Bureaucrats, private-view, public-view, Administrators
97,692
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
m
1 revision imported
{{Distinguish2|[[Brahma]] – the Hindu god, or [[Brahmin]] – the caste or varna, or [[Brahmana]] – a layer of text in the Vedas}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Hinduism small}}
[[File:Wassertropfen.jpg|right|thumb|Impact of a drop of water in water, a common analogy for Brahman and the [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Ātman]]]]
{{EngvarB|date=April 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}}
In [[Hinduism]], '''Brahman''' ({{IPAc-en|b|r|ə|h|m|ən}}; ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest Universal Principle, the [[Absolute (philosophy)|Ultimate Reality]] in the universe.<ref name=james122>James Lochtefeld, ''Brahman'', The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing. ISBN 978-0823931798, page 122</ref><ref name=ptraju>PT Raju (2006), Idealistic Thought of India, Routledge, ISBN 978-1406732627, page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII</ref>{{Sfn|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)}} In major schools of [[Hindu philosophy]] it is the material, efficient, formal and final [[Four causes|cause]] of all that exists.<ref name=ptraju/><ref>Mariasusai Dhavamony (2002), Hindu-Christian Dialogue: Theological Soundings and Perspectives, Rodopi Press, ISBN 978-9042015104, pages 43-44</ref><ref name=fxclooney>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;<br>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</ref> It is the pervasive, genderless, infinite, eternal truth and bliss which does not change, yet is the cause of all changes.<ref name=james122/>{{Sfn|Fowler|2002|pp=53-55}}<ref name=jeffreybrodd>Jeffrey Brodd (2009), World Religions: A Voyage of Discovery, Saint Mary's Press, ISBN 978-0884899976, pages 43-47</ref> Brahman as a metaphysical concept is the single binding unity behind the diversity in all that exists in the universe.<ref name=james122/>{{Sfn|Fowler|2002|pp=50-53}}
Brahman is a [[Vedic Sanskrit]] word, and is conceptualized in Hinduism, states [[Paul Deussen]], as the "creative principle which lies realized in the whole world".<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, page 91</ref> Brahman is a key concept found in [[Vedas]], and extensively discussed in the early [[Upanishads]].<ref name=sphilips>Stephen Philips (1998), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Brahman to Derrida (Editor; Edward Craig), Routledge, ISBN 978-0415187077, pages 1-4</ref> The [[Veda]]s conceptualize Brahman as the Cosmic Principle.<ref name="Hananya Goodman 1994 page 121">Hananya Goodman (1994), Between Jerusalem and Benares: Comparative Studies in Judaism and Hinduism, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791417164, page 121</ref> In the Upanishads, it has been variously described as ''[[Satcitananda|Sat-cit-ānanda]]'' (being-consciousness-bliss){{sfn|Raju|1992|p=228}}<ref>Eliot Deutsch (1980), Advaita Vedanta : A Philosophical Reconstruction, University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 978-0824802714, Chapter 1</ref> and as the unchanging, permanent, highest reality.{{Sfn|Fowler|2002|pp=53-55}}{{sfn|Potter|2008|p=6-7}}{{refn|group=note|[[Advaita Vedanta#Criterion of Sublation|"not sublatable"]],{{sfn|Potter|2008|p=6-7}} the final element in a dialectical process which cannot be eliminated or annihilated (German: "aufheben").}}{{refn|group=note|It is also defined as:
* The unchanging, [[Infinity|infinite]], [[Immanence|immanent]], and [[transcendence (religion)|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.<ref>{{cite book | last = Brodd | first = Jefferey | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = World Religions | publisher = Saint Mary's Press | year = 2003 | location = Winona, MN | pages = | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 978-0-88489-725-5 }}</ref>
* The one supreme, all pervading Spirit that is the origin and support of the [[Phenomenon|phenomenal]] universe.<ref>John Bowker (ed.)(2012), ''The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions'', Oxford University Press.[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192800947.001.0001/acref-9780192800947-e-1183]</ref>}}
Brahman is discussed in Hindu texts with the concept of [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Atman]] (Soul, Self),<ref name=sphilips/>{{Sfn|Fowler|2002|pp=49-53}} [[Personal god|personal]],{{refn|group=note|[[Saguna Brahman]], with qualities}} [[Absolute (philosophy)|impersonal]]{{refn|group=note|[[Nirguna Brahman]], without qualities}} or [[Para Brahman]],{{refn|group=note|Supreme}} or in various combinations of these qualities depending on the philosophical school.<ref>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</ref> In [[Dualism|dualistic]] schools of Hinduism such as the theistic [[Dvaita Vedanta]], Brahman is different from Atman (soul) in each being, and therein it shares conceptual framework of [[God]] in major world religions.<ref name=fxclooney/><ref name=mmyers>Michael Myers (2000), Brahman: A Comparative Theology, Routledge, ISBN 978-0700712571, pages 124-127</ref><ref>Thomas Padiyath (2014), The Metaphysics of Becoming, De Gruyter, ISBN 978-3110342550, pages 155-157</ref> In [[Nondualism|non-dual]] schools of Hinduism such as the [[monism|monist]] [[Advaita Vedanta]], Brahman is identical to the Atman, Brahman is everywhere and inside each living being, and there is connected spiritual oneness in all existence.<ref name=jeffreybrodd/><ref name="Arvind Sharma 2007 pages 19-40">Arvind Sharma (2007), Advaita Vedānta: An Introduction, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120820272, pages 19-40, 53-58, 79-86</ref><ref>John E. Welshons (2009), One Soul, One Love, One Heart, New World Library, ISBN 978-1577315889, pages 17-18</ref>
==Etymology and related terms==
[[Sanskrit]] ''Brahman'' (an ''n''-stem, nominative ''{{IAST|bráhmā}}'') from a [[root (linguistics)|root]] ''{{IAST|bṛh}}-'' "to swell, expand, grow, enlarge" is a neutral noun to be distinguished from the masculine ''{{IAST|[[brahmán]]}}''—denoting a person associated with Brahman, and from [[Brahmā]], the creator God of 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",{{sfn|Puligandla|1997|p=222}} while Sinar states Brahman is a concept that "cannot be exactly defined".{{sfn|Sinari|2000|p=384}}
In [[Vedic Sanskrit]]:
*''Br<u>a</u>hm<u>a</u>'' (ब्रह्म) (nominative singular), ''br<u>a</u>hm<u>a</u>n'' (ब्रह्मन्) (stem) (neuter<ref name="neuter">Not Masculine or Feminine (see [[Grammatical gender]]).</ref> [[gender]]) from root ''bṛh-'', means "to be or make firm, strong, solid, expand, promote".<ref name=jangondaetymo>[[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</ref>
*''Br<u>a</u>hmān<u>a</u>'' (ब्रह्मन) (nominative singular, never plural), from stems ''brh<u>a</u>'' (to make firm, strong, expand) + Sanskrit ''-man-'' from Indo-European root ''-men-'' which denotes some manifested form of "definite power, inherent firmness, supporting or fundamental principle".<ref name=jangondaetymo/>
In later Sanskrit usage:
*''Br<u>a</u>hm<u>a</u>'' (ब्रह्म) (nominative singular), ''brahman'' (stem) (neuter<ref name="neuter" /> [[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. ''Brahm'' is another variant of ''Brahman''.
*''Br<u>a</u>hmā'' (ब्रह्मा) (nominative singlular), ''Brahman'' (ब्रह्मन्) (stem) ([[masculine]] [[gender]]), means the deity or [[Deva (Hinduism)|deva]] [[Brahma (god)|Prajāpati Brahmā]]. He is one of the members of the [[Trimurti|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 (aeon)|kalpa]].
These are distinct from:
*A ''brāhm<u>a</u>ṇ<u>a</u>'' (ब्राह्मण) (masculine, pronounced {{IPA-sa|ˈbraːhməɳə|}}), (which literally means "pertaining to prayer") is a prose commentary on the [[Veda|Vedic mantras]]—an integral part of the Vedic literature.
*A ''brāhm<u>a</u>ṇ<u>a</u>'' (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.
*''[[Deva (Hinduism)|Deva]]s'', 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 [[Samhita]]s, the oldest layer of the [[Vedas]] dated to the 2nd millennium BCE. For example,<ref name=barbarah29/>
{{Quote|
<poem>
The ''Ṛcs'' are limited (''parimita''),
The ''Samans'' are limited,
And the ''Yajuses'' are limited,
But of the Word ''Brahman'', there is no end.
