra (praṇava). Aside from oṁkāra, none of the words uttered by the followers of Śaṅkarācārya can be considered the mahā-vākya. They are merely passing remarks.

Discussion

The concept Brahman has a lot of undertones of meaning and is difficult to understand. It has relevance in metaphysics, ontology, axiology (ethics & aesthetics), teleology and soteriology.

Brahman as a metaphysical concept

Brahman is the key metaphysical concept in various schools of Hindu philosophy. It is the theme in its diverse discussions to the two central questions of metaphysics: what is ultimately real, and are there principles applying to everything that is real?[65] Brahman is the ultimate "eternally, constant" reality, while the observed universe is a different kind of reality but one which is "temporary, changing" Maya in various orthodox Hindu schools. Maya pre-exists and co-exists with Brahman—the Ultimate Reality, The Highest Universal, the Cosmic Principles.[66]

Atma: the ultimate reality

In addition to the concept of Brahman, Hindu metaphysics includes the concept of Atman—or Self, which is also considered ultimately real.[66] The various schools of Hinduism, particularly the dual and non-dual schools, differ on the nature of Atman, whether it is distinct from Brahman, or same as Brahman. Those that consider Brahman and Atman as distinct are theistic, and Dvaita Vedanta and later Nyaya schools illustrate this premise.[67] Those that consider Brahman and Atman as same are monist or pantheistic, and Advaita Vedanta, later Samkhya[68] and Yoga schools illustrate this metaphysical premise.[69][70][71] In schools that equate Brahman with Atman, Brahman is the sole, ultimate reality.[72] The predominant teaching in the Upanishads is the spiritual identity of Self within each human being, with the Self of every other human being and living being, as well as with the supreme, ultimate reality Brahman.[73][74]

Maya: the perceived reality

In the metaphysics of the major schools of Hinduism, Maya is perceived reality, one that does not reveal the hidden principles, the true reality—the Brahman. Maya is unconscious, Brahman-Atman is conscious. Maya is the literal and the effect, Brahman is the figurative Upādāna—the principle and the cause.[66] Maya is born, changes, evolves, dies with time, from circumstances, due to invisible principles of nature. Atman-Brahman is eternal, unchanging, invisible principle, unaffected absolute and resplendent consciousness. Maya concept, states Archibald Gough, is "the indifferent aggregate of all the possibilities of emanatory or derived existences, pre-existing with Brahman", just like the possibility of a future tree pre-exists in the seed of the tree.[66]

Nirguna and Saguna Brahman

Brahman, the ultimate reality, is both with and without attributes. In this context, Para Brahman is formless and omniscient Ishvara - the god or Paramatman and Om, where as Saguna Brahman is manifestation or avatara of god in personified form.

While Hinduism sub-schools such as Advaita Vedanta emphasize the complete equivalence of Brahman and Atman, they also expound on Brahman as saguna Brahman—the Brahman with attributes, and nirguna Brahman—the Brahman without attributes.[75] The nirguna Brahman is the Brahman as it really is, however, the saguna Brahman is posited as a means to realizing nirguna Brahman, but the Hinduism schools declare saguna Brahman to be a part of the ultimate nirguna Brahman[76] The concept of the saguna Brahman, such as in the form of avatars, is considered in these schools of Hinduism to be a useful symbolism, path and tool for those who are still on their spiritual journey, but the concept is finally cast aside by the fully enlightened.[76]

Brahman as an ontological concept

Brahman, along with Self (Atman) are part of the ontological[77] premises of Indian philosophy.[78][79] Different schools of Indian philosophy have held widely dissimilar ontologies. Buddhism and Carvaka school of Hinduism deny that there exists anything called "a Self" (individual Atman or Brahman in the cosmic sense), while the orthodox schools of Hinduism, Jainism and Ajivikas hold that there exists "a Self".[80][81]

Brahman as well the Atman in every human being (and living being) is considered equivalent and the sole reality, the eternal, self-born, unlimited, innately free, blissful Absolute in schools of Hinduism such as the Advaita Vedanta and Yoga.[82][83][84] Knowing one's own self is knowing the God inside oneself, and this is held as the path to knowing the ontological nature of Brahman (universal Self) as it is identical to the Atman (individual Self). The nature of Atman-Brahman is held in these schools, states Barbara Holdrege, to be as a pure being (sat), consciousness (cit) and full of bliss (ananda), and it is formless, distinctionless, nonchanging and unbounded.[82]

In theistic schools, in contrast, such as Dvaita Vedanta, the nature of Brahman is held as eternal, unlimited, innately free, blissful Absolute, while each individual's Self is held as distinct and limited which can at best come close in eternal blissful love of the Brahman (therein viewed as the Godhead).[85]

Other schools of Hinduism have their own ontological premises relating to Brahman, reality and nature of existence. Vaisheshika school of Hinduism, for example, holds a substantial, realist ontology.[86] The Carvaka school denied Brahman and Atman, and held a materialist ontology.[87]

Brahman as an axiological concept

Brahman and Atman are key concepts to Hindu theories of axiology: ethics and aesthetics.[88][89] Ananda (bliss), state Michael Myers and other scholars, has axiological importance to the concept of Brahman, as the universal inner harmony.[90][91] Some scholars equate Brahman with the highest value, in an axiological sense.[92]

The axiological concepts of Brahman and Atman is central to Hindu theory of values.[93] A statement such as 'I am Brahman', states Shaw, means 'I am related to everything', and this is the underlying premise for compassion for others in Hinduism, for each individual's welfare, peace, or happiness depends on others, including other beings and nature at large, and vice versa.[94] Tietge states that even in non-dual schools of Hinduism where Brahman and Atman are treated ontologically equivalent, the theory of values emphasizes individual agent and ethics. In these schools of Hinduism, states Tietge, the theory of action are derived from and centered in compassion for the other, and not egotistical concern for the self.[95]

The axiological theory of values emerges implicitly from the concepts of Brahman and 'Atman, states Bauer.[96] The aesthetics of human experience and ethics are one consequence of self-knowledge in Hinduism, one resulting from the perfect, timeless unification of one's Self with the Brahman, the Self of everyone, everything and all eternity, wherein the pinnacle of human experience is not dependent on an afterlife, but pure consciousness in the present life itself.[96] It does not assume that an individual is weak nor does it presume that he is inherently evil, but the opposite: human Self and its nature is held as fundamentally unqualified, faultless, beautiful, blissful, ethical, compassionate and good.[96][97] Ignorance is to assume it evil, liberation is to know its eternal, expansive, pristine, happy and good nature.[96] The axiological premises in the Hindu thought and Indian philosophies in general, states Nikam, is to elevate the individual, exalting the innate potential of man, where the reality of his being is the objective reality of the universe.[98] The Upanishads of Hinduism, summarizes Nikam, hold that the individual has the same essence and reality as the objective universe, and this essence is the finest essence; the individual Self is the universal Self, and Atman is the same reality and the same aesthetics as the Brahman.[98]

Brahman as a teleological concept

Brahman and Atman are very important teleological concepts. Teleology deals with the apparent purpose, principle or goal of something. In the first chapter of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, these questions are dealt with. It says :

"People who make inquiries about brahman say:
What is the cause of Brahman? Why were we born? By what do we live? On what are we established? Governed by whom, O you who know Brahman, do we live in pleasure and in pain, each in our respective situation?

— Shvetashvatara Upanishad, Hymns 1.1

According to the Upanishads, the main purpose/meaning of anything or everything can be explained or achieved/understood only through the realization of the Brahman. The apparent purpose of everything can be grasped by obtaining the Brahman, as the Brahman is referred to that when known, all things become known.

"What is that my lord, by which being known, all of this becomes known?"
Angiras told him, "Two types of knowledge a man should learn, those who know Brahman tell us — the higher and the lower. The lower of the two consists of the Rgveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda (...), whereas, the higher is that by which one grasps the imperishable (Brahman)."

— Mundaka Upanishad, Hymns 1.1[99]

Elsewhere in the Upanishads, the relationship between Brahman & all knowledge is established, such that any questions of apparent purpose/teleology are resolved when the Brahman is ultimately known. This is found in the Aitareya Upanishad 3.3 and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.17.

Knowledge is the eye of all that, and on knowledge it is founded. Knowledge is the eye of the world, and knowledge, the foundation. Brahman is knowing.

— Aitereya Upanishad, Hymns 3.3[100][101]

One of the main reasons why Brahman should be realized is because it removes suffering from a person's life. Following on Advaita Vedanta tradition, this is because the person has the ability and knowledge to discriminate between the unchanging (Purusha; Atman-Brahman) and the ever-changing (Prakriti; maya) and so the person is not attached to the transient, fleeting & impermanent. Hence, the person is only content with their true self and not the body or anything else. Further elaborations of Brahman as the central teleological issue are found in Shankara's commentaries of the Brahma Sutras & his Vivekachudamani.

In Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.9.26 it mentions that the atman 'neither trembles in fear nor suffers injury' and the Isha Upanishad 6-7 too talks about suffering as non-existent when one becomes the Brahman as they see the self in all beings and all beings in the self. The famous Advaita Vedanta commentator Shankara noted that Sabda Pramana (scriptural epistemology) & anubhava (personal experience) is the ultimate & only source of knowing/learning the Brahman, and that its purpose or existence cannot be verified independently because it's not an object of perception/inference (unless one is spiritually advanced, thereby it's truth becomes self-evident/intuitive) & is beyond conceptualizations. But he does note the Upanishads themselves are ultimately derived from use of the various pramanas to derive at ultimate truths (as seen in Yalnavalkya's philosophical inquires). All Vedanta schools agree on this. These teleological discussions inspired some refutations from competing philosophies about the origin/purpose of Brahman & avidya (ignorance) and the relationship between the two, leading to variant schools like Kashmiri Shaivism & others.

Brahman as a soteriological concept: Moksha

Main article: Moksha

The orthodox schools of Hinduism, particularly Vedanta, Samkhya and Yoga schools, focus on the concept of Brahman and Atman in their discussion of moksha. The Advaita Vedanta holds there is no being/non-being distinction between Atman and Brahman. The knowledge of Atman (Self-knowledge) is synonymous to the knowledge of Brahman inside the person and outside the person. Furthermore, the knowledge of Brahman leads to a sense of oneness with all existence, self-realization, indescribable joy, and moksha (freedom, bliss),[102] because Brahman-Atman is the origin and end of all things, the universal principle behind and at source of everything that exists, consciousness that pervades everything and everyone.[103]

The theistic sub-school such as Dvaita Vedanta of Hinduism, starts with the same premises, but adds the premise that individual Self and Brahman are distinct, and thereby reaches entirely different conclusions where Brahman is conceptualized in a manner similar to God in other major world religions.[19] The theistic schools assert that moksha is the loving, eternal union or nearness of one's Self with the distinct and separate Brahman (Vishnu, Shiva or equivalent henotheism). Brahman, in these sub-schools of Hinduism is considered the highest perfection of existence, which every Self journeys towards in its own way for moksha.[104]

Schools of thought

Vedanta

The concept of Brahman, its nature and its relationship with Atman and the observed universe, is a major point of difference between the various sub-schools of the Vedanta school of Hinduism.