</poem>
|Taittiriya Samhita VII.3.1.4|Translated by Barbara Holdrege<ref name=barbarah29>Barbara Holdrege (1995), Veda and Torah: Transcending the Textuality of Scripture, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791416402, page 29</ref>}}
The concept ''Brahman'' is referred to in hundreds of hymns in the Vedas.<ref name=mauricebrahman>[[Maurice Bloomfield]], [https://archive.org/stream/vedicconcordance00bloouoft#page/656/mode/2up A Vedic Concordance], Harvard University Press, pages 656-662</ref> For example, it is found in [[Rig veda]] hymns such as 2.2.10,<ref>Original: वयमग्ने अर्वता वा सुवीर्यं '''ब्रह्मणा''' वा चितयेमा जनाँ अति । अस्माकं द्युम्नमधि पञ्च कृष्टिषूच्चा स्वर्ण शुशुचीत दुष्टरम् ॥१०॥<br>Source: [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/ऋग्वेद:_सूक्तं_२.२ ऋग्वेद: सूक्तं २.२] Wikisource</ref> 6.21.8,<ref>Original: स तु श्रुधीन्द्र नूतनस्य '''ब्रह्मण्य'''तो वीर कारुधायः । त्वं ह्यापिः प्रदिवि पितॄणां शश्वद्बभूथ सुहव एष्टौ ॥८॥<br>[https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/ऋग्वेद:_सूक्तं_६.२१ ऋग्वेद: सूक्तं ६.२१] Wikisource</ref> 10.72.2<ref>Original: '''ब्रह्मण'''स्पतिरेता सं कर्मार इवाधमत् । देवानां पूर्व्ये युगेऽसतः सदजायत ॥२॥<br>[https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/ऋग्वेद:_सूक्तं_१०.७२ ऋग्वेद: सूक्तं १०.७२] Wikisource</ref> and in [[Atharvaveda|Atharva veda]] hymns such as 6.122.5, 10.1.12, and 14.1.131.<ref name=mauricebrahman/> The concept is found in various layers of the Vedic literature; for example:<ref name=mauricebrahman/> 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 [[Vedas#Vedanga|vedāṅga]] (the limbs of Vedas) such as the Srauta sutra 1.12.12 and Paraskara Gryhasutra 3.2.10 through 3.4.5.<ref name=mauricebrahman/>
[[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".<ref name=jangondameaning>[[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</ref> 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.<ref name=jangondameaning/> 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.<ref>[[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</ref>
Barbara Holdrege states that the concept ''Brahman'' is discussed in the Vedas along four major themes: as the Word or verses (''Sabdabrahman''),<ref>See Rigveda Chapter 1.164;<br>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</ref> as Knowledge embodied in Creator Principle, as Creation itself, and a Corpus of traditions.<ref>Barbara Holdrege (1995), Veda and Torah: Transcending the Textuality of Scripture, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791416402, page 24</ref> Hananya Goodman states that the Vedas conceptualize Brahman as the Cosmic Principles underlying all that exists.<ref name="Hananya Goodman 1994 page 121"/> [[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 ([[Ātman (Hinduism)|Atman]], soul)", and the deeper "truth of a person beyond apparent difference".<ref name=gavinflood84>Gavin Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521438780, pages 84-85</ref>
===Upanishads===
[[File:Mozzercork - Heart (by).jpg|thumb|Swan (Hansa, हंस) is the symbol for Brahman-Atman in Hindu iconography.<ref>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."</ref><ref>Denise Cush (2007), Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415556231, page 697</ref>]]
The primary focus on the early Upanishads is ''Brahmavidya'' and ''Atmavidya'', that is the knowledge of Brahman and the knowledge of Atman (self, soul), what it is and how it is understood.<ref>R Prasad and P.D. Chattopadhyaya (2008), A Conceptual-analytic Study of Classical Indian Philosophy of Morals, Concept, ISBN 978-8180695445, page 56</ref> 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.<ref name=sphilips/>
[[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",<ref name=pauldeussen243>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814677, page 243, 325-344, 363, 581</ref> the "principle of the world",<ref name=pauldeussen243/> the "absolute",<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814677, page 358, 371</ref> the "general, universal",<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814677, page 305, 476</ref> the "cosmic principle",<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814677, pages 110, 315-316, 495, 838-851</ref> the "ultimate that is the cause of everything including all gods",<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814677, pages 211, 741-742</ref> the "divine being, Lord, distinct God, or God within oneself",<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814677, pages 308-311, 497-499</ref> the "knowledge",<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814677, pages 181, 237, 444, 506-544, 570-571, 707, 847-850</ref> the "soul, sense of self of each human being that is fearless, luminuous, exalted and blissful",<ref name=pauldeussen52>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814677, pages 52, 110, 425, 454, 585-586, 838-851</ref> the "essence of liberation, of spiritual freedom",<ref>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</ref> the "universe within each living being and the universe outside",<ref name=pauldeussen52/> the "essence and everything innate in all that exists inside, outside and everywhere".<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814677, pages 600, 619-620, 647, 777</ref>
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, soul within each person, each being", the "truth", the "reality", the "absolute", the "bliss" (''ananda'').<ref name=gavinflood84/>
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 (''[[Ātman (Hinduism)|atma jnana]]'').<ref>pp.77, Radhakrishnan, S, ''The Principal Upanisads,'' HarperCollins India, 1994</ref>
The Upanishads contain several ''mahā-vākyas'' or "Great Sayings" on the concept of Brahman:<ref name="EoH 270">{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Constance|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism|year=2007|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=0816073368|pages=270}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Text!! Upanishad !! Translation !! Reference
|-
| '''अहं ब्रह्म अस्मि'''<br>''aham brahmāsmi'' || [[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]] 1.4.10 || "I am Brahman"||<ref>Sanskrit and English Translation: S Madhavananda, [https://archive.org/stream/Brihadaranyaka.Upanishad.Shankara.Bhashya.by.Swami.Madhavananda#page/n171/mode/2up Brihadaranyaka Upanishad] 1.4.10, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad - Shankara Bhashya, page 145</ref>
|-
| '''अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म'''<br>''ayam ātmā brahma'' || Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.5 || "The Self is Brahman" ||<ref>Sanskrit and English Translation: S Madhavananda, [https://archive.org/stream/Brihadaranyaka.Upanishad.Shankara.Bhashya.by.Swami.Madhavananda#page/n737/mode/2up Brihadaranyaka Upanishad] 4.4.5, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad - Shankara Bhashya, pages 711-712</ref>
|-
| '''सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्म'''<br>''sarvam khalvidam brahma'' ||[[Chandogya Upanishad]] 3.14.1 || "All this is Brahman"||<ref>Sanskrit: [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/छान्दोग्योपनिषद्_२ छान्दोग्योपनिषद् १.१ ॥तृतीयॊऽध्यायः॥] Wikisource<br>English Translation:Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/upanishads01ml#page/48/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad 3.14.1] Oxford University Press, page 48;<br>Max Muller, {{Google books|KXf_AQAAQBAJ|The Upanisads}}, Routledge, pages xviii-xix</ref>
|-
| '''एकमेवाद्वितीयम्'''<br>''ekam evadvitiyam'' ||Chandogya Upanishad 6.2.1|| "That [Brahman] is one, without a second" ||<ref>Sanskrit: [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/छान्दोग्योपनिषद्_३ छान्दोग्योपनिषद् १.२ ॥षष्ठोऽध्यायः॥] Wikisource<br>English Translation:Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/upanishads01ml#page/92/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad 6.2.1] Oxford University Press, page 93;<br>Max Muller, {{Google books|KXf_AQAAQBAJ|The Upanisads}}, Routledge, pages xviii-xix</ref>
|-
| '''तत्त्वमसि'''<br>''[[tat tvam asi]]'' ||Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7 et seq. || "Thou art that" ("You are Brahman")||<ref>Sanskrit: [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/छान्दोग्योपनिषद्_३ छान्दोग्योपनिषद् १.२ ॥षष्ठोऽध्यायः॥] Wikisource<br>English Translation:Robert Hume, [https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n267/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad] 6.8, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pages 246-250</ref><ref>AS Gupta, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1397392 The Meanings of "That Thou Art"], Philosophy East and West, Vol. 12, No. 2, pages 125-134</ref>
|-
| '''प्रज्ञानं ब्रह्म'''<br>''prajnānam brahma''||[[Aitareya Upanishad]] 3.3.7 || "Knowledge is Brahman"||<ref>Sanskrit: [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/ऐतरेयोपनिषद् ऐतरेयोपनिषद्] Wikisource<br>English Translation:Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/upanishads01ml#page/246/mode/2up Aitareya Upanishad 3.3.7, also known as Aitareya Aranyaka 2.6.1.7] Oxford University Press, page 246</ref>
|}
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.<ref name=hume314/> 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 (Soul, 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.<ref name=hume314/><ref name=gjha314>[https://archive.org/stream/Shankara.Bhashya-Chandogya.Upanishad-Ganganath.Jha.1942.English#page/n165/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad with Shankara Bhashya] Ganganath Jha (Translator), pages 150-157</ref><ref>For modern era cites:
*Anthony Warder (2009), A Course in Indian Philosophy, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120812444, pages 25-28;
*DD 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</ref>
{{Quote|
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<ref name=hume314>Robert Hume, [https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n229/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad] 3.14.1-3.14.4, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pages 209-210</ref><ref name=pauldeussen314>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, pages 110-111 with preface and footnotes</ref>}}
{{Quote|
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<ref name=hume314/><ref name=maxmuller314>Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/upanishads01ml#page/48/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad 3.13.7], The Upanishads, Part I, Oxford University Press, page 48 with footnotes</ref>}}
{{Quote|
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<ref name=pauldeussen314/><ref name=maxmuller314/>}}
Paul Deussen notes that teachings similar to above on Brahman, re-appeared centuries later in the words of the 3rd century CE [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonic]] Roman philosopher [[Plotinus]] in Enneades 5.1.2.<ref name=pauldeussen314/>
==Discussion==
===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?<ref>Edward Craig (1998), [https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/metaphysics/ Metaphysics], Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ISBN 978-0415073103, Accessed (June 13, 2015)</ref> Brahman is the ultimate "eternally, constant" reality, while the observed universe is different kind of reality but one which is "temporary, changing" [[Maya (illusion)|Māyā]] in various orthodox Hindu schools. Māyā pre-exists and co-exists with Brahman – the Ultimate Reality, The Highest Universal, the Cosmic Principles.<ref name=aegough>Archibald Edward Gough (2001), The Philosophy of the Upanishads and Ancient Indian Metaphysics, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415245227, pages 47-48</ref>
In addition to the concept of Brahman, Hindu metaphysics includes the concept of [[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]] – or soul, self – which is also considered ultimately real.<ref name=aegough/> The various schools of Hinduism, particularly the [[dualism|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.<ref>Roy W. Perrett (Editor, 2000), Indian Philosophy: Metaphysics, Volume 3, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 978-0815336082, page xvii;<br>KK Chakrabarti (1999), Classical Indian Philosophy of Mind: The Nyaya Dualist Tradition, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791441718 pages 279-292</ref> Those that consider Brahman and Atman as same are monist or pantheistic, and [[Advaita Vedanta]], later [[Samkhya]]<ref>John C. Plott et al (2000), Global History of Philosophy: The Axial Age, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120801585, pages 60-62</ref> and [[Yoga (philosophy)|Yoga]] schools illustrate this metaphysical premise.<ref>Julius Lipner (2004), The Hindu World (Editors: S Mittal and G Thursby), Routledge, ISBN 0415215277, pages 22-23</ref><ref>Laurie Patton (2004), The Hindu World (Editors: S Mittal and G Thursby), Routledge, ISBN 0415215277, pages 45-50</ref><ref>JD Fowler (1996), Hinduism: Beliefs and Practices, Sussex University Press, ISBN 978-1898723608, pages 135-137</ref> In schools that equate Brahman with Atman, Brahman is the sole, ultimate reality.<ref name="acdas"/> The predominant teaching in the Upanishads is the spiritual identity of soul within each human being, with the soul of every other human being and living being, as well as with the supreme, ultimate reality ''Brahman''.<ref>William Indich (2000), Consciousness in Advaita Vedanta, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120812512, page 5</ref><ref>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;<br>[http://www.vedantaadvaita.org/AdvaitaVedanta_3.htm Advaita Vedanta - A Bird's Eye View], Topic III: Philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, D. Krishna Ayyar (2011)</ref>
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.<ref name=aegough/> 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.<ref name=aegough/>
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.<ref name="dx.doi.org">Anantanand Rambachan (2001), [http://dx.doi.org/10.7825/2164-6279.1250 Heirarchies in the Nature of God? Questioning The "Saguna-Nirguna" Distinction in Advaita Vedanta], Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies, Vol. 14, No. 7, pages 1-6</ref> 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 ultimately illusory.<ref name=williamw/> The concept of the ''saguna Brahman'', such as in the form of [[avatar]]s, 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.<ref name=williamw>William Wainwright (2012), [http://stanford.library.usyd.edu.au/entries/concepts-god/ Concepts of God], Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, (Accessed on: June 13, 2015)</ref>
===Brahman as an ontological concept===
Brahman, along with Soul/Self (Atman) are part of the ontological<ref>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), [https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/ontology/ Ontology], Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ISBN 978-0415073103</ref> premises of Indian philosophy.<ref>Edward Craig (1998), [https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/ontology/ Ontology], Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ISBN 978-0415073103, Accessed (June 13, 2015)</ref><ref>Stephen H. Phillips (2001), [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1400164 Could There Be Mystical Evidence for a Nondual Brahman? A Causal Objection], Philosophy East and West, Vol. 51, No. 4, pages 492-506</ref> Different schools of Indian philosophy have held widely dissimilar ontologies. [[Buddhism]] and [[Carvaka]] school of Hinduism deny that there exists anything called "a soul, a self" (individual Atman or Brahman in the cosmic sense), while the orthodox schools of Hinduism, [[Jainism]] and [[Ajivika]]s hold that there exists "a soul, a self".<ref>KN Jayatilleke (2010), Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge, ISBN 978-8120806191, pages 246-249, from note 385 onwards;<br />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: anattā, Sanskrit: anātman, the opposed doctrine of [[Ātman (Hinduism)|ātman]] is central to Brahmanical thought). Put very briefly, this is the [Buddhist] doctrine that human beings have no soul, no self, no unchanging essence.";<br />Edward Roer (Translator), {{Google books|3uwDAAAAMAAJ|Shankara's Introduction|page=2}}, pages 2-4<br />Katie Javanaud (2013), [https://philosophynow.org/issues/97/Is_The_Buddhist_No-Self_Doctrine_Compatible_With_Pursuing_Nirvana Is The Buddhist 'No-Self' Doctrine Compatible With Pursuing Nirvana?], Philosophy Now;<br />John 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 Ātman concept. As we have already observed, this is the basic and ineradicable distinction between Hinduism and Buddhism".</ref><ref>M Prabhakar (2012), Review: An Introduction to Indian Philosophy, Philosophy in Review, 32(3), pages 158-160</ref>
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 (philosophy)|Yoga]].<ref name=barbarasca>Barbara Holdrege (2004), The Hindu World (Editors: S Mittal and G Thursby), Routledge, ISBN 0415215277, pages 241-242</ref><ref>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</ref><ref>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;<br>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."</ref> 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.<ref name=barbarasca/>
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 soul is held as distinct and limited which can at best come close in eternal blissful love of the Brahman (therein viewed as the Godhead).<ref>Francis Clooney and Tony Stewart (2004), The Hindu World (Editors: S Mittal and G Thursby), Routledge, ISBN 0415215277, pages 166-167</ref>
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.<ref>Randy Kloetzli and Alf Hiltebeitel (2004), The Hindu World (Editors: S Mittal and G Thursby), Routledge, ISBN 0415215277, page 554</ref> The [[Carvaka]] school denied Brahman and Atman, and held a materialist ontology.<ref>Michael Myers (2000), Brahman: A Comparative Theology, Routledge, ISBN 978-0700712571, pages 30-31</ref>
===Brahman as an axiological concept===
Brahman and Atman are key concepts to Hindu theories of [[axiology]]: ethics and aesthetics.<ref>R Prasad and P.D. Chattopadhyaya (2008), A Conceptual-analytic Study of Classical Indian Philosophy of Morals, Concept, ISBN 978-8180695445, pages 56-59</ref><ref>GC Pande (1990), Foundations of Indian Culture, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120807105, pages 49-50</ref> ''Ananda'' (bliss), state Michael Myers and other scholars, has axiological importance to the concept of Brahman, as the universal inner harmony.<ref>Michael W. Myers (1998), [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1400017 Śaṅkarācārya and Ānanda], Philosophy East and West, Vol. 48, No. 4, pages 553-567</ref><ref>Robert S. Hartman (2002), The Knowledge of Good: Critique of Axiological Reason, Rodopi, ISBN 978-9042012202, page 225</ref> Some scholars equate Brahman with the highest value, in an axiological sense.<ref>TMP Mahadevan (1954), [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1397291 The Metaphysics of Śaṁkara], Philosophy East and West, Vol. 3, No. 4, pages 359-363</ref>
The axiological concepts of Brahman and Atman is central to Hindu theory of values.<ref>Arvind Sharma (1999), [http://www.jstor.org/stable/40018229 The Puruṣārthas: An Axiological Exploration of Hinduism], The Journal of Religious Ethics, Vol. 27, No. 2, pages 223-256</ref> 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.<ref>JL Shaw (2011), [http://www.sjsu.edu/people/anand.vaidya/courses/comparativephilosophy/s1/Freedom-East-and-West-by-J-L-Shaw.pdf Freedom: East and West], ''SOPHIA'', Vol 50, Springer Science, pages 481–497</ref> Tietge states that even in non-dual schools of Hinduism where Brahman and Atman are treated ontologically equivalent, the theory of values emphasize 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.<ref>Katherine L Tietge (1997), ''Ontology and Genuine Moral Action: Jñaña (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 (USA), [http://philpapers.org/rec/TIEOAG Archive Link]</ref>
The axiological theory of values emerges implicitly from the concepts of Brahman and Atman, states Bauer.<ref name=nancybauer/> 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 soul with the Brahman, the soul 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.<ref name=nancybauer/> It does not assume that an individual is weak nor does it presume that he is inherently evil, but the opposite: human soul and its nature is held as fundamentally unqualified, faultless, beautiful, blissful, ethical, compassionate and good.<ref name=nancybauer/><ref>Arvind Sharma (2000), Classical Hindu Thought: An Introduction, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195644418, pages 57-61</ref> Ignorance is to assume it evil, liberation is to know its eternal, expansive, pristine, happy and good nature.<ref name=nancybauer>Nancy Bauer (1987), [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1399082 Advaita Vedānta and Contemporary Western Ethics], Philosophy East and West, Vol. 37, No. 1, pages 36-50</ref> 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.<ref name=nikam/> 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 soul is the universal soul, and Atman is the same reality and the same aesthetics as the Brahman.<ref name=nikam>NA Nikam (1952), A Note on the Individual and His Status in Indian Thought, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 2, No. 3, pages 254-258</ref>
===Brahman as a soteriological concept: Moksha===
{{Main|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 sense of oneness with all existence, self-realization, indescribable joy, and moksha (freedom, bliss),<ref>Anantanand Rambachan (1994), The limits of scripture: Vivekananda's reinterpretation of the Vedas, University of Hawaii Press, pages 124-125</ref> 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.<ref>Karl Potter (2008), The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies: Advaita Vedānta Up to Śaṃkara and His Pupils, Volume 3, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, pp 210-215</ref>
The theistic sub-school such as Dvaita Vedanta of Hinduism, starts with the same premises, but adds the premise that individual souls 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.<ref name=mmyers/> The theistic schools assert that moksha is the loving, eternal union or nearness of one's soul 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 soul journeys towards in its own way for moksha.<ref>Betty, Stafford (2010) "Dvaita, Advaita, And Viśiṣṭadvaita: Contrasting Views Of Mokṣa", Asian Philosophy, pages 215-224</ref>
==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|Advaita Vedanta}}
{{Advaita}}
[[Advaita Vedanta]] espouses [[nondualism]]. ''Brahman'' is the sole unchanging reality,<ref name=acdas>AC Das (1952), [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1397304 Brahman and Māyā in Advaita Metaphysics], Philosophy East and West, Vol. 2, No. 2, pages 144-154</ref> there is no duality, no limited individual souls nor a separate unlimited cosmic soul, rather all souls, all of existence, across all space and time, is one and the same.<ref name=jeffreybrodd/><ref name=barbarasca/><ref name=rdalal>Rosen Dalal (2014), Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide, Penguin, ISBN 978-8184752779, see article on Brahman</ref> The universe and the soul inside each being is Brahman, and the universe and the soul 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 knowledge), but it can be learned and realized by all human beings.<ref name="Arvind Sharma 2007 pages 19-40"/> The goal of Advaita Vedanta is to realize that one's Self (''[[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]]'') gets obscured by ignorance and false-identification ("[[Avidya (Hinduism)|Avidya]]"). When Avidya is removed, the Atman (Soul, Self inside a person) is realized as identical with Brahman.<ref name="dx.doi.org"/> The Brahman is not 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 is truly exists.<ref name=acdas/> 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 in any other means besides self inquiry.<ref>Anantanand Rambachan (1994), ''The limits of scripture: Vivekananda's reinterpretation of the Vedas.'' University of Hawaii Press, pages 125, 124</ref>
In [[Advaita Vedanta]], nirguna Brahman, that is the Brahman without attributes, is held to be the ultimate and sole reality.<ref name=acdas/><ref name=williamw/> Consciousness is not a property of Brahman but its very nature. In this respect, Advaita Vedanta differs from other Vedanta schools.<ref>[Sangeetha Menon (2007), ''Advaita Vedānta''], Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy</ref>
Example verses from [[Bhagavad-Gita]] include:
{{Quote|
<poem>
The [[Yajna|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<ref>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</ref><ref>Jeaneane D. Fowler (2012), The Bhagavad Gita, Sussex Academic Press, ISBN 978-1845193461, page 83</ref>
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<ref>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</ref>
</poem>
|Bhagavad Gita|}}
====Visishtadvaita Vedanta====
The Brahman of [[Visishtadvaita]] is not exactly same as individual Atman, rather it is synonymous with [[Narayana]], the transcendent and immanent reality.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} Brahman or Narayana is [[Saguna Brahman]], one with attributes, one with infinite auspicious qualities, and not the Advaita concept of attributeless [[Nirguna Brahman]].{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}
====Dvaita Vedanta====
{{Vaishnavism}}
Brahman of [[Dvaita]] is a concept similar to God in major world religions.<ref name=mmyers/> Dvaita holds that the individual soul is dependent on God, but distinct.<ref name=mmyers/>
Dvaita propounds Tattvavada which means understanding differences between [[Tattva]]s (significant properties) of entities within the universal substrate as follows:{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}
#Jîva-Îshvara-bheda — difference between the soul and Vishnu
#Jada-Îshvara-bheda — difference between the insentient and Vishnu
#Mitha-jîva-bheda — difference between any two souls
#Jada-jîva-bheda — difference between insentient and the soul
#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.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} 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 [[Vaikunta|Vaikuntha]] abode (also known as Brahmalokah sanatana), then as [[Paramatma]] (by process of [[yoga]]-[[meditation]] on Supersoul, 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).{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}
===Vaishnavism===
{{Main|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|date=June 2015}} 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/Krishna; the universe and all other manifestations of the Supreme are extensions of Him.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}
===Bhakti movement===
{{main|Bhakti movement}}
The Bhakti movement of Hinduism built its theosophy around two concepts of Brahman – ''Nirguna'' and ''Saguna''.<ref name=karen21>Karen Pechilis Prentiss (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195351903, page 21</ref> ''Nirguna'' Brahman was the concept of the Ultimate Reality as formless, without attributes or quality.<ref name=jeaneanefxxvii>Jeaneane D. Fowler (2012), The Bhagavad Gita, Sussex Academic Press, ISBN 978-1845193461, pages xxvii-xxxiv</ref> ''Saguna'' Brahman, in contrast, was envisioned and developed as with form, attributes and quality.<ref name=jeaneanefxxvii/> The two had parallels in the ancient panthestic unmanifest and theistic manifest traditions, respectively, and traceable to Arjuna-Krishna dialogue in the [[Bhagavad Gita]].<ref name=karen21/><ref name=fowlernirgunasaguna>Jeaneane D. Fowler (2012), The Bhagavad Gita, Sussex Academic Press, ISBN 978-1845193461, pages 207-211</ref> It is the same Brahman, but viewed from two perspectives, one from ''Nirguni'' knowledge-focus and other from ''Saguni'' love-focus, united as Krishna in the Gita.<ref name=fowlernirgunasaguna/> ''Nirguna'' bhakta's poetry were ''Jnana-shrayi'', or had roots in knowledge.<ref name=karen21/> ''Saguna'' bhakta's poetry were ''Prema-shrayi'', or with roots in love.<ref name=karen21/> In Bhakti, the emphasis is reciprocal love and devotion, where the devotee loves God, and God loves the devotee.<ref name=fowlernirgunasaguna/>