Advaita Vedanta

Main article: Advaita Vedanta

Advaita Vedanta espouses nondualism. Brahman is the sole unchanging reality,[72] there is no duality, no limited individual Self nor a separate unlimited cosmic Self, rather all Self, all of existence, across all space and time, is one and the same.[6][82][105] The universe and the Self inside each being is Brahman, and the universe and the Self outside each being is Brahman, according to Advaita Vedanta. Brahman is the origin and end of all things, material and spiritual. Brahman is the root source of everything that exists. He states that Brahman can neither be taught nor perceived (as an object of intellectual knowledge), but it can be learned and realized by all human beings.[21] The goal of Advaita Vedanta is to realize that one's Self (Atman) gets obscured by ignorance and false-identification ("Avidya"). When Avidya is removed, the Atman (Self inside a person) is realized as identical with Brahman.[75] The Brahman is not an outside, separate, dual entity, the Brahman is within each person, states Advaita Vedanta school of Hinduism. Brahman is all that is eternal, unchanging and that which truly exists.[72] This view is stated in this school in many different forms, such as "Ekam sat" ("Truth is one"), and all is Brahman.

The universe does not simply come from Brahman, it is Brahman. According to Adi Shankara, a proponent of Advaita Vedanta, the knowledge of Brahman that shruti provides cannot be obtained by any other means besides self inquiry.[106]

In Advaita Vedanta, nirguna Brahman, that is the Brahman without attributes, is held to be the ultimate and sole reality.[72][76] Consciousness is not a property of Brahman but its very nature. In this respect, Advaita Vedanta differs from other Vedanta schools.[107]

Example verses from Bhagavad-Gita include:

The offering is Brahman; the oblation is Brahman;
offered by Brahman into the fire of Brahman.
Brahman will be attained by him,
who always sees Brahman in action. – Hymn 4.24[108][109]

He who finds his happiness within,
His delight within,
And his light within,
This yogin attains the bliss of Brahman, becoming Brahman. – Hymn 5.24[110]

— Bhagavad Gita

Dvaita Vedanta

Brahman of Dvaita is a concept similar to God in major world religions.[19] Dvaita holds that the individual Self is dependent on God, but distinct.[19]

Dvaita propounds Tattvavada which means understanding differences between Tattvas (significant properties) of entities within the universal substrate as follows:[citation needed]

  1. Jîva-Îshvara-bheda — difference between the Self and the Supreme God
  2. Jada-Îshvara-bheda — difference between the insentient and the Supreme God
  3. Mitha-jîva-bheda — difference between any two Selves
  4. Jada-jîva-bheda — difference between insentient and the Self
  5. Mitha-jada-bheda — difference between any two insentients

Achintya Bheda Abheda

The Acintya Bheda Abheda philosophy is similar to Dvaitadvaita (differential monism). In this philosophy, Brahman is not just impersonal, but also personal.[111] That Brahman is Supreme Personality of Godhead, though on first stage of realization (by process called jnana) of Absolute Truth, He is realized as impersonal Brahman, then as personal Brahman having eternal Vaikuntha abode (also known as Brahmalokah sanatana), then as Paramatma (by process of yoga–meditation on Superself, Vishnu-God in heart)—Vishnu (Narayana, also in everyone's heart) who has many abodes known as Vishnulokas (Vaikunthalokas), and finally (Absolute Truth is realized by bhakti) as Bhagavan, Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is source of both Paramatma and Brahman (personal, impersonal, or both).[111]

Vaishnavism

Main article: Vaishnavism

All Vaishnava schools are panentheistic and perceive the Advaita concept of identification of Atman with the impersonal Brahman as an intermediate step of self-realization, but not Mukti, or final liberation of complete God-realization through Bhakti Yoga.[citation needed] Gaudiya Vaishnavism, a form of Achintya Bheda Abheda philosophy, also concludes that Brahman is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. According to them, Brahman is Lord Vishnu; the universe and all other manifestations of the Supreme are extensions of Him.[citation needed]

Bhakti movement

Main article: Bhakti movement

The Bhakti movement of Hinduism built its theosophy around two concepts of Brahman—Nirguna and Saguna.[112] Nirguna Brahman was the concept of the Ultimate Reality as formless, without attributes or quality.[113] Saguna Brahman, in contrast, was envisioned and developed as with form, attributes and quality.[113] The two had parallels in the ancient pantheistic unmanifest and theistic manifest traditions, respectively, and traceable to Arjuna-Krishna dialogue in the Bhagavad Gita.[112][114] It is the same Brahman, but viewed from two perspectives, one from Nirguni knowledge-focus and other from Saguni love-focus, united as Krishna (an 8th incarnation of Lord Vishnu) in the Gita.[114] Nirguna bhakta's poetry were Jnana-shrayi, or had roots in knowledge.[112] Saguna bhakta's poetry were Prema-shrayi, or with roots in love.[112] In Bhakti, the emphasis is reciprocal love and devotion, where the devotee loves God, and God loves the devotee.[114]

Jeaneane Fowler states that the concepts of Nirguna and Saguna Brahman, at the root of Bhakti movement theosophy, underwent more profound development with the ideas of Vedanta school of Hinduism, particularly those of Adi Shankara's Advaita Vedanta, Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita Vedanta, and Madhvacharya's Dvaita Vedanta.[113] Two 12th-century influential treatises on bhakti were Sandilya Bhakti Sutra—a treatise resonating with Nirguna-bhakti, and Narada Bhakti Sutra—a treatise that leans towards Saguna-bhakti.[115]

Nirguna and Saguna Brahman concepts of the Bhakti movement has been a baffling one to scholars, particularly the Nirguni tradition because it offers, states David Lorenzen, "heart-felt devotion to a God without attributes, without even any definable personality".[116] Yet given the "mountains of Nirguni bhakti literature", adds Lorenzen, bhakti for Nirguna Brahman has been a part of the reality of the Hindu tradition along with the bhakti for Saguna Brahman.[116] These were two alternate ways of imagining God during the bhakti movement.[112]

Buddhist understanding of Brahman

Buddhism rejects the Upanishadic doctrine of Brahman and Atman (permanent Self, essence).[note 6] According to Damien Keown, "the Buddha said he could find no evidence for the existence of either the personal Self (atman) or its cosmic counterpart (brahman)".[117] The metaphysics of Buddhism rejects Brahman (ultimate being), Brahman-like essence, Self and anything metaphysically equivalent through its Anatta doctrine.[118][119][120]

According to Merv Fowler, some forms of Buddhism have incorporated concepts that resemble that of Brahman.[note 7] As an example, Fowler cites the early Sarvastivada school of Buddhism, which "had come to accept a very pantheistic religious philosophy, and are important because of the impetus they gave to the development of Mahayana Buddhism".[121] According to William Theodore De Bary, in the doctrines of the Yogacara school of Mahayana Buddhism, "the Body of Essence, the Ultimate Buddha, who pervaded and underlay the whole universe [...] was in fact the World Self, the Brahman of the Upanishads, in a new form".[122] According to Fowler, some scholars have identified the Buddhist nirvana, conceived of as the Ultimate Reality, with the Hindu Brahman/atman; Fowler claims that this view "has gained little support in Buddhist circles."[123] Fowler asserts that the authors of a number of Mahayana texts took pains to differentiate their ideas from the Upanishadic doctrine of Brahman.[note 8]

Brahma as a surrogate for Brahman in Buddhist texts

The spiritual concept of Brahman is far older in the Vedic literature[citation needed], and some scholars suggest deity Brahma may have emerged as a personal conception and icon with form and attributes (saguna version) of the impersonal, nirguna (without attributes), formless universal principle called Brahman.[124] In the Hindu texts, one of the earliest mentions of deity Brahma along with Vishnu and Shiva is in the fifth Prapathaka (lesson) of the Maitrayaniya Upanishad, probably composed in late 1st millennium BCE, after the rise of Buddhism.[125][126][127]

The early Buddhists attacked the concept of Brahma, states Gananath Obeyesekere, and thereby polemically attacked the Vedic and Upanishadic concept of gender neutral, abstract metaphysical Brahman.[128] This critique of Brahma in early Buddhist texts aim at ridiculing the Vedas, but the same texts simultaneously call metta (loving-kindness, compassion) as the state of union with Brahma. The early Buddhist approach to Brahma was to reject any creator aspect, while retaining the value system in the Vedic Brahmavihara concepts, in the Buddhist value system.[128] According to Martin Wiltshire, the term "Brahma loka" in the Buddhist canon, instead of "Svarga loka", is likely a Buddhist attempt to choose and emphasize the "truth power" and knowledge focus of the Brahman concept in the Upanishads.[129] Simultaneously, by reformulating Brahman as Brahma and relegating it within its Devas and Samsara theories, early Buddhism rejected the Atman-Brahman premise of the Vedas to present its own Dhamma doctrines (anicca, dukkha and anatta).[130]

Brahman in Sikhism

 
 
Ik Onkar (left) is part of the Mul Mantar in Sikhism, where it means "Onkar [God, Reality] is one".[131] The Onkar of Sikhism is related to Om—also called Omkāra[132]—in Hinduism.[131][133] The ancient texts of Hinduism state Om to be a symbolism for the Highest Reality, Brahmin.[134][135]

The metaphysical concept of Brahman, particularly as nirguni Brahman—attributeless, formless, eternal Highest Reality—is at the foundation of Sikhism.[136] This belief is observed through nirguni Bhakti by the Sikhs.[137][138]

In Gauri, which is part of the Guru Granth Sahib, Brahman is declared as "One without a second", in Sri Rag "everything is born of Him, and is finally absorbed in Him", in Var Asa "whatever we see or hear is the manifestation of Brahman".[139] Nesbitt states that the first two words, Ik Onkar, in the twelve-word Mul Mantar at the opening of the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib, has been translated in three different ways by scholars: "There is one god", "This being is one", and as "One reality is".[131]

Similar emphasis on "One without a second" for metaphysical concept of Brahman, is found in ancient texts of Hinduism, such as the Chandogya Upanishad's chapter 6.2.[140][141] The ideas about God and Highest Reality in Sikhism share themes found in the Saguna and Nirguna concepts of Brahman in Hinduism.[136][142]

The concept of Ultimate Reality (Brahman) is also referred in Sikhism as Nam, Sat-naam or Naam, and Ik Oankar like Hindu Om symbolizes this Reality.[143][144]

Brahman in Jainism

Scholars contest whether the concept of Brahman is rejected or accepted in Jainism. The concept of a theistic God is rejected by Jainism, but Jiva or "Atman (Self) exists" is held to be a metaphysical truth and central to its theory of rebirths and Kevala Jnana.[145]

Bissett states that Jainism accepts the "material world" and "Atman", but rejects Brahman—the metaphysical concept of Ultimate Reality and Cosmic Principles found in the ancient texts of Hinduism.[146] Goswami, in contrast, states that the literature of Jainism has an undercurrent of monist theme, where the self who gains the knowledge of Brahman (Highest Reality, Supreme Knowledge) is identical to Brahman itself.[147] Jaini states that Jainism neither accepts nor rejects the premise of Ultimate Reality (Brahman), instead Jain ontology adopts a many sided doctrine called Anekantavada. This doctrine holds that "reality is irreducibly complex" and no human view or description can represent the Absolute Truth.[148][149] Those who have understood and realized the Absolute Truth are the liberated ones and the Supreme Self (Paramatman), with Kevala Jnana.[148]

Comparison of Brahma, Brahman, Brahmin and Brahmanas

Brahma is distinct from Brahman.[150] Brahma is a male deity, in the post-Vedic Puranic literature,[151] who creates but neither preserves nor destroys anything. He is envisioned in some Hindu texts to have emerged from the metaphysical Brahman along with Vishnu (preserver), Shiva (destroyer), all other gods, goddesses, matter and other beings.[152][151][153]