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.<ref name=jeaneanefxxvii/> 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.<ref>Jessica Frazier and Gavin Flood (2011), The Continuum Companion to Hindu Studies, Bloomsbury Academic, ISBN 978-0826499660, pages 113-115</ref>
''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".<ref name=davidlorenzenns/> 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''.<ref name=davidlorenzenns>David Lorenzen (1996), Praises to a Formless God: Nirguni Texts from North India, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791428054, page 2</ref> These were two alternate ways of imagining God during the bhakti movement.<ref name=karen21/>
==Buddhist understanding of Brahman==
Buddhism rejects the Upanishadic doctrine of Brahman and Atman (soul, permanent self, essence).{{refn|group=note|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."}} According to Damien Keown, "the Buddha said he could find no evidence for the existence of either the personal soul (''atman'') or its cosmic counterpart (''brahman'')".<ref>Damien Keown, ''Buddhism'' (NY: Sterling, 2009), p. 70</ref> The metaphysics of Buddhism rejects Brahman (ultimate being), Brahman-like essence, soul and anything metaphysically equivalent through its [[Anatta]] doctrine.<ref>{{cite book|author=David Webster|title=The Philosophy of Desire in the Buddhist Pali Canon|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=KqxI7YRUSegC|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-203-01057-0|pages=194–195, 93, 147}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Richard Francis Gombrich|author2=Cristina Anna Scherrer-Schaub|title=Buddhist Studies|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=U7_Rea05eAMC |year=2008|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-3248-0|pages=192–193}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Mark Juergensmeyer|author2=Wade Clark Roof|title=Encyclopedia of Global Religion|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=WwJzAwAAQBAJ |year=2011|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4522-6656-5 |pages=272–273}}</ref>
According to Merv Fowler, some forms of Buddhism have incorporated concepts that resemble that of Brahman.{{refn|group=note|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."}} 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".<ref>Merv Fowler, ''Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices'' (Brighton: Sussex Academic, 1999), p. 34</ref> 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 Soul, the Brahman of the Upanishads, in a new form".<ref>William Theodore De Bary, cited in Merv Fowler, ''Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices'' (Brighton: Sussex Academic, 1999), p. 98</ref> 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."<ref>Merv Fowler, ''Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices'' (Brighton: Sussex Academic, 1999), p. 81</ref> Fowler asserts that the authors of a number of Mahayana texts took pains to differentiate their ideas from the Upanishadic doctrine of Brahman.{{refn|group=note|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."}}
===Brahma as a surrogate for Brahman in Buddhist texts===
The spiritual concept of Brahman is far older in the Vedic literature, 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.<ref name=brucesullivan>Bruce Sullivan (1999), Seer of the Fifth Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120816763, pages 82-83</ref> In the Hindu texts, one of the earliest mention 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.<ref name=hume51>{{citation|first=Robert Ernest|last=Hume|title=The Thirteen Principal Upanishads |url=https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n443/mode/2up|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1921|pages=422–424}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=KN Jayatilleke|title=Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zcs41sp8ON4C |year=1998|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0619-1 |pages=68, 374}}, 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".</ref><ref>Jan Gonda (1968), The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Vol. 63, pages 215-219</ref>
The early Buddhists attacked the concept of Brahma, states Gananath Obeyesekere, and thereby [[polemic]]ally attacked the Vedic and Upanishadic concept of gender neutral, abstract metaphysical Brahman.<ref name="Obeyesekere2006p179"/> 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.<ref name="Obeyesekere2006p179">{{cite book|author=Gananath Obeyesekere|title=Karma and Rebirth: A Cross Cultural Study|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=IEK4Qgm7Z0kC |year=2006|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-2609-0 |pages=177–179 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|author=Martin G. Wiltshire|title=Ascetic Figures Before and in Early Buddhism: The Emergence of Gautama as the Buddha|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=WXmmkYQf4RwC |year=1990|publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-009896-9 |pages=248–249, 253–255}}</ref> Simultaneously, by reformulating Brahman as Brahma and relegating it within its Devas and [[Saṃsāra (Buddhism)|Samsara]] theories, early Buddhism rejected the Atman-Brahman premise of the Vedas to present of its own ''Dhamma'' doctrines ([[anicca]], [[dukkha]] and [[anatta]]).<ref>{{cite book|author=Martin G. Wiltshire|title=Ascetic Figures Before and in Early Buddhism: The Emergence of Gautama as the Buddha|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=WXmmkYQf4RwC |year=1990|publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-009896-9 |pages= 256–265}}</ref>
==Brahman in Sikhism==
{{multiple image
| direction = horizontal
| width1 = 130
| width2 = 90
| footer = [[Ik Onkar]] (left) is part of the [[Mul Mantar]] in Sikhism, where it means "Onkar [God, Reality] is one".<ref name=eleanor>Eleanor Nesbitt (2005), Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0192806017, Chapter 4</ref> The Onkar of Sikhism is related to Om – also called ''Omkāra''<ref>Jean Holm and John Bowker, Worship, Bloomsbury, ISBN , page 67</ref> – in Hinduism.<ref name=eleanor/><ref>Wendy Doniger (2000), Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions, Merriam Webster, ISBN 978-0877790440, page 500</ref> The ancient texts of Hinduism state Om to be a symbolism for the Highest Reality, Brahman.<ref>Rangaswami Sudhakshina (2012), Roots of Vendanta, Penguin, ISBN 978-0143064459, page 405</ref><ref>David Leeming (2005), The Oxford Companion to World Mythology, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195156690, page 54</ref>
| image1 = Ek_onkar.png
| image2 = Om devanagari.PNG
}}
The metaphysical concept of Brahman, particularly as ''nirguni Brahman'' – attributeless, formless, eternal Highest Reality – is at the foundation of [[Sikhism]].<ref name=sskohli39>SS Kohli (1993), The Sikh and Sikhism, Atlantic, ISBN 81-71563368, page 39</ref> This belief is observed through ''nirguni Bhakti'' by the Sikhs.<ref>Hardip Syan (2014), in The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies (Editors: Pashaura Singh, Louis E. Fenech), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199699308, page 178</ref><ref>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, page 188-190</ref>
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".<ref>SS Kohli (1993), The Sikh and Sikhism, Atlantic, ISBN 81-71563368, page 38</ref> 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".<ref name=eleanor/>
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.<ref>[[Max Muller]], [https://archive.org/stream/upanishads01ml#page/92/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad 6.2.1] Oxford University Press, pages 93-94</ref><ref>[[Paul Deussen]], Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, pages 156-157, 162-163</ref> The ideas about God and Highest Reality in Sikhism share themes found in the ''Saguna'' and ''Nirguna'' concepts of Brahman in Hinduism.<ref name=sskohli39/><ref>N Mandair (2009), Postcolonial Philosophy of Religion (Editor: Purushottama Bilimoria, Andrew B. Irvine), Springer, ISBN 978-9400791770, page 145-146</ref>
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.<ref>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</ref><ref>HS Singha (2009), Sikh Studies, Vol. 7, Hemkunt Press, ISBN 978-8170102458, page 47</ref>
==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 (soul) exists" is held to be a metaphysical truth and central to its theory of rebirths and [[Kevala Jnana]].<ref>Ray Billington (1997), Understanding Eastern Philosophy, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415129657, page 46</ref>
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.<ref>James Bissett, Cultural and Religious Heritage of India, Volume 2: Jainism (Editors: Sharma and Sharma), Mittal, ISBN 81-70999553, page 81</ref> 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.<ref>C Caillat and N Balbir (2008), Jaina Studies, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120832473, page ix-x</ref> 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.<ref name=pjaini>P Jaini (1998), The Jaina Path of Purification, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-1578-5, pages 90-93</ref><ref>J Koller (2004), "Why is Anekāntavāda important?", (Editor: Tara Sethia, Ahimsā, Anekānta, and Jainism), Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-2036-3, pages 400-407</ref> Those who have understood and realized the Absolute Truth are the liberated ones and the Supreme Souls, with [[Kevala Jnana]].<ref name=pjaini/>
==Comparison of Brahma, Brahman, Brahmin and Brahmanas==
[[Brahma]] is distinct from Brahman.<ref name="BondKunin2003p231"/> Brahma is a male deity, in the post-Vedic Puranic literature,<ref name=pandeyp40>{{cite book|author=R. M. Matthijs Cornelissen|title=Foundations of Indian Psychology Volume 2: Practical Applications|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=BkkgeKXyiOIC |year=2011|publisher=Pearson |isbn=978-81-317-3085-0 |pages=40 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Doniger1999p437"/> In theistic schools of Hinduism where deity Brahma is described as part of its cosmology, he is a mortal like all gods and goddesses, and dissolves into the abstract immortal Brahman when the universe ends, thereafter a new cosmic cycle (kalpa) restarts again.<ref name=pandeyp40/><ref name="Fowler2002p330">{{cite book|author=Jeaneane D. Fowler|title=Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=8dRZ4E-qgz8C |year=2002|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-898723-93-6 |pages=330 }}</ref>
Brahman is a metaphysical concept of Hinduism referring to the ultimate unchanging reality,<ref name="BondKunin2003p231">{{cite book|author1=Helen K. Bond |author2=Seth D. Kunin|author3=Francesca Murphy |title=Religious Studies and Theology: An Introduction |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=HokZ5UW5fZsC&pg=PA231 |year=2003|publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0-8147-9914-7 |pages=231 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=William Sweet |title=Approaches to Metaphysics |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=cyCme74cZ1IC |year=2006|publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-2182-4|pages=145–147 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=H. James Birx |title=Encyclopedia of Anthropology |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=8m_vBQAAQBAJ |year=2005|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4522-6536-0 |pages=1279 }}</ref> that, states Doniger, is uncreated, eternal, infinite, transcendent, the cause, the foundation, the source and the goal of all existence.<ref name="Doniger1999p437"/> 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.<ref name="Doniger1999p437"/> It is a gender neutral abstract concept.<ref name="Doniger1999p437">{{cite book|author=Wendy Denier|title=Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ZP_f9icf2roC |year=1999|publisher=Merriam-Webster |isbn=978-0-87779-044-0 |pages=437 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=J. L. Brockington|title=The Sanskrit Epics|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=HR-_LK5kl18C |year=1998|publisher=BRILL Academic |isbn=90-04-10260-4 |pages=256 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Denise Cush |author2=Catherine Robinson |author3=Michael York |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=kzPgCgAAQBAJ |year=2012|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-18979-2 |pages=114–115 }}</ref> The abstract Brahman concept is predominant in the Vedic texts, particularly the Upanishads;<ref>{{cite book|author=Edward Craig|title=Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Brahman to Derrida|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=lS2cSqwMtf8C |year=1998|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-18707-7 |pages=1–4 }}</ref> while the deity Brahma finds minor mention in the Vedas and the Upanishads.