Brahman is a metaphysical concept of Hinduism referring to the ultimate unchanging reality,[150][154][155] that is uncreated, eternal, infinite, transcendent, the cause, the foundation, the source and the goal of all existence.[152] It is envisioned as either the cause or that which transforms itself into everything that exists in the universe as well as all beings, that which existed before the present universe and time, which exists as current universe and time, and that which will absorb and exist after the present universe and time ends.[152] It is a gender neutral abstract concept.[152][156][157] The abstract Brahman concept is predominant in the Vedic texts, particularly the Upanishads;[158] while the deity Brahma finds minor mention in the Vedas and the Upanishads.[159] In the Puranic and the Epics literature, deity Brahma appears more often, but inconsistently. Some texts suggest that god Vishnu created Brahma (Vaishnavism),[160] others suggest god Shiva created Brahma (Shaivism),[161] yet others suggest goddess Devi created Brahma (Shaktism),[162] and these texts then go on to state that Brahma is a secondary creator of the world working respectively on their behalf.[162][163] Further, the medieval era texts of these major theistic traditions of Hinduism assert that the saguna[note 9] Brahman is Vishnu,[165] is Shiva,[166] or is Devi[167] respectively, they are different names or aspects of the Brahman, and that the Atman (Self) within every living being is the same or part of this ultimate, eternal Brahman.[168]

Brahmin is a varna in Hinduism specialising in theory as priests, preservers and transmitters of sacred literature across generations.[169][170]

The Brahmanas are one of the four ancient layers of texts within the Vedas. They are primarily a digest incorporating myths, legends, the explanation of Vedic rituals and in some cases philosophy.[171][172] They are embedded within each of the four Vedas, and form a part of the Hindu śruti literature.[173]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "not sublatable",[14] the final element in a dialectical process which cannot be eliminated or annihilated (German: "aufheben").
  2. ^ It is also defined as:
  3. ^ Saguna Brahman, with qualities
  4. ^ Nirguna Brahman, without qualities
  5. ^ Supreme
  6. ^ Merv Fowler, Zen Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices (Brighton: Sussex Academic, 2005), p. 30: "Upanisadic thought is anything but consistent; nevertheless, there is a common focus on the acceptance of a totally transcendent Absolute, a trend which arose in the Vedic period. This indescribable Absolute is called Brahman [...] The true Self and Brahman are one and the same. Known as the Brahman-Atman synthesis, this theory, which is central to Upanisadic thought, is the cornerstone of Indian philosophy. The Brahman-Atman synthesis, which posits the theory of a permanent, unchanging self, was anathema to Buddhists, and it was as a reaction to the synthesis that Buddhism first drew breath. Merv Fowler p. 47: "For the Upanisadic sages, the real is the Self, is Atman, is Brahman. [...] To the Buddhist, however, any talk of an Atman or permanent, unchanging Self, the very kernel of Upanisadic thought, is anathema, a false notion of manifest proportion."
  7. ^ Merv Fowler, Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices (Brighton: Sussex Academic, 1999), p. 34: "It was inevitable that the non-theistic philosophy of orthodox Buddhism should court the older Hindu practices and, in particular, infuse into its philosophy the belief in a totally transcendent Absolute of the nature of Brahman."
  8. ^ Merv Fowler, Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices (Brighton: Sussex Academic, 1999), p. 82: "The original writers of these Mahayana texts were not at all pleased that their writings were seen to contain the Brahman of the Upanisads in a new form. The authors of the Lankavatara strenuously denied that the womb of Tathagatahood, [...] was in any way equatable with the 'eternal self', the Brahmanical atman of Upanisadic thought. Similarly, the claim in the Nirvana Sutra that the Buddha regarded Buddhahood as a 'great atman' caused the Yogacarins considerable distress."
  9. ^ representation with face and attributes)[164]

References

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    ऋग्वेद: सूक्तं ६.२१ Wikisource
  31. ^ Original: ब्रह्मणस्पतिरेता सं कर्मार इवाधमत् । देवानां पूर्व्ये युगेऽसतः सदजायत ॥२॥
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  34. ^ See Rigveda Chapter 1.164;
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  37. ^ Lindsay Jones (2005), Encyclopedia of religion, Volume 13, Macmillan Reference, ISBN 978-0028657332, page 8894, Quote: "In Hindu iconography the swan personifies Brahman-Atman, the transcendent yet immanent ground of being, the Self."
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    Edward Roer (Translator), Shankara's Introduction, p. 2, at Google Books, pages 2–4
    Katie Javanaud (2013), Is The Buddhist 'No-Self' Doctrine Compatible With Pursuing Nirvana?, Philosophy Now
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Bibliography

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External links

 
Wikiquote has quotations related to Brahman.
  • The Concept of Brahman in Hindu Philosophy, Haridas Chaudhuri (1954), Philosophy East and West, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 47–66.
  • The Idea of God in Hinduism, A. S. Woodburne (1925), The Journal of Religion, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 52–66.
  • The Western View of Hinduism: An Age-old Mistake (Brahman), J. M. De Mora (1997), Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Vol. 78, No. 1/4, pp. 1–12.
  • Concepts of God Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, (Compares Brahman with concepts of God found in other religions).
  • Detailed essays on Brahman at Hinduwebsite.com