<ref>{{cite book|author=Julius Lipner |title=Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=HDMLYkIOoWYC |year=1994|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-05181-1 |pages=43–44 }}</ref> In the Puranic and the Epics literature, deity Brahma appears more often, but inconsistently. Some texts suggest that god Vishnu created Brahma (Vaishnavism),<ref>{{cite book|author=S. M. Srinivasa Chari |title=Vaiṣṇavism: Its Philosophy, Theology, and Religious Discipline|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=evmiLInyxBMC |year=1994|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1098-3 |pages=147 }}</ref> others suggest god Shiva created Brahma (Shaivism),<ref>{{cite book|author=Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty |title=Siva: The Erotic Ascetic |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=dnfZ_MBErlQC |year=1981|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-972793-3 |pages=125 }}</ref> yet others suggest goddess Devi created Brahma (Shaktism),<ref name=kinsley137>{{cite book|author=David Kinsley |title=Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=HzldwMHeS6IC |year=1988|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-90883-3 |pages=137 }}</ref> and these texts then go on to state that Brahma is a secondary creator of the world working respectively on their behalf.<ref name=kinsley137/><ref>{{cite book|author=Stella Kramrisch|title=The Presence of Siva|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=O5BanndcIgUC&pg=PA205|year=1992|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=0-691-01930-4 |pages=205-206 }}</ref> Further, the medieval era texts of these major theistic traditions of Hinduism assert that the ''saguna''{{refn|group=note|representation with face and attributes)<ref>{{cite book|author=Arvind Sharma|title=Classical Hindu Thought: An Introduction|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=gDmUToaeMJ0C |year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-564441-8|page=4}}</ref>}} Brahman is Vishnu,<ref>{{cite book|author1=Mark Juergensmeyer |author2=Wade Clark Roof |title=Encyclopedia of Global Religion |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=WwJzAwAAQBAJ |year=2011|publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-1-4522-6656-5 |page=1335}}</ref> is Shiva,<ref>{{cite book|author=Stella Kramrisch |title=The Presence of Siva |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=O5BanndcIgUC |year=1992|publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0-691-01930-4 |pages=171 }}</ref> or is Devi<ref>{{cite book|author=David Kinsley |title=Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=HzldwMHeS6IC |year=1988|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-90883-3 |pages=136 }}</ref> respectively, they are different names or aspects of the Brahman, and that the Atman (soul, self) within every living being is same or part of this ultimate, eternal Brahman.<ref>{{cite book|author=William K. Mahony |title=The Artful Universe: An Introduction to the Vedic Religious Imagination |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=B1KR_kE5ZYoC |year=1998|publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-3579-3 |pages=13–14, 187 }}</ref>
[[Brahmin]] is a [[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]] in [[Hinduism]] specialising in theory as priests, preservers and transmitters of sacred literature across generations.<ref>{{cite book | last=Doniger | first=Wendy | title=Merriam-Webster's encyclopedia of world religions| publisher=Merriam-Webster | location=Springfield, MA, USA | year=1999 | isbn=978-0-87779-044-0 | page=186}}</ref><ref>James Lochtefeld (2002), Brahmin, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing, ISBN 978-0823931798, page 125</ref>
The [[Brahmana]]s 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.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/77126/Brahmana Brahmana] Encyclopædia Britannica (2013)</ref><ref>[[Klaus Klostermaier]] (1994), A Survey of Hinduism, Second Edition, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791421093, pages 67-69</ref> They are embedded within each of the four Vedas, and form a part of the [[Hindu texts|Hindu]] ''[[śruti]]'' literature.<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/brahmana "Brahmana"]. ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''</ref>
==See also==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*[[Acintya]]
*[[Om|Aum]]
*[[Bardo]]
*[[Ginnungagap]]
*[[Jiva]]
*[[Mysticism]]
*[[Pure land]]
*[[Universal mind]]
*[[The All]]
*[[Yoga]]
{{div col end}}
==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|33em}}
==References==
{{Reflist|33em}}
===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |first=Jeaneane D. |last= Fowler|title=Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=8dRZ4E-qgz8C| year=2002| publisher=Sussex Academic Press |isbn=978-1-898723-93-6|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |first=Klaus K. |last= Klostermaier |title=A Survey of Hinduism: Third Edition |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=8CVviRghVtIC |year=2010|publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-8011-3 |chapter=Chapter 12}}
* {{Cite book | last =Michaels | first =Axel | year =2004 | title =Hinduism. Past and present | place =Princeton, New Jersey | publisher =Princeton University Press}}
* {{Citation | last =Potter | first =Karl H. | year =2008 | title =The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies: Advaita Vedānta Up to Śaṃkara and His Pupils | place =Delhi | publisher =Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited}}
* {{Citation | last =Puligandla | first =Ramakrishna | year =1997 | title =Fundamentals of Indian Philosophy | place =New Delhi | publisher =D.K. Printworld (P) Ltd.}}
* {{Citation | last =Raju | first =P.T. | year =1992 | title =The Philosophical Traditions of India | place =Delhi | publisher =Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited}}
* {{Citation | last =Sinari | first =Ramakant | year =2000 | title =Advaita and Contemporary Indian Philosophy. In: Chattopadhyana (gen.ed.), "History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization. Volume II Part 2: Advaita Vedanta" | place =Delhi | publisher =Centre for Studies in Civilizations}}
{{refend}}
==External links==
*[http://www.jstor.org/stable/1396951 The Concept of Brahman in Hindu Philosophy], Haridas Chaudhuri (1954), Philosophy East and West, Vol. 4, No. 1, pages 47–66
*[http://www.jstor.org/stable/1195422 The Idea of God in Hinduism], A. S. Woodburne (1925), The Journal of Religion, Vol. 5, No. 1, pages 52–66
*[http://www.jstor.org/stable/41694938 The Western View of Hinduism: An Age-old Mistake] (Brahman), JM De Mora (1997), Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Vol. 78, No. 1/4, pages 1–12
*[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/concepts-god/ Concepts of God] Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, (Compares Brahman with concepts of God found in other religions)
*[http://www.hinduwebsite.com/brahmanmain.asp Detailed essays on Brahman] at Hinduwebsite.com
{{Hindudharma}}
{{Theology}}
{{Philosophy topics}}
{{Indian Philosophy}}
{{Vaishnava philosophy}}
{{Names of God}}
[[Category:Hindu philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Conceptions of God]]
[[Category:Names of God in Hinduism]]
{{Other uses}}
{{Hinduism small}}
[[File:Wassertropfen.jpg|right|thumb|Impact of a drop of water in water, a common analogy for Brahman and the [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Ātman]]]]
{{EngvarB|date=April 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}}
In [[Hinduism]], '''Brahman''' ({{IPAc-en|b|r|ə|h|m|ən}}; ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest Universal Principle, the [[Absolute (philosophy)|Ultimate Reality]] in the universe.<ref name=james122>James Lochtefeld, ''Brahman'', The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing. ISBN 978-0823931798, page 122</ref><ref name=ptraju>PT Raju (2006), Idealistic Thought of India, Routledge, ISBN 978-1406732627, page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII</ref>{{Sfn|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)}} In major schools of [[Hindu philosophy]] it is the material, efficient, formal and final [[Four causes|cause]] of all that exists.<ref name=ptraju/><ref>Mariasusai Dhavamony (2002), Hindu-Christian Dialogue: Theological Soundings and Perspectives, Rodopi Press, ISBN 978-9042015104, pages 43-44</ref><ref name=fxclooney>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;<br>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</ref> It is the pervasive, genderless, infinite, eternal truth and bliss which does not change, yet is the cause of all changes.<ref name=james122/>{{Sfn|Fowler|2002|pp=53-55}}<ref name=jeffreybrodd>Jeffrey Brodd (2009), World Religions: A Voyage of Discovery, Saint Mary's Press, ISBN 978-0884899976, pages 43-47</ref> Brahman as a metaphysical concept is the single binding unity behind the diversity in all that exists in the universe.<ref name=james122/>{{Sfn|Fowler|2002|pp=50-53}}
Brahman is a [[Vedic Sanskrit]] word, and is conceptualized in Hinduism, states [[Paul Deussen]], as the "creative principle which lies realized in the whole world".<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, page 91</ref> Brahman is a key concept found in [[Vedas]], and extensively discussed in the early [[Upanishads]].<ref name=sphilips>Stephen Philips (1998), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Brahman to Derrida (Editor; Edward Craig), Routledge, ISBN 978-0415187077, pages 1-4</ref> The [[Veda]]s conceptualize Brahman as the Cosmic Principle.<ref name="Hananya Goodman 1994 page 121">Hananya Goodman (1994), Between Jerusalem and Benares: Comparative Studies in Judaism and Hinduism, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791417164, page 121</ref> In the Upanishads, it has been variously described as ''[[Satcitananda|Sat-cit-ānanda]]'' (being-consciousness-bliss){{sfn|Raju|1992|p=228}}<ref>Eliot Deutsch (1980), Advaita Vedanta : A Philosophical Reconstruction, University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 978-0824802714, Chapter 1</ref> and as the unchanging, permanent, highest reality.{{Sfn|Fowler|2002|pp=53-55}}{{sfn|Potter|2008|p=6-7}}{{refn|group=note|[[Advaita Vedanta#Criterion of Sublation|"not sublatable"]],{{sfn|Potter|2008|p=6-7}} the final element in a dialectical process which cannot be eliminated or annihilated (German: "aufheben").}}{{refn|group=note|It is also defined as:
* The unchanging, [[Infinity|infinite]], [[Immanence|immanent]], and [[transcendence (religion)|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.<ref>{{cite book | last = Brodd | first = Jefferey | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = World Religions | publisher = Saint Mary's Press | year = 2003 | location = Winona, MN | pages = | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 978-0-88489-725-5 }}</ref>
* The one supreme, all pervading Spirit that is the origin and support of the [[Phenomenon|phenomenal]] universe.<ref>John Bowker (ed.)(2012), ''The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions'', Oxford University Press.[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192800947.001.0001/acref-9780192800947-e-1183]</ref>}}
Brahman is discussed in Hindu texts with the concept of [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Atman]] (Soul, Self),<ref name=sphilips/>{{Sfn|Fowler|2002|pp=49-53}} [[Personal god|personal]],{{refn|group=note|[[Saguna Brahman]], with qualities}} [[Absolute (philosophy)|impersonal]]{{refn|group=note|[[Nirguna Brahman]], without qualities}} or [[Para Brahman]],{{refn|group=note|Supreme}} or in various combinations of these qualities depending on the philosophical school.<ref>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</ref> In [[Dualism|dualistic]] schools of Hinduism such as the theistic [[Dvaita Vedanta]], Brahman is different from Atman (soul) in each being, and therein it shares conceptual framework of [[God]] in major world religions.<ref name=fxclooney/><ref name=mmyers>Michael Myers (2000), Brahman: A Comparative Theology, Routledge, ISBN 978-0700712571, pages 124-127</ref><ref>Thomas Padiyath (2014), The Metaphysics of Becoming, De Gruyter, ISBN 978-3110342550, pages 155-157</ref> In [[Nondualism|non-dual]] schools of Hinduism such as the [[monism|monist]] [[Advaita Vedanta]], Brahman is identical to the Atman, Brahman is everywhere and inside each living being, and there is connected spiritual oneness in all existence.<ref name=jeffreybrodd/><ref name="Arvind Sharma 2007 pages 19-40">Arvind Sharma (2007), Advaita Vedānta: An Introduction, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120820272, pages 19-40, 53-58, 79-86</ref><ref>John E. Welshons (2009), One Soul, One Love, One Heart, New World Library, ISBN 978-1577315889, pages 17-18</ref>
==Etymology and related terms==
[[Sanskrit]] ''Brahman'' (an ''n''-stem, nominative ''{{IAST|bráhmā}}'') from a [[root (linguistics)|root]] ''{{IAST|bṛh}}-'' "to swell, expand, grow, enlarge" is a neutral noun to be distinguished from the masculine ''{{IAST|[[brahmán]]}}''—denoting a person associated with Brahman, and from [[Brahmā]], the creator God of 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",{{sfn|Puligandla|1997|p=222}} while Sinar states Brahman is a concept that "cannot be exactly defined".{{sfn|Sinari|2000|p=384}}
In [[Vedic Sanskrit]]:
*''Br<u>a</u>hm<u>a</u>'' (ब्रह्म) (nominative singular), ''br<u>a</u>hm<u>a</u>n'' (ब्रह्मन्) (stem) (neuter<ref name="neuter">Not Masculine or Feminine (see [[Grammatical gender]]).</ref> [[gender]]) from root ''bṛh-'', means "to be or make firm, strong, solid, expand, promote".<ref name=jangondaetymo>[[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</ref>
*''Br<u>a</u>hmān<u>a</u>'' (ब्रह्मन) (nominative singular, never plural), from stems ''brh<u>a</u>'' (to make firm, strong, expand) + Sanskrit ''-man-'' from Indo-European root ''-men-'' which denotes some manifested form of "definite power, inherent firmness, supporting or fundamental principle".<ref name=jangondaetymo/>
In later Sanskrit usage:
*''Br<u>a</u>hm<u>a</u>'' (ब्रह्म) (nominative singular), ''brahman'' (stem) (neuter<ref name="neuter" /> [[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. ''Brahm'' is another variant of ''Brahman''.
*''Br<u>a</u>hmā'' (ब्रह्मा) (nominative singlular), ''Brahman'' (ब्रह्मन्) (stem) ([[masculine]] [[gender]]), means the deity or [[Deva (Hinduism)|deva]] [[Brahma (god)|Prajāpati Brahmā]]. He is one of the members of the [[Trimurti|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 (aeon)|kalpa]].
These are distinct from:
*A ''brāhm<u>a</u>ṇ<u>a</u>'' (ब्राह्मण) (masculine, pronounced {{IPA-sa|ˈbraːhməɳə|}}), (which literally means "pertaining to prayer") is a prose commentary on the [[Veda|Vedic mantras]]—an integral part of the Vedic literature.
*A ''brāhm<u>a</u>ṇ<u>a</u>'' (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.
*''[[Deva (Hinduism)|Deva]]s'', 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 [[Samhita]]s, the oldest layer of the [[Vedas]] dated to the 2nd millennium BCE. For example,<ref name=barbarah29/>
{{Quote|
<poem>
The ''Ṛcs'' are limited (''parimita''),
The ''Samans'' are limited,
And the ''Yajuses'' are limited,
But of the Word ''Brahman'', there is no end.
</poem>
|Taittiriya Samhita VII.3.1.4|Translated by Barbara Holdrege<ref name=barbarah29>Barbara Holdrege (1995), Veda and Torah: Transcending the Textuality of Scripture, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791416402, page 29</ref>}}
The concept ''Brahman'' is referred to in hundreds of hymns in the Vedas.<ref name=mauricebrahman>[[Maurice Bloomfield]], [https://archive.org/stream/vedicconcordance00bloouoft#page/656/mode/2up A Vedic Concordance], Harvard University Press, pages 656-662</ref> For example, it is found in [[Rig veda]] hymns such as 2.2.10,<ref>Original: वयमग्ने अर्वता वा सुवीर्यं '''ब्रह्मणा''' वा चितयेमा जनाँ अति । अस्माकं द्युम्नमधि पञ्च कृष्टिषूच्चा स्वर्ण शुशुचीत दुष्टरम् ॥१०॥<br>Source: [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/ऋग्वेद:_सूक्तं_२.२ ऋग्वेद: सूक्तं २.२] Wikisource</ref> 6.21.8,<ref>Original: स तु श्रुधीन्द्र नूतनस्य '''ब्रह्मण्य'''तो वीर कारुधायः । त्वं ह्यापिः प्रदिवि पितॄणां शश्वद्बभूथ सुहव एष्टौ ॥८॥<br>[https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/ऋग्वेद:_सूक्तं_६.२१ ऋग्वेद: सूक्तं ६.२१] Wikisource</ref> 10.72.2<ref>Original: '''ब्रह्मण'''स्पतिरेता सं कर्मार इवाधमत् । देवानां पूर्व्ये युगेऽसतः सदजायत ॥२॥<br>[https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/ऋग्वेद:_सूक्तं_१०.७२ ऋग्वेद: सूक्तं १०.७२] Wikisource</ref> and in [[Atharvaveda|Atharva veda]] hymns such as 6.122.5, 10.1.12, and 14.1.131.<ref name=mauricebrahman/> The concept is found in various layers of the Vedic literature; for example:<ref name=mauricebrahman/> 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 [[Vedas#Vedanga|vedāṅga]] (the limbs of Vedas) such as the Srauta sutra 1.12.12 and Paraskara Gryhasutra 3.2.10 through 3.4.5.<ref name=mauricebrahman/>
[[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".<ref name=jangondameaning>[[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</ref> 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.<ref name=jangondameaning/> 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.<ref>[[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</ref>
Barbara Holdrege states that the concept ''Brahman'' is discussed in the Vedas along four major themes: as the Word or verses (''Sabdabrahman''),<ref>See Rigveda Chapter 1.164;<br>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</ref> as Knowledge embodied in Creator Principle, as Creation itself, and a Corpus of traditions.<ref>Barbara Holdrege (1995), Veda and Torah: Transcending the Textuality of Scripture, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791416402, page 24</ref> Hananya Goodman states that the Vedas conceptualize Brahman as the Cosmic Principles underlying all that exists.<ref name="Hananya Goodman 1994 page 121"/> [[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 ([[Ātman (Hinduism)|Atman]], soul)", and the deeper "truth of a person beyond apparent difference".<ref name=gavinflood84>Gavin Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521438780, pages 84-85</ref>
===Upanishads===
[[File:Mozzercork - Heart (by).jpg|thumb|Swan (Hansa, हंस) is the symbol for Brahman-Atman in Hindu iconography.<ref>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."</ref><ref>Denise Cush (2007), Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415556231, page 697</ref>]]
The primary focus on the early Upanishads is ''Brahmavidya'' and ''Atmavidya'', that is the knowledge of Brahman and the knowledge of Atman (self, soul), what it is and how it is understood.<ref>R Prasad and P.D. Chattopadhyaya (2008), A Conceptual-analytic Study of Classical Indian Philosophy of Morals, Concept, ISBN 978-8180695445, page 56</ref> 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.<ref name=sphilips/>
[[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",<ref name=pauldeussen243>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814677, page 243, 325-344, 363, 581</ref> the "principle of the world",<ref name=pauldeussen243/> the "absolute",<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814677, page 358, 371</ref> the "general, universal",<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814677, page 305, 476</ref> the "cosmic principle",<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814677, pages 110, 315-316, 495, 838-851</ref> the "ultimate that is the cause of everything including all gods",<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814677, pages 211, 741-742</ref> the "divine being, Lord, distinct God, or God within oneself",<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814677, pages 308-311, 497-499</ref> the "knowledge",<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814677, pages 181, 237, 444, 506-544, 570-571, 707, 847-850</ref> the "soul, sense of self of each human being that is fearless, luminuous, exalted and blissful",<ref name=pauldeussen52>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814677, pages 52, 110, 425, 454, 585-586, 838-851</ref> the "essence of liberation, of spiritual freedom",<ref>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</ref> the "universe within each living being and the universe outside",<ref name=pauldeussen52/> the "essence and everything innate in all that exists inside, outside and everywhere".<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814677, pages 600, 619-620, 647, 777</ref>
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, soul within each person, each being", the "truth", the "reality", the "absolute", the "bliss" (''ananda'').<ref name=gavinflood84/>
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 (''[[Ātman (Hinduism)|atma jnana]]'').<ref>pp.77, Radhakrishnan, S, ''The Principal Upanisads,'' HarperCollins India, 1994</ref>
The Upanishads contain several ''mahā-vākyas'' or "Great Sayings" on the concept of Brahman:<ref name="EoH 270">{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Constance|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism|year=2007|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=0816073368|pages=270}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Text!! Upanishad !! Translation !! Reference
|-
| '''अहं ब्रह्म अस्मि'''<br>''aham brahmāsmi'' || [[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]] 1.4.10 || "I am Brahman"||<ref>Sanskrit and English Translation: S Madhavananda, [https://archive.org/stream/Brihadaranyaka.Upanishad.Shankara.Bhashya.by.Swami.Madhavananda#page/n171/mode/2up Brihadaranyaka Upanishad] 1.4.10, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad - Shankara Bhashya, page 145</ref>
|-
| '''अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म'''<br>''ayam ātmā brahma'' || Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.5 || "The Self is Brahman" ||<ref>Sanskrit and English Translation: S Madhavananda, [https://archive.org/stream/Brihadaranyaka.Upanishad.Shankara.Bhashya.by.Swami.Madhavananda#page/n737/mode/2up Brihadaranyaka Upanishad] 4.4.5, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad - Shankara Bhashya, pages 711-712</ref>
|-
| '''सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्म'''<br>''sarvam khalvidam brahma'' ||[[Chandogya Upanishad]] 3.14.1 || "All this is Brahman"||<ref>Sanskrit: [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/छान्दोग्योपनिषद्_२ छान्दोग्योपनिषद् १.१ ॥तृतीयॊऽध्यायः॥] Wikisource<br>English Translation:Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/upanishads01ml#page/48/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad 3.14.1] Oxford University Press, page 48;<br>Max Muller, {{Google books|KXf_AQAAQBAJ|The Upanisads}}, Routledge, pages xviii-xix</ref>
|-
| '''एकमेवाद्वितीयम्'''<br>''ekam evadvitiyam'' ||Chandogya Upanishad 6.2.1|| "That [Brahman] is one, without a second" ||<ref>Sanskrit: [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/छान्दोग्योपनिषद्_३ छान्दोग्योपनिषद् १.२ ॥षष्ठोऽध्यायः॥] Wikisource<br>English Translation:Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/upanishads01ml#page/92/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad 6.2.1] Oxford University Press, page 93;<br>Max Muller, {{Google books|KXf_AQAAQBAJ|The Upanisads}}, Routledge, pages xviii-xix</ref>
|-
| '''तत्त्वमसि'''<br>''[[tat tvam asi]]'' ||Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7 et seq. || "Thou art that" ("You are Brahman")||<ref>Sanskrit: [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/छान्दोग्योपनिषद्_३ छान्दोग्योपनिषद् १.२ ॥षष्ठोऽध्यायः॥] Wikisource<br>English Translation:Robert Hume, [https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n267/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad] 6.8, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pages 246-250</ref><ref>AS Gupta, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1397392 The Meanings of "That Thou Art"], Philosophy East and West, Vol. 12, No. 2, pages 125-134</ref>
|-
| '''प्रज्ञानं ब्रह्म'''<br>''prajnānam brahma''||[[Aitareya Upanishad]] 3.3.7 || "Knowledge is Brahman"||<ref>Sanskrit: [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/ऐतरेयोपनिषद् ऐतरेयोपनिषद्] Wikisource<br>English Translation:Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/upanishads01ml#page/246/mode/2up Aitareya Upanishad 3.3.7, also known as Aitareya Aranyaka 2.6.1.7] Oxford University Press, page 246</ref>
|}
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.<ref name=hume314/> 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 (Soul, 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.<ref name=hume314/><ref name=gjha314>[https://archive.org/stream/Shankara.Bhashya-Chandogya.Upanishad-Ganganath.Jha.1942.English#page/n165/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad with Shankara Bhashya] Ganganath Jha (Translator), pages 150-157</ref><ref>For modern era cites:
*Anthony Warder (2009), A Course in Indian Philosophy, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120812444, pages 25-28;
*DD 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</ref>
{{Quote|
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<ref name=hume314>Robert Hume, [https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n229/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad] 3.14.1-3.14.4, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pages 209-210</ref><ref name=pauldeussen314>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, pages 110-111 with preface and footnotes</ref>}}
{{Quote|
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<ref name=hume314/><ref name=maxmuller314>Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/upanishads01ml#page/48/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad 3.13.7], The Upanishads, Part I, Oxford University Press, page 48 with footnotes</ref>}}
{{Quote|
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<ref name=pauldeussen314/><ref name=maxmuller314/>}}
Paul Deussen notes that teachings similar to above on Brahman, re-appeared centuries later in the words of the 3rd century CE [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonic]] Roman philosopher [[Plotinus]] in Enneades 5.1.2.<ref name=pauldeussen314/>
==Discussion==