April 25, 2023
brahman, confused, with, brahma, hindu, layer, text, vedas, parabrahman, supreme, religion, brahmin, varna, leather, product, maker, american, raised, meat, other, uses, disambiguation, hinduism, sanskrit, रह, मन, connotes, highest, universal, principle, ultim. Not to be confused with Brahma the Hindu god Brahmana a layer of text in the Vedas Parabrahman the Supreme Brahman Brahmanism the religion Brahmin varna Brahman leather product maker or American Brahman Cow raised for meat For other uses see Brahman disambiguation In Hinduism Brahman Sanskrit ब रह मन connotes the highest universal principle the ultimate reality in the universe 1 2 3 In major schools of Hindu philosophy it is the material efficient formal and final cause of all that exists 2 4 5 It is the pervasive infinite eternal truth consciousness and bliss which does not change yet is the cause of all changes 1 3 6 Brahman as a metaphysical concept refers to the single binding unity behind diversity in all that exists in the universe 7 Om signifies the essence of Brahman the ultimate reality A drop in the ocean an analogy for Atman merging into Brahman Brahman is a Vedic Sanskrit word and it is conceptualized in Hinduism states Paul Deussen as the creative principle which lies realized in the whole world 8 Brahman is a key concept found in the Vedas and it is extensively discussed in the early Upanishads 9 The Vedas conceptualize Brahman as the Cosmic Principle 10 In the Upanishads it has been variously described as Sat cit ananda truth consciousness bliss 11 12 and as the unchanging permanent highest reality 13 14 note 1 note 2 Brahman is discussed in Hindu texts with the concept of Atman Sanskrit आत मन Self 9 17 personal note 3 impersonal note 4 or Para Brahman note 5 or in various combinations of these qualities depending on the philosophical school 18 In dualistic schools of Hinduism such as the theistic Dvaita Vedanta Brahman is different from Atman Self in each being 5 19 20 In non dual schools such as the Advaita Vedanta the substance of Brahman is identical to the substance of Atman is everywhere and inside each living being and there is connected spiritual oneness in all existence 6 21 22 Contents 1 Etymology and related terms 2 History and literature 2 1 Vedic 2 2 Upanishads 2 2 1 Criticism to this concept of Maha vakya 3 Discussion 3 1 Brahman as a metaphysical concept 3 1 1 Atma the ultimate reality 3 1 2 Maya the perceived reality 3 1 3 Nirguna and Saguna Brahman 3 2 Brahman as an ontological concept 3 3 Brahman as an axiological concept 3 4 Brahman as a teleological concept 3 5 Brahman as a soteriological concept Moksha 4 Schools of thought 4 1 Vedanta 4 1 1 Advaita Vedanta 4 1 2 Dvaita Vedanta 4 1 3 Achintya Bheda Abheda 4 2 Vaishnavism 4 3 Bhakti movement 5 Buddhist understanding of Brahman 5 1 Brahma as a surrogate for Brahman in Buddhist texts 6 Brahman in Sikhism 7 Brahman in Jainism 8 Comparison of Brahma Brahman Brahmin and Brahmanas 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 11 1 Bibliography 12 External linksEtymology and related terms EditSanskrit ब रह मन Brahman an n stem nominative brahma from a root bṛh to swell expand grow enlarge is a neuter noun to be distinguished from the masculine brahman denoting a person associated with Brahman and from Brahma the creator God in the Hindu Trinity the Trimurti Brahman is thus a gender neutral concept that implies greater impersonality than masculine or feminine conceptions of the deity Brahman is referred to as the supreme self Puligandla states it as the unchanging reality amidst and beyond the world 23 while Sinar states Brahman is a concept that cannot be exactly defined 24 In Vedic Sanskrit Brahma ब रह म nominative singular brahman ब रह मन stem neuter 25 gender from root bṛh means to be or make firm strong solid expand promote 26 Brahmana ब रह मन nominative singular never plural from stems brha to make firm strong expand Sanskrit man which denotes some manifest form of definite power inherent firmness supporting or fundamental principle 26 In later Sanskrit usage Brahma ब रह म nominative singular brahman ब रह मन stem neuter 25 gender means the concept of the transcendent and immanent ultimate reality Supreme Cosmic Spirit in Hinduism The concept is central to Hindu philosophy especially Vedanta this is discussed below Brahma ब रह म nominative singular Brahman ब रह मन stem masculine gender means the deity or deva Prajapati Brahma He is one of the members of the Hindu trinity and associated with creation but does not have a cult in present day India This is because Brahma the creator god is long lived but not eternal i e Brahma gets absorbed back into Purusha at the end of an aeon and is born again at the beginning of a new kalpa These are distinct from A brahmaṇa ब र ह मण masculine pronounced ˈbɽaːɦmɐɳɐ which literally means pertaining to prayer is a prose commentary on the Vedic mantras an integral part of the Vedic literature A brahmaṇa ब र ह मण masculine same pronunciation as above means priest in this usage the word is usually rendered in English as Brahmin This usage is also found in the Atharva Veda In neuter plural form Brahmaṇi See Vedic priest Ishvara lit Supreme Lord in Advaita is identified as a partial worldly manifestation with limited attributes of the ultimate reality the attributeless Brahman In Visishtadvaita and Dvaita however Ishvara the Supreme Controller has infinite attributes and the source of the impersonal Brahman Devas the expansions of Brahman God into various forms each with a certain quality In the Vedic religion there were 33 devas which later became exaggerated to 330 million devas In fact devas are themselves regarded as more mundane manifestations of the One and the Supreme Brahman See Para Brahman The Sanskrit word for ten million also means group and 330 million devas originally meant 33 types of divine manifestations History and literature EditVedic Edit Brahman is a concept present in Vedic Samhitas the oldest layer of the Vedas dated to the late 2nd millennium BCE For example 27 The Ṛcs are limited parimita The Samans are limited And the Yajuses are limited But of the Word Brahman there is no end Taittiriya Samhita VII 3 1 4 Translated by Barbara Holdrege 27 The concept Brahman is referred to in hundreds of hymns in the Vedic literature 28 The word Brahma is found in Rig veda hymns such as 2 2 10 29 6 21 8 30 10 72 2 31 and in Atharva veda hymns such as 6 122 5 10 1 12 and 14 1 131 28 The concept is found in various layers of the Vedic literature for example 28 Aitareya Brahmana 1 18 3 Kausitaki Brahmana 6 12 Satapatha Brahmana 13 5 2 5 Taittiriya Brahmana 2 8 8 10 Jaiminiya Brahmana 1 129 Taittiriya Aranyaka 4 4 1 through 5 4 1 Vajasaneyi Samhita 22 4 through 23 25 Maitrayani Samhita 3 12 1 16 2 through 4 9 2 122 15 The concept is extensively discussed in the Upanishads embedded in the Vedas see next section and also mentioned in the vedaṅga the limbs of Vedas such as the Srauta sutra 1 12 12 and Paraskara Gryhasutra 3 2 10 through 3 4 5 28 Jan Gonda states that the diverse reference of Brahman in the Vedic literature starting with Rigveda Samhitas convey different senses or different shades of meaning 32 There is no one single word in modern Western languages that can render the various shades of meaning of the word Brahman in the Vedic literature according to Jan Gonda 32 In verses considered as the most ancient the Vedic idea of Brahman is the power immanent in the sound words verses and formulas of Vedas However states Gonda the verses suggest that this ancient meaning was never the only meaning and the concept evolved and expanded in ancient India 33 Barbara Holdrege states that the concept Brahman is discussed in the Vedas along four major themes as the Word or verses Sabdabrahman 34 as Knowledge embodied in Creator Principle as Creation itself and a Corpus of traditions 35 Hananya Goodman states that the Vedas conceptualize Brahman as the Cosmic Principles underlying all that exists 10 Gavin Flood states that the Vedic era witnessed a process of abstraction where the concept of Brahman evolved and expanded from the power of sound words and rituals to the essence of the universe the deeper foundation of all phenomena the essence of the self Atman Self and the deeper truth of a person beyond apparent difference 36 Upanishads Edit Swan Hansa ह स is the symbol for Brahman Atman in Hindu iconography 37 38 The primary focus on the early Upanishads is Brahmavidya and Atmavidya that is the knowledge of Brahman and the knowledge of Atman Self what it is and how it is understood 39 The texts do not present a single unified theory rather they present a variety of themes with multiple possible interpretations which flowered in post Vedic era as premises for the diverse schools of Hinduism 9 Paul Deussen states that the concept of Brahman in the Upanishads expands to metaphysical ontological and soteriological themes such as it being the primordial reality that creates maintains and withdraws within it the universe 40 the principle of the world 40 the absolute 41 the general universal 42 the cosmic principle 43 the ultimate that is the cause of everything including all gods 44 the divine being Lord distinct God or God within oneself 45 the knowledge 46 the Self sense of self of each human being that is fearless luminuous exalted and blissful 47 the essence of liberation of spiritual freedom 48 the universe within each living being and the universe outside 47 the essence and everything innate in all that exists inside outside and everywhere 49 Gavin Flood summarizes the concept of Brahman in the Upanishads to be the essence the smallest particle of the cosmos and the infinite universe the essence of all things which cannot be seen though it can be experienced the Self within each person each being the truth the reality the absolute the bliss ananda 36 According to Radhakrishnan the sages of the Upanishads teach Brahman as the ultimate essence of material phenomena that cannot be seen or heard but whose nature can be known through the development of self knowledge atma jnana 50 The Upanishads contain several maha vakyas or Great Sayings on the concept of Brahman 51 Text Upanishad Translation Referenceअह ब रह म अस म aham brahmasmi Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1 4 10 I am Brahman 52 अयम आत म ब रह मayam atma brahma Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4 4 5 The Self is Brahman 53 सर व खल व द ब रह मsarvam khalvidam brahma Chandogya Upanishad 3 14 1 All this is Brahman 54 एकम व द व त यम ekam evadvitiyam Chandogya Upanishad 6 2 1 That Brahman is one without a second 55 तत त वमस tat tvam asi Chandogya Upanishad 6 8 7 et seq Thou art that You are Brahman 56 57 प रज ञ न ब रह मprajnanam brahma Aitareya Upanishad 3 3 7 Wisdom is Brahman 58 The Upanishad discuss the metaphysical concept of Brahman in many ways such as the Saṇḍilya doctrine in Chapter 3 of the Chandogya Upanishad among of the oldest Upanishadic texts 59 The Saṇḍilya doctrine on Brahman is not unique to Chandogya Upanishad but found in other ancient texts such as the Satapatha Brahmana in section 10 6 3 It asserts that Atman the inner essence Self inside man exists the Brahman is identical with Atman that the Brahman is inside man thematic quotations that are frequently cited by later schools of Hinduism and modern studies on Indian philosophies 59 60 61 This whole universe is Brahman In tranquility let one worship It as Tajjalan that from which he came forth as that into which he will be dissolved as that in which he breathes Chandogya Upanishad 3 14 1 59 62 Man is a creature of his Kratumaya क रत मय will purpose Let him therefore have for himself this will this purpose The intelligent whose body is imbued with life principle whose form is light whose thoughts are driven by truth whose self is like space invisible but ever present from whom all works all desires all sensory feelings encompassing this whole world the silent the unconcerned this is me my Self my Soul within my heart Chandogya Upanishad 3 14 1 3 14 3 59 63 This is my Soul in the innermost heart greater than the earth greater than the aerial space greater than these worlds This Soul this Self of mine is that Brahman Chandogya Upanishad 3 14 3 3 14 4 62 63 Paul Deussen notes that teachings similar to above on Brahman re appeared centuries later in the words of the 3rd century CE Neoplatonic Roman philosopher Plotinus in Enneades 5 1 2 62 Criticism to this concept of Maha vakya EditFollowing are the words of A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada from a selected part of the purport of Adi 7 128 64 The Mayavadi philosophers consider many Vedic mantras to be the maha vakya or principal Vedic mantra such as tat tvam asi Chandogya Upaniṣad 6 8 7 idaṁ sarvaṁ yad ayam atma and brahmedaṁ sarvam Bṛhad araṇyaka Upaniṣad 2 5 1 atmaivedaṁ sarvam Chandogya Upaniṣad 7 25 2 and neha nanasti kincana Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2 1 11 That is a great mistake Only oṁkara is the maha vakya All these other mantras that the Mayavadis accept as the maha vakya are only incidental They cannot be taken as the maha vakya or maha mantra The mantra tat tvam asi indicates only a partial understanding of the Vedas unlike oṁkara which represents the full understanding of the Vedas Therefore the transcendental sound that includes all Vedic knowledge is oṁkara praṇava Aside from oṁkara none of the words uttered by the followers of Saṅkaracarya can be considered the maha vakya They are merely passing remarks Discussion EditThe concept Brahman has a lot of undertones of meaning and is difficult to understand It has relevance in metaphysics ontology axiology ethics amp aesthetics teleology and soteriology Brahman as a metaphysical concept Edit Brahman is the key metaphysical concept in various schools of Hindu philosophy It is the theme in its diverse discussions to the two central questions of metaphysics what is ultimately real and are there principles applying to everything that is real 65 Brahman is the ultimate eternally constant reality while the observed universe is a different kind of reality but one which is temporary changing Maya in various orthodox Hindu schools Maya pre exists and co exists with Brahman the Ultimate Reality The Highest Universal the Cosmic Principles 66 Atma the ultimate reality Edit In addition to the concept of Brahman Hindu metaphysics includes the concept of Atman or Self which is also considered ultimately real 66 The various schools of Hinduism particularly the dual and non dual schools differ on the nature of Atman whether it is distinct from Brahman or same as Brahman Those that consider Brahman and Atman as distinct are theistic and Dvaita Vedanta and later Nyaya schools illustrate this premise 67 Those that consider Brahman and Atman as same are monist or pantheistic and Advaita Vedanta later Samkhya 68 and Yoga schools illustrate this metaphysical premise 69 70 71 In schools that equate Brahman with Atman Brahman is the sole ultimate reality 72 The predominant teaching in the Upanishads is the spiritual identity of Self within each human being with the Self of every other human being and living being as well as with the supreme ultimate reality Brahman 73 74 Maya the perceived reality Edit In the metaphysics of the major schools of Hinduism Maya is perceived reality one that does not reveal the hidden principles the true reality the Brahman Maya is unconscious Brahman Atman is conscious Maya is the literal and the effect Brahman is the figurative Upadana the principle and the cause 66 Maya is born changes evolves dies with time from circumstances due to invisible principles of nature Atman Brahman is eternal unchanging invisible principle unaffected absolute and resplendent consciousness Maya concept states Archibald Gough is the indifferent aggregate of all the possibilities of emanatory or derived existences pre existing with Brahman just like the possibility of a future tree pre exists in the seed of the tree 66 Nirguna and Saguna Brahman Edit Brahman the ultimate reality is both with and without attributes In this context Para Brahman is formless and omniscient Ishvara the god or Paramatman and Om where as Saguna Brahman is manifestation or avatara of god in personified form While Hinduism sub schools such as Advaita Vedanta emphasize the complete equivalence of Brahman and Atman they also expound on Brahman as saguna Brahman the Brahman with attributes and nirguna Brahman the Brahman without attributes 75 The nirguna Brahman is the Brahman as it really is however the saguna Brahman is posited as a means to realizing nirguna Brahman but the Hinduism schools declare saguna Brahman to be a part of the ultimate nirguna Brahman 76 The concept of the saguna Brahman such as in the form of avatars is considered in these schools of Hinduism to be a useful symbolism path and tool for those who are still on their spiritual journey but the concept is finally cast aside by the fully enlightened 76 Brahman as an ontological concept Edit Brahman along with Self Atman are part of the ontological 77 premises of Indian philosophy 78 79 Different schools of Indian philosophy have held widely dissimilar ontologies Buddhism and Carvaka school of Hinduism deny that there exists anything called a Self individual Atman or Brahman in the cosmic sense while the orthodox schools of Hinduism Jainism and Ajivikas hold that there exists a Self 80 81 Brahman as well the Atman in every human being and living being is considered equivalent and the sole reality the eternal self born unlimited innately free blissful Absolute in schools of Hinduism such as the Advaita Vedanta and Yoga 82 83 84 Knowing one s own self is knowing the God inside oneself and this is held as the path to knowing the ontological nature of Brahman universal Self as it is identical to the Atman individual Self The nature of Atman Brahman is held in these schools states Barbara Holdrege to be as a pure being sat consciousness cit and full of bliss ananda and it is formless distinctionless nonchanging and unbounded 82 In theistic schools in contrast such as Dvaita Vedanta the nature of Brahman is held as eternal unlimited innately free blissful Absolute while each individual s Self is held as distinct and limited which can at best come close in eternal blissful love of the Brahman therein viewed as the Godhead 85 Other schools of Hinduism have their own ontological premises relating to Brahman reality and nature of existence Vaisheshika school of Hinduism for example holds a substantial realist ontology 86 The Carvaka school denied Brahman and Atman and held a materialist ontology 87 Brahman as an axiological concept Edit Brahman and Atman are key concepts to Hindu theories of axiology ethics and aesthetics 88 89 Ananda bliss state Michael Myers and other scholars has axiological importance to the concept of Brahman as the universal inner harmony 90 91 Some scholars equate Brahman with the highest value in an axiological sense 92 The axiological concepts of Brahman and Atman is central to Hindu theory of values 93 A statement such as I am Brahman states Shaw means I am related to everything and this is the underlying premise for compassion for others in Hinduism for each individual s welfare peace or happiness depends on others including other beings and nature at large and vice versa 94 Tietge states that even in non dual schools of Hinduism where Brahman and Atman are treated ontologically equivalent the theory of values emphasizes individual agent and ethics In these schools of Hinduism states Tietge the theory of action are derived from and centered in compassion for the other and not egotistical concern for the self 95 The axiological theory of values emerges implicitly from the concepts of Brahman and Atman states Bauer 96 The aesthetics of human experience and ethics are one consequence of self knowledge in Hinduism one resulting from the perfect timeless unification of one s Self with the Brahman the Self of everyone everything and all eternity wherein the pinnacle of human experience is not dependent on an afterlife but pure consciousness in the present life itself 96 It does not assume that an individual is weak nor does it presume that he is inherently evil but the opposite human Self and its nature is held as fundamentally unqualified faultless beautiful blissful ethical compassionate and good 96 97 Ignorance is to assume it evil liberation is to know its eternal expansive pristine happy and good nature 96 The axiological premises in the Hindu thought and Indian philosophies in general states Nikam is to elevate the individual exalting the innate potential of man where the reality of his being is the objective reality of the universe 98 The Upanishads of Hinduism summarizes Nikam hold that the individual has the same essence and reality as the objective universe and this essence is the finest essence the individual Self is the universal Self and Atman is the same reality and the same aesthetics as the Brahman 98 Brahman as a teleological concept Edit Brahman and Atman are very important teleological concepts Teleology deals with the apparent purpose principle or goal of something In the first chapter of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad these questions are dealt with It says People who make inquiries about brahman say What is the cause of Brahman Why were we born By what do we live On what are we established Governed by whom O you who know Brahman do we live in pleasure and in pain each in our respective situation Shvetashvatara Upanishad Hymns 1 1 According to the Upanishads the main purpose meaning of anything or everything can be explained or achieved understood only through the realization of the Brahman The apparent purpose of everything can be grasped by obtaining the Brahman as the Brahman is referred to that when known all things become known What is that my lord by which being known all of this becomes known Angiras told him Two types of knowledge a man should learn those who know Brahman tell us the higher and the lower The lower of the two consists of the Rgveda Yajurveda Samaveda whereas the higher is that by which one grasps the imperishable Brahman Mundaka Upanishad Hymns 1 1 99 Elsewhere in the Upanishads the relationship between Brahman amp all knowledge is established such that any questions of apparent purpose teleology are resolved when the Brahman is ultimately known This is found in the Aitareya Upanishad 3 3 and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4 4 17 Knowledge is the eye of all that and on knowledge it is founded Knowledge is the eye of the world and knowledge the foundation Brahman is knowing Aitereya Upanishad Hymns 3 3 100 101 One of the main reasons why Brahman should be realized is because it removes suffering from a person s life Following on Advaita Vedanta tradition this is because the person has the ability and knowledge to discriminate between the unchanging Purusha Atman Brahman and the ever changing Prakriti maya and so the person is not attached to the transient fleeting amp impermanent Hence the person is only content with their true self and not the body or anything else Further elaborations of Brahman as the central teleological issue are found in Shankara s commentaries of the Brahma Sutras amp his Vivekachudamani In Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3 9 26 it mentions that the atman neither trembles in fear nor suffers injury and the Isha Upanishad 6 7 too talks about suffering as non existent when one becomes the Brahman as they see the self in all beings and all beings in the self The famous Advaita Vedanta commentator Shankara noted that Sabda Pramana scriptural epistemology amp anubhava personal experience is the ultimate amp only source of knowing learning the Brahman and that its purpose or existence cannot be verified independently because it s not an object of perception inference unless one is spiritually advanced thereby it s truth becomes self evident intuitive amp is beyond conceptualizations But he does note the Upanishads themselves are ultimately derived from use of the various pramanas to derive at ultimate truths as seen in Yalnavalkya s philosophical inquires All Vedanta schools agree on this These teleological discussions inspired some refutations from competing philosophies about the origin purpose of Brahman amp avidya ignorance and the relationship between the two leading to variant schools like Kashmiri Shaivism amp others Brahman as a soteriological concept Moksha Edit Main article Moksha The orthodox schools of Hinduism particularly Vedanta Samkhya and Yoga schools focus on the concept of Brahman and Atman in their discussion of moksha The Advaita Vedanta holds there is no being non being distinction between Atman and Brahman The knowledge of Atman Self knowledge is synonymous to the knowledge of Brahman inside the person and outside the person Furthermore the knowledge of Brahman leads to a sense of oneness with all existence self realization indescribable joy and moksha freedom bliss 102 because Brahman Atman is the origin and end of all things the universal principle behind and at source of everything that exists consciousness that pervades everything and everyone 103 The theistic sub school such as Dvaita Vedanta of Hinduism starts with the same premises but adds the premise that individual Self and Brahman are distinct and thereby reaches entirely different conclusions where Brahman is conceptualized in a manner similar to God in other major world religions 19 The theistic schools assert that moksha is the loving eternal union or nearness of one s Self with the distinct and separate Brahman Vishnu Shiva or equivalent henotheism Brahman in these sub schools of Hinduism is considered the highest perfection of existence which every Self journeys towards in its own way for moksha 104 Schools of thought EditVedanta Edit The concept of Brahman its nature and its relationship with Atman and the observed universe is a major point of difference between the various sub schools of the Vedanta school of Hinduism Advaita Vedanta Edit Main article Advaita Vedanta Advaita Vedanta espouses nondualism Brahman is the sole unchanging reality 72 there is no duality no limited individual Self nor a separate unlimited cosmic Self rather all Self all of existence across all space and time is one and the same 6 82 105 The universe and the Self inside each being is Brahman and the universe and the Self outside each being is Brahman according to Advaita Vedanta Brahman is the origin and end of all things material and spiritual Brahman is the root source of everything that exists He states that Brahman can neither be taught nor perceived as an object of intellectual knowledge but it can be learned and realized by all human beings 21 The goal of Advaita Vedanta is to realize that one s Self Atman gets obscured by ignorance and false identification Avidya When Avidya is removed the Atman Self inside a person is realized as identical with Brahman 75 The Brahman is not an outside separate dual entity the Brahman is within each person