===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?<ref>Edward Craig (1998), [https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/metaphysics/ Metaphysics], Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ISBN 978-0415073103, Accessed (June 13, 2015)</ref> Brahman is the ultimate "eternally, constant" reality, while the observed universe is different kind of reality but one which is "temporary, changing" [[Maya (illusion)|Māyā]] in various orthodox Hindu schools. Māyā pre-exists and co-exists with Brahman – the Ultimate Reality, The Highest Universal, the Cosmic Principles.<ref name=aegough>Archibald Edward Gough (2001), The Philosophy of the Upanishads and Ancient Indian Metaphysics, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415245227, pages 47-48</ref>
In addition to the concept of Brahman, Hindu metaphysics includes the concept of [[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]] – or soul, self – which is also considered ultimately real.<ref name=aegough/> The various schools of Hinduism, particularly the [[dualism|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.<ref>Roy W. Perrett (Editor, 2000), Indian Philosophy: Metaphysics, Volume 3, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 978-0815336082, page xvii;<br>KK Chakrabarti (1999), Classical Indian Philosophy of Mind: The Nyaya Dualist Tradition, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791441718 pages 279-292</ref> Those that consider Brahman and Atman as same are monist or pantheistic, and [[Advaita Vedanta]], later [[Samkhya]]<ref>John C. Plott et al (2000), Global History of Philosophy: The Axial Age, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120801585, pages 60-62</ref> and [[Yoga (philosophy)|Yoga]] schools illustrate this metaphysical premise.<ref>Julius Lipner (2004), The Hindu World (Editors: S Mittal and G Thursby), Routledge, ISBN 0415215277, pages 22-23</ref><ref>Laurie Patton (2004), The Hindu World (Editors: S Mittal and G Thursby), Routledge, ISBN 0415215277, pages 45-50</ref><ref>JD Fowler (1996), Hinduism: Beliefs and Practices, Sussex University Press, ISBN 978-1898723608, pages 135-137</ref> In schools that equate Brahman with Atman, Brahman is the sole, ultimate reality.<ref name="acdas"/> The predominant teaching in the Upanishads is the spiritual identity of soul within each human being, with the soul of every other human being and living being, as well as with the supreme, ultimate reality ''Brahman''.<ref>William Indich (2000), Consciousness in Advaita Vedanta, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120812512, page 5</ref><ref>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;<br>[http://www.vedantaadvaita.org/AdvaitaVedanta_3.htm Advaita Vedanta - A Bird's Eye View], Topic III: Philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, D. Krishna Ayyar (2011)</ref>
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.<ref name=aegough/> 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.<ref name=aegough/>
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.<ref name="dx.doi.org">Anantanand Rambachan (2001), [http://dx.doi.org/10.7825/2164-6279.1250 Heirarchies in the Nature of God? Questioning The "Saguna-Nirguna" Distinction in Advaita Vedanta], Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies, Vol. 14, No. 7, pages 1-6</ref> 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 ultimately illusory.<ref name=williamw/> The concept of the ''saguna Brahman'', such as in the form of [[avatar]]s, 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.<ref name=williamw>William Wainwright (2012), [http://stanford.library.usyd.edu.au/entries/concepts-god/ Concepts of God], Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, (Accessed on: June 13, 2015)</ref>
===Brahman as an ontological concept===
Brahman, along with Soul/Self (Atman) are part of the ontological<ref>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), [https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/ontology/ Ontology], Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ISBN 978-0415073103</ref> premises of Indian philosophy.<ref>Edward Craig (1998), [https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/ontology/ Ontology], Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ISBN 978-0415073103, Accessed (June 13, 2015)</ref><ref>Stephen H. Phillips (2001), [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1400164 Could There Be Mystical Evidence for a Nondual Brahman? A Causal Objection], Philosophy East and West, Vol. 51, No. 4, pages 492-506</ref> Different schools of Indian philosophy have held widely dissimilar ontologies. [[Buddhism]] and [[Carvaka]] school of Hinduism deny that there exists anything called "a soul, a self" (individual Atman or Brahman in the cosmic sense), while the orthodox schools of Hinduism, [[Jainism]] and [[Ajivika]]s hold that there exists "a soul, a self".<ref>KN Jayatilleke (2010), Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge, ISBN 978-8120806191, pages 246-249, from note 385 onwards;<br />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: anattā, Sanskrit: anātman, the opposed doctrine of [[Ātman (Hinduism)|ātman]] is central to Brahmanical thought). Put very briefly, this is the [Buddhist] doctrine that human beings have no soul, no self, no unchanging essence.";<br />Edward Roer (Translator), {{Google books|3uwDAAAAMAAJ|Shankara's Introduction|page=2}}, pages 2-4<br />Katie Javanaud (2013), [https://philosophynow.org/issues/97/Is_The_Buddhist_No-Self_Doctrine_Compatible_With_Pursuing_Nirvana Is The Buddhist 'No-Self' Doctrine Compatible With Pursuing Nirvana?], Philosophy Now;<br />John 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 Ātman concept. As we have already observed, this is the basic and ineradicable distinction between Hinduism and Buddhism".</ref><ref>M Prabhakar (2012), Review: An Introduction to Indian Philosophy, Philosophy in Review, 32(3), pages 158-160</ref>
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 (philosophy)|Yoga]].<ref name=barbarasca>Barbara Holdrege (2004), The Hindu World (Editors: S Mittal and G Thursby), Routledge, ISBN 0415215277, pages 241-242</ref><ref>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</ref><ref>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;<br>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."</ref> 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.<ref name=barbarasca/>
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 soul is held as distinct and limited which can at best come close in eternal blissful love of the Brahman (therein viewed as the Godhead).<ref>Francis Clooney and Tony Stewart (2004), The Hindu World (Editors: S Mittal and G Thursby), Routledge, ISBN 0415215277, pages 166-167</ref>
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.<ref>Randy Kloetzli and Alf Hiltebeitel (2004), The Hindu World (Editors: S Mittal and G Thursby), Routledge, ISBN 0415215277, page 554</ref> The [[Carvaka]] school denied Brahman and Atman, and held a materialist ontology.<ref>Michael Myers (2000), Brahman: A Comparative Theology, Routledge, ISBN 978-0700712571, pages 30-31</ref>
===Brahman as an axiological concept===
Brahman and Atman are key concepts to Hindu theories of [[axiology]]: ethics and aesthetics.<ref>R Prasad and P.D. Chattopadhyaya (2008), A Conceptual-analytic Study of Classical Indian Philosophy of Morals, Concept, ISBN 978-8180695445, pages 56-59</ref><ref>GC Pande (1990), Foundations of Indian Culture, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120807105, pages 49-50</ref> ''Ananda'' (bliss), state Michael Myers and other scholars, has axiological importance to the concept of Brahman, as the universal inner harmony.<ref>Michael W. Myers (1998), [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1400017 Śaṅkarācārya and Ānanda], Philosophy East and West, Vol. 48, No. 4, pages 553-567</ref><ref>Robert S. Hartman (2002), The Knowledge of Good: Critique of Axiological Reason, Rodopi, ISBN 978-9042012202, page 225</ref> Some scholars equate Brahman with the highest value, in an axiological sense.<ref>TMP Mahadevan (1954), [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1397291 The Metaphysics of Śaṁkara], Philosophy East and West, Vol. 3, No. 4, pages 359-363</ref>
The axiological concepts of Brahman and Atman is central to Hindu theory of values.<ref>Arvind Sharma (1999), [http://www.jstor.org/stable/40018229 The Puruṣārthas: An Axiological Exploration of Hinduism], The Journal of Religious Ethics, Vol. 27, No. 2, pages 223-256</ref> 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.<ref>JL Shaw (2011), [http://www.sjsu.edu/people/anand.vaidya/courses/comparativephilosophy/s1/Freedom-East-and-West-by-J-L-Shaw.pdf Freedom: East and West], ''SOPHIA'', Vol 50, Springer Science, pages 481–497</ref> Tietge states that even in non-dual schools of Hinduism where Brahman and Atman are treated ontologically equivalent, the theory of values emphasize 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.<ref>Katherine L Tietge (1997), ''Ontology and Genuine Moral Action: Jñaña (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 (USA), [http://philpapers.org/rec/TIEOAG Archive Link]</ref>
The axiological theory of values emerges implicitly from the concepts of Brahman and Atman, states Bauer.<ref name=nancybauer/> 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 soul with the Brahman, the soul 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.<ref name=nancybauer/> It does not assume that an individual is weak nor does it presume that he is inherently evil, but the opposite: human soul and its nature is held as fundamentally unqualified, faultless, beautiful, blissful, ethical, compassionate and good.<ref name=nancybauer/><ref>Arvind Sharma (2000), Classical Hindu Thought: An Introduction, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195644418, pages 57-61</ref> Ignorance is to assume it evil, liberation is to know its eternal, expansive, pristine, happy and good nature.<ref name=nancybauer>Nancy Bauer (1987), [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1399082 Advaita Vedānta and Contemporary Western Ethics], Philosophy East and West, Vol. 37, No. 1, pages 36-50</ref> 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.<ref name=nikam/> 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 soul is the universal soul, and Atman is the same reality and the same aesthetics as the Brahman.<ref name=nikam>NA Nikam (1952), A Note on the Individual and His Status in Indian Thought, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 2, No. 3, pages 254-258</ref>
===Brahman as a soteriological concept: Moksha===
{{Main|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 sense of oneness with all existence, self-realization, indescribable joy, and moksha (freedom, bliss),<ref>Anantanand Rambachan (1994), The limits of scripture: Vivekananda's reinterpretation of the Vedas, University of Hawaii Press, pages 124-125</ref> 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.<ref>Karl Potter (2008), The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies: Advaita Vedānta Up to Śaṃkara and His Pupils, Volume 3, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, pp 210-215</ref>
The theistic sub-school such as Dvaita Vedanta of Hinduism, starts with the same premises, but adds the premise that individual souls 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.<ref name=mmyers/> The theistic schools assert that moksha is the loving, eternal union or nearness of one's soul 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 soul journeys towards in its own way for moksha.<ref>Betty, Stafford (2010) "Dvaita, Advaita, And Viśiṣṭadvaita: Contrasting Views Of Mokṣa", Asian Philosophy, pages 215-224</ref>
==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|Advaita Vedanta}}
{{Advaita}}