states Advaita Vedanta school of Hinduism Brahman is all that is eternal unchanging and that which truly exists 72 This view is stated in this school in many different forms such as Ekam sat Truth is one and all is Brahman The universe does not simply come from Brahman it is Brahman According to Adi Shankara a proponent of Advaita Vedanta the knowledge of Brahman that shruti provides cannot be obtained by any other means besides self inquiry 106 In Advaita Vedanta nirguna Brahman that is the Brahman without attributes is held to be the ultimate and sole reality 72 76 Consciousness is not a property of Brahman but its very nature In this respect Advaita Vedanta differs from other Vedanta schools 107 Example verses from Bhagavad Gita include The offering is Brahman the oblation is Brahman offered by Brahman into the fire of Brahman Brahman will be attained by him who always sees Brahman in action Hymn 4 24 108 109 He who finds his happiness within His delight within And his light within This yogin attains the bliss of Brahman becoming Brahman Hymn 5 24 110 Bhagavad Gita Dvaita Vedanta Edit Brahman of Dvaita is a concept similar to God in major world religions 19 Dvaita holds that the individual Self is dependent on God but distinct 19 Dvaita propounds Tattvavada which means understanding differences between Tattvas significant properties of entities within the universal substrate as follows citation needed Jiva Ishvara bheda difference between the Self and the Supreme God Jada Ishvara bheda difference between the insentient and the Supreme God Mitha jiva bheda difference between any two Selves Jada jiva bheda difference between insentient and the Self Mitha jada bheda difference between any two insentientsAchintya Bheda Abheda Edit The Acintya Bheda Abheda philosophy is similar to Dvaitadvaita differential monism In this philosophy Brahman is not just impersonal but also personal 111 That Brahman is Supreme Personality of Godhead though on first stage of realization by process called jnana of Absolute Truth He is realized as impersonal Brahman then as personal Brahman having eternal Vaikuntha abode also known as Brahmalokah sanatana then as Paramatma by process of yoga meditation on Superself Vishnu God in heart Vishnu Narayana also in everyone s heart who has many abodes known as Vishnulokas Vaikunthalokas and finally Absolute Truth is realized by bhakti as Bhagavan Supreme Personality of Godhead who is source of both Paramatma and Brahman personal impersonal or both 111 Vaishnavism Edit Main article Vaishnavism All Vaishnava schools are panentheistic and perceive the Advaita concept of identification of Atman with the impersonal Brahman as an intermediate step of self realization but not Mukti or final liberation of complete God realization through Bhakti Yoga citation needed Gaudiya Vaishnavism a form of Achintya Bheda Abheda philosophy also concludes that Brahman is the Supreme Personality of Godhead According to them Brahman is Lord Vishnu the universe and all other manifestations of the Supreme are extensions of Him citation needed Bhakti movement Edit Main article Bhakti movement The Bhakti movement of Hinduism built its theosophy around two concepts of Brahman Nirguna and Saguna 112 Nirguna Brahman was the concept of the Ultimate Reality as formless without attributes or quality 113 Saguna Brahman in contrast was envisioned and developed as with form attributes and quality 113 The two had parallels in the ancient pantheistic unmanifest and theistic manifest traditions respectively and traceable to Arjuna Krishna dialogue in the Bhagavad Gita 112 114 It is the same Brahman but viewed from two perspectives one from Nirguni knowledge focus and other from Saguni love focus united as Krishna an 8th incarnation of Lord Vishnu in the Gita 114 Nirguna bhakta s poetry were Jnana shrayi or had roots in knowledge 112 Saguna bhakta s poetry were Prema shrayi or with roots in love 112 In Bhakti the emphasis is reciprocal love and devotion where the devotee loves God and God loves the devotee 114 Jeaneane Fowler states that the concepts of Nirguna and Saguna Brahman at the root of Bhakti movement theosophy underwent more profound development with the ideas of Vedanta school of Hinduism particularly those of Adi Shankara s Advaita Vedanta Ramanuja s Vishishtadvaita Vedanta and Madhvacharya s Dvaita Vedanta 113 Two 12th century influential treatises on bhakti were Sandilya Bhakti Sutra a treatise resonating with Nirguna bhakti and Narada Bhakti Sutra a treatise that leans towards Saguna bhakti 115 Nirguna and Saguna Brahman concepts of the Bhakti movement has been a baffling one to scholars particularly the Nirguni tradition because it offers states David Lorenzen heart felt devotion to a God without attributes without even any definable personality 116 Yet given the mountains of Nirguni bhakti literature adds Lorenzen bhakti for Nirguna Brahman has been a part of the reality of the Hindu tradition along with the bhakti for Saguna Brahman 116 These were two alternate ways of imagining God during the bhakti movement 112 Buddhist understanding of Brahman EditBuddhism rejects the Upanishadic doctrine of Brahman and Atman permanent Self essence note 6 According to Damien Keown the Buddha said he could find no evidence for the existence of either the personal Self atman or its cosmic counterpart brahman 117 The metaphysics of Buddhism rejects Brahman ultimate being Brahman like essence Self and anything metaphysically equivalent through its Anatta doctrine 118 119 120 According to Merv Fowler some forms of Buddhism have incorporated concepts that resemble that of Brahman note 7 As an example Fowler cites the early Sarvastivada school of Buddhism which had come to accept a very pantheistic religious philosophy and are important because of the impetus they gave to the development of Mahayana Buddhism 121 According to William Theodore De Bary in the doctrines of the Yogacara school of Mahayana Buddhism the Body of Essence the Ultimate Buddha who pervaded and underlay the whole universe was in fact the World Self the Brahman of the Upanishads in a new form 122 According to Fowler some scholars have identified the Buddhist nirvana conceived of as the Ultimate Reality with the Hindu Brahman atman Fowler claims that this view has gained little support in Buddhist circles 123 Fowler asserts that the authors of a number of Mahayana texts took pains to differentiate their ideas from the Upanishadic doctrine of Brahman note 8 Brahma as a surrogate for Brahman in Buddhist texts Edit The spiritual concept of Brahman is far older in the Vedic literature citation needed and some scholars suggest deity Brahma may have emerged as a personal conception and icon with form and attributes saguna version of the impersonal nirguna without attributes formless universal principle called Brahman 124 In the Hindu texts one of the earliest mentions of deity Brahma along with Vishnu and Shiva is in the fifth Prapathaka lesson of the Maitrayaniya Upanishad probably composed in late 1st millennium BCE after the rise of Buddhism 125 126 127 The early Buddhists attacked the concept of Brahma states Gananath Obeyesekere and thereby polemically attacked the Vedic and Upanishadic concept of gender neutral abstract metaphysical Brahman 128 This critique of Brahma in early Buddhist texts aim at ridiculing the Vedas but the same texts simultaneously call metta loving kindness compassion as the state of union with Brahma The early Buddhist approach to Brahma was to reject any creator aspect while retaining the value system in the Vedic Brahmavihara concepts in the Buddhist value system 128 According to Martin Wiltshire the term Brahma loka in the Buddhist canon instead of Svarga loka is likely a Buddhist attempt to choose and emphasize the truth power and knowledge focus of the Brahman concept in the Upanishads 129 Simultaneously by reformulating Brahman as Brahma and relegating it within its Devas and Samsara theories early Buddhism rejected the Atman Brahman premise of the Vedas to present its own Dhamma doctrines anicca dukkha and anatta 130 Brahman in Sikhism Edit Ik Onkar left is part of the Mul Mantar in Sikhism where it means Onkar God Reality is one 131 The Onkar of Sikhism is related to Om also called Omkara 132 in Hinduism 131 133 The ancient texts of Hinduism state Om to be a symbolism for the Highest Reality Brahmin 134 135 The metaphysical concept of Brahman particularly as nirguni Brahman attributeless formless eternal Highest Reality is at the foundation of Sikhism 136 This belief is observed through nirguni Bhakti by the Sikhs 137 138 In Gauri which is part of the Guru Granth Sahib Brahman is declared as One without a second in Sri Rag everything is born of Him and is finally absorbed in Him in Var Asa whatever we see or hear is the manifestation of Brahman 139 Nesbitt states that the first two words Ik Onkar in the twelve word Mul Mantar at the opening of the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib has been translated in three different ways by scholars There is one god This being is one and as One reality is 131 Similar emphasis on One without a second for metaphysical concept of Brahman is found in ancient texts of Hinduism such as the Chandogya Upanishad s chapter 6 2 140 141 The ideas about God and Highest Reality in Sikhism share themes found in the Saguna and Nirguna concepts of Brahman in Hinduism 136 142 The concept of Ultimate Reality Brahman is also referred in Sikhism as Nam Sat naam or Naam and Ik Oankar like Hindu Om symbolizes this Reality 143 144 Brahman in Jainism EditScholars contest whether the concept of Brahman is rejected or accepted in Jainism The concept of a theistic God is rejected by Jainism but Jiva or Atman Self exists is held to be a metaphysical truth and central to its theory of rebirths and Kevala Jnana 145 Bissett states that Jainism accepts the material world and Atman but rejects Brahman the metaphysical concept of Ultimate Reality and Cosmic Principles found in the ancient texts of Hinduism 146 Goswami in contrast states that the literature of Jainism has an undercurrent of monist theme where the self who gains the knowledge of Brahman Highest Reality Supreme Knowledge is identical to Brahman itself 147 Jaini states that Jainism neither accepts nor rejects the premise of Ultimate Reality Brahman instead Jain ontology adopts a many sided doctrine called Anekantavada This doctrine holds that reality is irreducibly complex and no human view or description can represent the Absolute Truth 148 149 Those who have understood and realized the Absolute Truth are the liberated ones and the Supreme Self Paramatman with Kevala Jnana 148 Comparison of Brahma Brahman Brahmin and Brahmanas EditBrahma is distinct from Brahman 150 Brahma is a male deity in the post Vedic Puranic literature 151 who creates but neither preserves nor destroys anything He is envisioned in some Hindu texts to have emerged from the metaphysical Brahman along with Vishnu preserver Shiva destroyer all other gods goddesses matter and other beings 152 151 153 Brahman is a metaphysical concept of Hinduism referring to the ultimate unchanging reality 150 154 155 that is uncreated eternal infinite transcendent the cause the foundation the source and the goal of all existence 152 It is envisioned as either the cause or that which transforms itself into everything that exists in the universe as well as all beings that which existed before the present universe and time which exists as current universe and time and that which will absorb and exist after the present universe and time ends 152 It is a gender neutral abstract concept 152 156 157 The abstract Brahman concept is predominant in the Vedic texts particularly the Upanishads 158 while the deity Brahma finds minor mention in the Vedas and the Upanishads 159 In the Puranic and the Epics literature deity Brahma appears more often but inconsistently Some texts suggest that god Vishnu created Brahma Vaishnavism 160 others suggest god Shiva created Brahma Shaivism 161 yet others suggest goddess Devi created Brahma Shaktism 162 and these texts then go on to state that Brahma is a secondary creator of the world working respectively on their behalf 162 163 Further the medieval era texts of these major theistic traditions of Hinduism assert that the saguna note 9 Brahman is Vishnu 165 is Shiva 166 or is Devi 167 respectively they are different names or aspects of the Brahman and that the Atman Self within every living being is the same or part of this ultimate eternal Brahman 168 Brahmin is a varna in Hinduism specialising in theory as priests preservers and transmitters of sacred literature across generations 169 170 The Brahmanas are one of the four ancient layers of texts within the Vedas They are primarily a digest incorporating myths legends the explanation of Vedic rituals and in some cases philosophy 171 172 They are embedded within each of the four Vedas and form a part of the Hindu sruti literature 173 See also EditArche Prakṛti Purusha Shentong TaoNotes Edit not sublatable 14 the final element in a dialectical process which cannot be eliminated or annihilated German aufheben It is also defined as 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 that is the one supreme universal spirit 15 The one supreme all pervading Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe 16 Saguna Brahman with qualities Nirguna Brahman without qualities Supreme Merv Fowler Zen Buddhism Beliefs and Practices Brighton Sussex Academic 2005 p 30 Upanisadic thought is anything but consistent nevertheless there is a common focus on the acceptance of a totally transcendent Absolute a trend which arose in the Vedic period This indescribable Absolute is called Brahman The true Self and Brahman are one and the same Known as the Brahman Atman synthesis this theory which is central to Upanisadic thought is the cornerstone of Indian philosophy The Brahman Atman synthesis which posits the theory of a permanent unchanging self was anathema to Buddhists and it was as a reaction to the synthesis that Buddhism first drew breath Merv Fowler p 47 For the Upanisadic sages the real is the Self is Atman is Brahman To the Buddhist however any talk of an Atman or permanent unchanging Self the very kernel of Upanisadic thought is anathema a false notion of manifest proportion Merv Fowler Buddhism Beliefs and Practices Brighton Sussex Academic 1999 p 34 It was inevitable that the non theistic philosophy of orthodox Buddhism should court the older Hindu practices and in particular infuse into its philosophy the belief in a totally transcendent Absolute of the nature of Brahman Merv Fowler Buddhism Beliefs and Practices Brighton Sussex Academic 1999 p 82 The original writers of these Mahayana texts were not at all pleased that their writings were seen to contain the Brahman of the Upanisads in a new form The authors of the Lankavatara strenuously denied that the womb of Tathagatahood was in any way equatable with the eternal self the Brahmanical atman of Upanisadic thought Similarly the claim in the Nirvana Sutra that the Buddha regarded Buddhahood as a great atman caused the Yogacarins considerable distress representation with face and attributes 164 References Edit a b Lochtefeld James G 2002 The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism Vol 1 The Rosen Publishing Group p 122 ISBN 978 0823931798 a b P T Raju 2006 Idealistic Thought of India Routledge ISBN 978 1406732627 page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII a b Fowler 2002 pp 49 55 in Upanishads 318 319 in Vishistadvaita 246 248 and 252 255 in Advaita 342 343 in Dvaita 175 176 in Samkhya Yoga Mariasusai Dhavamony 2002 Hindu Christian Dialogue Theological Soundings and Perspectives Rodopi Press ISBN 978 9042015104 pages 43 44 a b For dualism school of Hinduism see Francis X Clooney 2010 Hindu God Christian God How Reason Helps Break Down the Boundaries between Religions Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0199738724 pages 51 58 111 115 For monist school of Hinduism see B Martinez Bedard 2006 Types of Causes in Aristotle and Sankara Thesis Department of Religious Studies Advisors Kathryn McClymond and Sandra Dwyer Georgia State University pages 18 35 a b c Brodd Jeffrey 2009 World Religions A Voyage of Discovery 3rd ed Saint Mary s Press pp 43 47 ISBN 978 0884899976 Brahman and Atman That Art Thou pluralism org Harvard University 2020 Archived from the original on 7 November 2022 Retrieved 10 February 2023 Volume 1 Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120814684 page 91 a b c Stephen Philips 1998 Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy Brahman to Derrida Editor Edward Craig Routledge ISBN 978 0415187077 pages 1 4 a b Goodman Hananya 1994 Between Jerusalem and Benares Comparative Studies in Judaism and Hinduism State University of New York Press p 121 ISBN 978 0791417164 Raju 1992 p 228 Eliot Deutsch 1980 Advaita Vedanta A Philosophical Reconstruction University of Hawaii Press ISBN 978 0824802714 Chapter 1 Fowler 2002 pp 53 55 a b Potter 2008 pp 6 7 Brodd Jeffrey 2003 World Religions Winona Minnesota Saint Mary s Press ISBN 978 0 88489 725 5 John Bowker ed 2012 The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions Oxford University Press 1 Fowler 2002 pp 49 53 Klaus K Klostermaier 2007 A Survey of Hinduism Third Edition State University of New York Press ISBN 978 0791470824 Chapter 12 Atman and Brahman Self and All a b c d Michael Myers 2000 Brahman A Comparative Theology Routledge ISBN 978 0700712571 pages 124 127 Thomas Padiyath 2014 The Metaphysics of Becoming De Gruyter ISBN 978 3110342550 pages 155 157 a b Arvind Sharma 2007 Advaita Vedanta An Introduction Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120820272 pages 19 40 53 58 79 86 John E Welshons 2009 One Self One Love One Heart New World Library ISBN 978 1577315889 pages 17 18 Puligandla 1997 p 222 Sinari 2000 p 384 a b Not Masculine or Feminine see Grammatical gender a b Jan Gonda 1962 Some Notes on the Study of Ancient Indian Religious Terminology History of Religions Vol 1 No 2 Winter 1962 pages 268 269 a b Barbara Holdrege 1995 Veda and Torah Transcending the Textuality of Scripture State University of New York Press ISBN 978 0791416402 page 29 a b c d Maurice Bloomfield A Vedic Concordance Harvard University Press pages 656 662 Original वयमग न अर वत व स व र य ब रह मण व च तय म जन अत अस म क द य म नमध पञ च क ष ट ष च च स वर ण श श च त द ष टरम १० Source ऋग व द स क त २ २ Wikisource Original स त श र ध न द र न तनस य ब रह मण यत व र क र ध य त व ह य प प रद व प त ण शश वद बभ थ स हव एष ट ८ ऋग व द स क त ६ २१ Wikisource Original ब रह मणस पत र त स कर म र इव धमत द व न प र व य य ग ऽसत सदज यत २ ऋग व द स क त १० ७२ Wikisource a b Jan Gonda 1962 Some Notes on the Study of Ancient Indian Religious Terminology History of Religions Vol 1 No 2 Winter 1962 pages 269 271 https www jstor org stable 1062054 Jan Gonda 1962 Some Notes on the Study of Ancient Indian Religious Terminology History of Religions Vol 1 No 2 Winter 1962 pages 271 272 https www jstor org stable 1062054 See Rigveda Chapter 1 164 Karl Potter and Harold Coward The Philosophy of the Grammarians Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Volume 5 Motilal Banarsidass Publishers ISBN 978 8120804265 pages 34 35 Barbara Holdrege 1995 Veda and Torah Transcending the Textuality of Scripture State University of New York Press ISBN 978 0791416402 page 24 a b Gavin Flood 1996 An Introduction to Hinduism Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0521438780 pages 84 85 Lindsay Jones 2005 Encyclopedia of religion Volume 13 Macmillan Reference ISBN 978 0028657332 page 8894 Quote In Hindu iconography the swan personifies Brahman Atman the transcendent yet immanent ground of being the Self Denise Cush 2007 Encyclopedia of Hinduism Routledge ISBN 978 0415556231 page 697 R Prasad and P D Chattopadhyaya 2008 A Conceptual analytic Study of Classical Indian Philosophy of Morals Concept ISBN 978 8180695445 page 56 a b Paul Deussen Sixty Upanishads of the Veda Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120814677 pages 243 325 344 363 581 Paul Deussen Sixty Upanishads of the Veda Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120814677 pages 358 371 Paul Deussen Sixty Upanishads of the Veda Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120814677 pages 305 476 Paul Deussen Sixty Upanishads of the Veda Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120814677 pages 110 315 316 495 838 851 Paul Deussen Sixty Upanishads of the Veda Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120814677 pages 211 741 742 Paul Deussen Sixty Upanishads of the Veda Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120814677 pages 308 311 497 499 Paul Deussen Sixty Upanishads of the Veda Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120814677 pages 181 237 444 506 544 570 571 707 847 850 a b Paul Deussen Sixty Upanishads of the Veda Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120814677 pages 52 110 425 454 585 586 838 851 Paul Deussen Sixty Upanishads of the Veda Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120814677 pages 173 174 188 198 308 317 322 324 367 447 496 629 637 658 707 708 Paul Deussen Sixty Upanishads of the Veda Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120814677 pages 600 619 620 647 777 Radhakrishnan S The Principal Upanisads HarperCollins India 1994 page 77 Jones Constance 2007 Encyclopedia of Hinduism New York Infobase Publishing p 270 ISBN 978 0816073368 Sanskrit and English Translation S Madhavananda Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1 4 10 Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Shankara Bhashya page 145 Sanskrit and English Translation S Madhavananda Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4 4 5 Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Shankara Bhashya pages 711 712 Sanskrit छ न द ग य पन षद १ १ त त य ऽध य य WikisourceEnglish Translation Max Muller Chandogya Upanishad 3 14 1 Oxford University Press page 48 Max Muller The Upanisads at Google Books Routledge pages xviii xix Sanskrit छ न द ग य पन षद १ २ षष ठ ऽध य य WikisourceEnglish Translation Max Muller Chandogya Upanishad 6 2 1 Oxford University Press page 93 Max Muller The Upanisads at Google Books Routledge pages xviii xix Sanskrit छ न द ग य पन षद १ २ षष ठ ऽध य य WikisourceEnglish Translation Robert Hume Chandogya Upanishad 6 8 The Thirteen Principal Upanishads Oxford University Press pages 246 250 A S Gupta The Meanings of That Thou Art Philosophy East and West Vol 12 No 2 pages 125 134 Sanskrit ऐतर य पन षद WikisourceEnglish Translation Max Muller Aitareya Upanishad 3 3 7 also known as Aitareya Aranyaka 2 6 1 7 Oxford University Press page 246 a b c d Robert Hume Chandogya Upanishad 3 14 1 3 14 4 The Thirteen Principal Upanishads Oxford University Press pages 209 210 Chandogya Upanishad with Shankara Bhashya Ganganath Jha Translator pages 150 157 For modern era cites Anthony Warder 2009 A Course in Indian Philosophy Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120812444 pages 25 28 D D Meyer 2012 Consciousness Theatre Literature and the Arts Cambridge Scholars Publishing ISBN 978 1443834919 page 250 Joel Brereton 1995 Eastern Canons Approaches to the Asian Classics Editors William Theodore De Bary Irene Bloom Columbia University Press ISBN 978 0231070058 page 130 S Radhakrishnan 1914 The Vedanta philosophy and the Doctrine of Maya International Journal of Ethics Vol 24 No 4 pages 431 451 a b c Paul Deussen Sixty Upanishads of the Veda Volume 1 Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120814684 pages 110 111 with preface and footnotes a b Max Muller Chandogya Upanishad 3 13 7 The Upanishads Part I Oxford University Press page 48 with footnotes PrabhupadaBooks com Srila Prabhupada s Original Books prabhupadabooks com Retrieved 12 April 2021 Edward Craig 1998 Metaphysics Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy ISBN 978 0415073103 Accessed 13 June 2015 a b c d Archibald Edward Gough 2001 The Philosophy of the Upanishads and Ancient Indian Metaphysics Routledge ISBN 978 0415245227 pages 47 48 Roy W Perrett Editor 2000 Indian Philosophy Metaphysics Volume 3 Taylor amp Francis ISBN 978 0815336082 page xvii K K Chakrabarti 1999 Classical Indian Philosophy of Mind The Nyaya Dualist Tradition State University of New York Press ISBN 978 0791441718 pages 279 292 John C Plott et al 2000 Global History of Philosophy The Axial Age Volume 1 Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120801585 pages 60 62 Julius Lipner 2004 The Hindu World Editors S Mittal and G Thursby Routledge ISBN 0415215277 pages 22 23 Laurie Patton 2004 The Hindu World Editors S Mittal and G Thursby Routledge ISBN 0415215277 pages 45 50 J D Fowler 1996 Hinduism Beliefs and Practices Sussex University Press ISBN 978 1898723608 pages 135 137 a b c d AC Das 1952 Brahman and Maya in Advaita Metaphysics Philosophy East and West Vol 2 No 2 pages 144 154 William Indich 2000 Consciousness in Advaita Vedanta Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120812512 page 5 Paul Hacker 1978 Eigentumlichkeiten dr Lehre und Terminologie Sankara Avidya Namarupa Maya Isvara in Kleine Schriften Editor L Schmithausen Franz Steiner Verlag Weisbaden pages 101 109 in German also pages 69 99 Advaita Vedanta A Bird s Eye View Topic III Philosophy of Advaita Vedanta D Krishna Ayyar 2011 a b Rambachan Anantanand 2001 Hierarchies in the Nature of God Questioning the Saguna Nirguna Distinction in Advaita Vedanta Journal of Hindu Christian Studies 14 7 1 6 doi 10 7825 2164 6279 1250 a b c William Wainwright 2012 Concepts of God Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Stanford University Accessed on 13 June 2015 that is things beings or truths that are presumed to exist for its philosophical theory to be true and what is the nature of that which so exists see Edward Craig 1998 Ontology Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy ISBN 978 0415073103 Edward Craig 1998 Ontology Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy ISBN 978 0415073103 Accessed 13 June 2015 Stephen H Phillips 2001 Could There Be Mystical Evidence for a Nondual Brahman A Causal Objection Philosophy East and West Vol 51 No 4 pages 492 506 K N Jayatilleke 2010 Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge ISBN 978 8120806191 pages 246 249 from note 385 onwards Steven Collins 1994 Religion and Practical Reason Editors Frank Reynolds David Tracy State Univ of New York Press ISBN 978 0791422175 page 64 Quote Central to Buddhist soteriology is the doctrine of not self Pali anatta Sanskrit anatman the opposed doctrine of atman is central to Brahmanical thought Put very briefly this is the Buddhist doctrine that human beings have no Self no unchanging essence Edward Roer Translator Shankara s Introduction p 2 at Google Books pages 2 4Katie Javanaud 2013 Is The Buddhist No Self Doctrine Compatible With Pursuing Nirvana Philosophy NowJohn C Plott et al 2000 Global History of Philosophy The Axial Age Volume 1 Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120801585 page 63 Quote The Buddhist schools reject any Atman concept As we have already observed this is the basic and ineradicable distinction between Hinduism and Buddhism M Prabhakar 2012 Review An Introduction to Indian Philosophy Philosophy in Review 32 3 pages 158 160 a b c Barbara Holdrege 2004 The Hindu World Editors S Mittal and G Thursby Routledge ISBN 0415215277 pages 241 242 Anantanand Rambachan 2014 A Hindu Theology of Liberation Not Two Is Not One State University of New York Press ISBN 978 1438454559 pages 131 142 Ian Whicher 1999 The Integrity of the Yoga Darsana A Reconsideration of Classical Yoga State University of New York Press ISBN 978 0791438152 pages 298 300 Mike McNamee and William J Morgan 2015 Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Sport Routledge ISBN 978 0415829809 pages 135 136 Quote As a dualistic philosophy largely congruent with Samkhya s metaphysics Yoga seeks liberation through the realization that Atman equals Brahman it involves a cosmogonic dualism purusha an absolute consciousness and prakriti original and primeval matter Francis Clooney and Tony Stewart 2004 The Hindu World Editors S Mittal and G Thursby Routledge ISBN 0415215277 pages 166 167 Randy Kloetzli and Alf Hiltebeitel 2004 The Hindu World Editors S Mittal and G Thursby Routledge ISBN 0415215277 page 554 Michael Myers 2000 Brahman A Comparative Theology Routledge ISBN 978 0700712571 pages 30 31 R Prasad and P D Chattopadhyaya 2008 A Conceptual analytic Study of Classical Indian Philosophy of Morals Concept ISBN 978 8180695445 pages 56 59 G C Pande 1990 Foundations of Indian Culture Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120807105 pages 49 50 Michael W Myers 1998 Saṅkaracarya and Ananda Philosophy East and West Vol 48 No 4 pages 553 567 Robert S Hartman 2002 The Knowledge of Good Critique of Axiological Reason Rodopi ISBN 978 9042012202 page 225 T M P Mahadevan 1954 The Metaphysics of Saṁkara Philosophy East and West Vol 3 No 4 pages 359 363 Arvind Sharma 1999 The Puruṣarthas An Axiological Exploration of Hinduism The Journal of Religious Ethics Vol 27 No 2 pages 223 256 J L Shaw 2011 Freedom East and West SOPHIA Vol 50 Springer Science pages 481 497 Katherine L Tietge 1997 Ontology and Genuine Moral Action Jnana Intuitive Perception Ethics and Karma Yoga in Sankara s Advaita Vedanta and Schopenhauer s On the Basis of Morality Ph D Thesis Dept of Philosophy Southern Illinois University US Archive Link a b c d Nancy Bauer 1987 Advaita Vedanta and Contemporary Western Ethics Philosophy East and West Vol 37 No 1 pages 36 50 Arvind Sharma 2000 Classical Hindu Thought An Introduction Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0195644418 pages 57 61 a b N A Nikam 1952 A Note on the Individual and His Status in Indian Thought Philosophy East and West Vol 2 No 3 pages 254 258 Patrick Olivelle 1998 The Early Upaniṣads New York Oxford Oxford University Press English translation of Aitareya Upanishad PDF Consciouslivingfoundation org Retrieved 26 January 2019 T N Sethumadhavan Aitareya Upanishad Transliterated Sanskrit Text Free Translation amp Brief Explanation PDF Esamskriti com Retrieved 26 January 2019 Anantanand Rambachan 1994 The limits of scripture Vivekananda s reinterpretation of the Vedas University of Hawaii Press pages 124 125 Karl Potter 2008 The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Advaita Vedanta Up to Saṃkara and His Pupils Volume 3 Delhi Motilal Banarsidass pp 210 215 Betty Stafford 2010 Dvaita Advaita And Visiṣṭadvaita Contrasting Views Of Mokṣa Asian Philosophy pages 215 224 Rosen Dalal 2014 Hinduism An Alphabetical Guide Penguin ISBN 978 8184752779 see article on Brahman Anantanand Rambachan 1994 The limits of scripture Vivekananda s reinterpretation of the Vedas University of Hawaii Press pages 125 124 Sangeetha Menon 2007 Advaita Vedanta Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Christopher Key Chapple Editor and Winthrop Sargeant Translator The Bhagavad Gita Twenty fifth Anniversary Edition State University of New York Press ISBN 978 1438428420 page 224 Jeaneane D Fowler 2012 The Bhagavad Gita Sussex Academic Press ISBN 978 1845193461 page 83 Christopher Key Chapple Editor and Winthrop Sargeant Translator The Bhagavad Gita Twenty fifth Anniversary Edition State University of New York Press ISBN 978 1438428420 page 266 a b Prabhupada His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14 Verse 27 vedabase io Retrieved 25 July 2020 a b c d e Karen Pechilis Prentiss 2014 The Embodiment of Bhakti Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0195351903 page 21 a b c Jeaneane D Fowler 2012 The Bhagavad Gita Sussex Academic Press ISBN 978 1845193461 pages xxvii xxxiv a b c Jeaneane D Fowler 2012 The Bhagavad Gita Sussex Academic Press ISBN 978 1845193461 pages 207 211 Jessica Frazier and Gavin Flood 2011 The Continuum Companion to Hindu Studies Bloomsbury Academic ISBN 978 0826499660 pages 113 115 a b David Lorenzen 1996 Praises to a Formless God Nirguni Texts from North India State University of New York Press ISBN 978 0791428054 page 2 Damien Keown Buddhism NY Sterling 2009 p 70 David Webster 2004 The Philosophy of Desire in the Buddhist Pali Canon Routledge pp 194 195 93 147 ISBN 978 0 203 01057 0 Richard Francis Gombrich Cristina Anna Scherrer Schaub 2008 Buddhist Studies Motilal Banarsidass pp 192 193 ISBN 978 81 208 3248 0 Mark Juergensmeyer Wade Clark Roof 2011 Encyclopedia of Global Religion SAGE Publications pp 272 273 ISBN 978 1 4522 6656 5 Merv Fowler Buddhism Beliefs and Practices Brighton Sussex Academic 1999 p 34 William Theodore De Bary cited in Merv Fowler Buddhism Beliefs and Practices Brighton Sussex Academic 1999 p 98 Merv Fowler Buddhism Beliefs and Practices Brighton Sussex Academic 1999 p 81 Bruce Sullivan 1999 Seer of the Fifth Veda Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120816763 pages 82 83 Hume Robert Ernest 1921 The Thirteen Principal Upanishads Oxford University Press pp 422 424 K N Jayatilleke 1998 Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge Motilal Banarsidass pp 68 374 ISBN 978 81 208 0619 1 Quote We may conclude from the above that the rise of Buddhism is not far removed in time from though it is prior to the Maitri Upanishad Jan Gonda 1968 The Hindu Trinity Anthropos Vol 63 pages 215 219 a b Gananath Obeyesekere 2006 Karma and Rebirth A Cross Cultural Study Motilal Banarsidass pp 177 179 ISBN 978 81 208 2609 0 Martin G Wiltshire 1990 Ascetic Figures Before and in Early Buddhism The Emergence of Gautama as the Buddha Walter de Gruyter pp 248 249 253 255 ISBN 978 3 11 009896 9 Martin G Wiltshire 1990 Ascetic Figures Before and in Early Buddhism The Emergence of Gautama as the Buddha Walter de Gruyter pp 256 265 ISBN 978 3 11 009896 9 a b c Eleanor Nesbitt 2005 Sikhism A Very Short Introduction Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0192806017 Chapter 4 Jean Holm and John Bowker Worship Bloomsbury ISBN page 67 Wendy Doniger 2000 Merriam Webster s Encyclopedia of World Religions Merriam Webster ISBN 978 0877790440 page 500 Rangaswami Sudhakshina 2012 Roots of Vendanta Penguin ISBN 978 0143064459 page 405 David Leeming 2005 The Oxford Companion to World Mythology Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0195156690 page 54 a b S S Kohli 1993 The Sikh and Sikhism Atlantic ISBN 81 71563368 page 39 Hardip Syan 2014 in The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies Editors Pashaura Singh Louis E Fenech Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0199699308 page 178 A Mandair 2011 Time and religion making in modern Sikhism in Time History and the Religious Imaginary in South Asia Editor Anne Murphy Routledge ISBN 978 0415595971 pages 188 190 S S Kohli 1993 The Sikh and Sikhism Atlantic ISBN 81 71563368 page 38 Max Muller Chandogya Upanishad 6 2 1 Oxford University Press pages 93 94 Paul Deussen Sixty Upanishads of the Veda Volume 1 Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120814684 pages 156 157 162 163 N Mandair 2009 Postcolonial Philosophy of Religion Editor Purushottama Bilimoria Andrew B Irvine Springer ISBN 978 9400791770 pages 145 146 William Owen Cole and Piara Singh Sambhi 1998 The Sikhs Their Religious Beliefs and Practices 2nd edition Sussex Academic Press ISBN 978 1898723134 pages 70 71 H S Singha 2009 Sikh Studies Vol 7 Hemkunt Press ISBN 978 8170102458 page 47 Ray Billington 1997 Understanding Eastern Philosophy Routledge ISBN 978 0415129657 page 46 James Bissett Cultural and Religious Heritage of India Volume 2 Jainism Editors Sharma and Sharma Mittal ISBN 81 70999553 page 81 C Caillat and N Balbir 2008 Jaina Studies Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120832473 pages ix x a b P Jaini 1998 The Jaina Path of Purification Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 81 208 1578 5 pages 90 93 J Koller 2004 Why is Anekantavada important Editor Tara Sethia Ahimsa Anekanta and Jainism Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 81 208 2036 3 pages 400 407 a b Helen K Bond Seth D Kunin Francesca Murphy 2003 Religious Studies and Theology An Introduction New York University Press p 231 ISBN 978 0 8147 9914 7 a b R M Matthijs Cornelissen 2011 Foundations of Indian Psychology Volume 2 Practical Applications Pearson p 40 ISBN 978 81 317 3085 0 a b c d Wendy Denier 1999 Merriam Webster s Encyclopedia of World Religions Merriam Webster p 437 ISBN 978 0 87779 044 0 Jeaneane D Fowler 2002 Perspectives of Reality An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism Sussex Academic Press p 330 ISBN 978 1 898723 93 6 William Sweet 2006 Approaches to Metaphysics Springer pp 145 147 ISBN 978 1 4020 2182 4 H James Birx 2005 Encyclopedia of Anthropology SAGE Publications p 1279 ISBN 978 1 4522 6536 0 J L Brockington 1998 The Sanskrit Epics BRILL Academic p 256 ISBN 90 04 10260 4 Denise Cush Catherine Robinson Michael York 2012 Encyclopedia of Hinduism Routledge pp 114 115 ISBN 978 1 135 18979 2 Edward Craig 1998 Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy Brahman to Derrida Routledge pp 1 4 ISBN 978 0 415 18707 7 Julius Lipner 1994 Hindus Their Religious Beliefs and Practices Routledge pp 43 44 ISBN 978 0 415 05181 1 S M Srinivasa Chari 1994 Vaiṣṇavism Its Philosophy Theology and Religious Discipline Motilal Banarsidass p 147 ISBN 978 81 208 1098 3 Wendy Doniger O Flaherty 1981 Siva The Erotic Ascetic Oxford University Press p 125 ISBN 978 0 19 972793 3 a b David Kinsley 1988 Hindu Goddesses Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition University of California Press pp 137 ISBN 978 0 520 90883 3 Stella Kramrisch 1992 The Presence of Siva Princeton University Press pp 205 206 ISBN 0 691 01930 4 Arvind Sharma 2000 Classical Hindu Thought An Introduction Oxford University Press p 4 ISBN 978 0 19 564441 8 Mark Juergensmeyer Wade Clark Roof 2011 Encyclopedia of Global Religion SAGE Publications p 1335 ISBN 978 1 4522 6656 5 Stella Kramrisch 1992 The Presence of Siva Princeton University Press p 171 ISBN 0 691 01930 4 David Kinsley 1988 Hindu Goddesses Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition University of California Press pp 136 ISBN 978 0 520 90883 3 William K Mahony 1998 The Artful Universe An Introduction to the Vedic Religious Imagination State University of New York Press pp 13 14 187 ISBN 978 0 7914 3579 3 Doniger Wendy 1999 Merriam Webster s encyclopedia of world religions Springfield Massachusetts US Merriam Webster p 186 ISBN 978 0 87779 044 0 James Lochtefeld 2002 Brahmin The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism Vol 1 A M Rosen Publishing ISBN 978 0823931798 page 125 Brahmana Encyclopaedia Britannica 2013 Klaus Klostermaier 1994 A Survey of Hinduism Second Edition State University of New York Press ISBN 978 0791421093 pages 67 69 Brahmana Random House Webster s Unabridged Dictionary Bibliography Edit Fowler Jeaneane D 2002 Perspectives of Reality An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism Sussex Academic Press ISBN 978 1 898723 93 6 Klostermaier Klaus K 2010 Chapter 12 A Survey of Hinduism Third Edition State University of New York Press ISBN 978 0 7914 8011 3 Michaels Axel 2004 Hinduism Past and present Princeton New Jersey Princeton University Press Potter Karl H 2008 The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Advaita Vedanta Up to Saṃkara and His Pupils Delhi Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited Puligandla Ramakrishna 1997 Fundamentals of Indian Philosophy New Delhi D K Printworld P Ltd Raju P T 1992 The Philosophical Traditions of India Delhi Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited Sinari Ramakant 2000 Advaita and Contemporary Indian Philosophy In Chattopadhyana gen ed History of Science Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization Volume II Part 2 Advaita Vedanta Delhi Centre for Studies in CivilizationsExternal links Edit Wikiquote has quotations related to Brahman The Concept of Brahman in Hindu Philosophy Haridas Chaudhuri 1954 Philosophy East and West Vol 4 No 1 pp 47 66 The Idea of God in Hinduism A S Woodburne 1925 The Journal of Religion Vol 5 No 1 pp 52 66 The Western View of Hinduism An Age old Mistake Brahman J M De Mora 1997 Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute Vol 78 No 1 4 pp 1 12 Concepts of God Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Stanford University Compares Brahman with concepts of God found in other religions Detailed essays on Brahman at Hinduwebsite com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Brahman amp oldid 1151132975, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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