[[Advaita Vedanta]] espouses [[nondualism]]. ''Brahman'' is the sole unchanging reality,<ref name=acdas>AC Das (1952), [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1397304 Brahman and Māyā in Advaita Metaphysics], Philosophy East and West, Vol. 2, No. 2, pages 144-154</ref> there is no duality, no limited individual souls nor a separate unlimited cosmic soul, rather all souls, all of existence, across all space and time, is one and the same.<ref name=jeffreybrodd/><ref name=barbarasca/><ref name=rdalal>Rosen Dalal (2014), Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide, Penguin, ISBN 978-8184752779, see article on Brahman</ref> The universe and the soul inside each being is Brahman, and the universe and the soul 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 knowledge), but it can be learned and realized by all human beings.<ref name="Arvind Sharma 2007 pages 19-40"/> The goal of Advaita Vedanta is to realize that one's Self (''[[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]]'') gets obscured by ignorance and false-identification ("[[Avidya (Hinduism)|Avidya]]"). When Avidya is removed, the Atman (Soul, Self inside a person) is realized as identical with Brahman.<ref name="dx.doi.org"/> The Brahman is not 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 is truly exists.<ref name=acdas/> 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 in any other means besides self inquiry.<ref>Anantanand Rambachan (1994), ''The limits of scripture: Vivekananda's reinterpretation of the Vedas.'' University of Hawaii Press, pages 125, 124</ref>
In [[Advaita Vedanta]], nirguna Brahman, that is the Brahman without attributes, is held to be the ultimate and sole reality.<ref name=acdas/><ref name=williamw/> Consciousness is not a property of Brahman but its very nature. In this respect, Advaita Vedanta differs from other Vedanta schools.<ref>[Sangeetha Menon (2007), ''Advaita Vedānta''], Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy</ref>
Example verses from [[Bhagavad-Gita]] include:
{{Quote|
<poem>
The [[Yajna|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<ref>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</ref><ref>Jeaneane D. Fowler (2012), The Bhagavad Gita, Sussex Academic Press, ISBN 978-1845193461, page 83</ref>
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<ref>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</ref>
</poem>
|Bhagavad Gita|}}
====Visishtadvaita Vedanta====
The Brahman of [[Visishtadvaita]] is not exactly same as individual Atman, rather it is synonymous with [[Narayana]], the transcendent and immanent reality.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} Brahman or Narayana is [[Saguna Brahman]], one with attributes, one with infinite auspicious qualities, and not the Advaita concept of attributeless [[Nirguna Brahman]].{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}
====Dvaita Vedanta====
{{Vaishnavism}}
Brahman of [[Dvaita]] is a concept similar to God in major world religions.<ref name=mmyers/> Dvaita holds that the individual soul is dependent on God, but distinct.<ref name=mmyers/>
Dvaita propounds Tattvavada which means understanding differences between [[Tattva]]s (significant properties) of entities within the universal substrate as follows:{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}
#Jîva-Îshvara-bheda — difference between the soul and Vishnu
#Jada-Îshvara-bheda — difference between the insentient and Vishnu
#Mitha-jîva-bheda — difference between any two souls
#Jada-jîva-bheda — difference between insentient and the soul
#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.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} 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 [[Vaikunta|Vaikuntha]] abode (also known as Brahmalokah sanatana), then as [[Paramatma]] (by process of [[yoga]]-[[meditation]] on Supersoul, 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).{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}
===Vaishnavism===
{{Main|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|date=June 2015}} 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/Krishna; the universe and all other manifestations of the Supreme are extensions of Him.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}
===Bhakti movement===
{{main|Bhakti movement}}
The Bhakti movement of Hinduism built its theosophy around two concepts of Brahman – ''Nirguna'' and ''Saguna''.<ref name=karen21>Karen Pechilis Prentiss (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195351903, page 21</ref> ''Nirguna'' Brahman was the concept of the Ultimate Reality as formless, without attributes or quality.<ref name=jeaneanefxxvii>Jeaneane D. Fowler (2012), The Bhagavad Gita, Sussex Academic Press, ISBN 978-1845193461, pages xxvii-xxxiv</ref> ''Saguna'' Brahman, in contrast, was envisioned and developed as with form, attributes and quality.<ref name=jeaneanefxxvii/> The two had parallels in the ancient panthestic unmanifest and theistic manifest traditions, respectively, and traceable to Arjuna-Krishna dialogue in the [[Bhagavad Gita]].<ref name=karen21/><ref name=fowlernirgunasaguna>Jeaneane D. Fowler (2012), The Bhagavad Gita, Sussex Academic Press, ISBN 978-1845193461, pages 207-211</ref> It is the same Brahman, but viewed from two perspectives, one from ''Nirguni'' knowledge-focus and other from ''Saguni'' love-focus, united as Krishna in the Gita.<ref name=fowlernirgunasaguna/> ''Nirguna'' bhakta's poetry were ''Jnana-shrayi'', or had roots in knowledge.<ref name=karen21/> ''Saguna'' bhakta's poetry were ''Prema-shrayi'', or with roots in love.<ref name=karen21/> In Bhakti, the emphasis is reciprocal love and devotion, where the devotee loves God, and God loves the devotee.<ref name=fowlernirgunasaguna/>
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.<ref name=jeaneanefxxvii/> 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.<ref>Jessica Frazier and Gavin Flood (2011), The Continuum Companion to Hindu Studies, Bloomsbury Academic, ISBN 978-0826499660, pages 113-115</ref>
''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".<ref name=davidlorenzenns/> 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''.<ref name=davidlorenzenns>David Lorenzen (1996), Praises to a Formless God: Nirguni Texts from North India, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791428054, page 2</ref> These were two alternate ways of imagining God during the bhakti movement.<ref name=karen21/>
==Buddhist understanding of Brahman==
Buddhism rejects the Upanishadic doctrine of Brahman and Atman (soul, permanent self, essence).{{refn|group=note|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."}} According to Damien Keown, "the Buddha said he could find no evidence for the existence of either the personal soul (''atman'') or its cosmic counterpart (''brahman'')".<ref>Damien Keown, ''Buddhism'' (NY: Sterling, 2009), p. 70</ref> The metaphysics of Buddhism rejects Brahman (ultimate being), Brahman-like essence, soul and anything metaphysically equivalent through its [[Anatta]] doctrine.<ref>{{cite book|author=David Webster|title=The Philosophy of Desire in the Buddhist Pali Canon|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=KqxI7YRUSegC|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-203-01057-0|pages=194–195, 93, 147}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Richard Francis Gombrich|author2=Cristina Anna Scherrer-Schaub|title=Buddhist Studies|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=U7_Rea05eAMC |year=2008|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-3248-0|pages=192–193}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Mark Juergensmeyer|author2=Wade Clark Roof|title=Encyclopedia of Global Religion|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=WwJzAwAAQBAJ |year=2011|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4522-6656-5 |pages=272–273}}</ref>
According to Merv Fowler, some forms of Buddhism have incorporated concepts that resemble that of Brahman.{{refn|group=note|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."}} 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".<ref>Merv Fowler, ''Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices'' (Brighton: Sussex Academic, 1999), p. 34</ref> 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 Soul, the Brahman of the Upanishads, in a new form".<ref>William Theodore De Bary, cited in Merv Fowler, ''Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices'' (Brighton: Sussex Academic, 1999), p. 98</ref> 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."<ref>Merv Fowler, ''Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices'' (Brighton: Sussex Academic, 1999), p. 81</ref> Fowler asserts that the authors of a number of Mahayana texts took pains to differentiate their ideas from the Upanishadic doctrine of Brahman.{{refn|group=note|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."}}
===Brahma as a surrogate for Brahman in Buddhist texts===
The spiritual concept of Brahman is far older in the Vedic literature, 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.<ref name=brucesullivan>Bruce Sullivan (1999), Seer of the Fifth Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120816763, pages 82-83</ref> In the Hindu texts, one of the earliest mention 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.<ref name=hume51>{{citation|first=Robert Ernest|last=Hume|title=The Thirteen Principal Upanishads |url=https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n443/mode/2up|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1921|pages=422–424}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=KN Jayatilleke|title=Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zcs41sp8ON4C |year=1998|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0619-1 |pages=68, 374}}, 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".</ref><ref>Jan Gonda (1968), The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Vol. 63, pages 215-219</ref>
The early Buddhists attacked the concept of Brahma, states Gananath Obeyesekere, and thereby [[polemic]]ally attacked the Vedic and Upanishadic concept of gender neutral, abstract metaphysical Brahman.<ref name="Obeyesekere2006p179"/> 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.<ref name="Obeyesekere2006p179">{{cite book|author=Gananath Obeyesekere|title=Karma and Rebirth: A Cross Cultural Study|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=IEK4Qgm7Z0kC |year=2006|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-2609-0 |pages=177–179 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|author=Martin G. Wiltshire|title=Ascetic Figures Before and in Early Buddhism: The Emergence of Gautama as the Buddha|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=WXmmkYQf4RwC |year=1990|publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-009896-9 |pages=248–249, 253–255}}</ref> Simultaneously, by reformulating Brahman as Brahma and relegating it within its Devas and [[Saṃsāra (Buddhism)|Samsara]] theories, early Buddhism rejected the Atman-Brahman premise of the Vedas to present of its own ''Dhamma'' doctrines ([[anicca]], [[dukkha]] and [[anatta]]).<ref>{{cite book|author=Martin G. Wiltshire|title=Ascetic Figures Before and in Early Buddhism: The Emergence of Gautama as the Buddha|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=WXmmkYQf4RwC |year=1990|publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-009896-9 |pages= 256–265}}</ref>
==Brahman in Sikhism==
{{multiple image
| direction = horizontal
| width1 = 130
| width2 = 90
| footer = [[Ik Onkar]] (left) is part of the [[Mul Mantar]] in Sikhism, where it means "Onkar [God, Reality] is one".<ref name=eleanor>Eleanor Nesbitt (2005), Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0192806017, Chapter 4</ref> The Onkar of Sikhism is related to Om – also called ''Omkāra''<ref>Jean Holm and John Bowker, Worship, Bloomsbury, ISBN , page 67</ref> – in Hinduism.<ref name=eleanor/><ref>Wendy Doniger (2000), Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions, Merriam Webster, ISBN 978-0877790440, page 500</ref> The ancient texts of Hinduism state Om to be a symbolism for the Highest Reality, Brahman.<ref>Rangaswami Sudhakshina (2012), Roots of Vendanta, Penguin, ISBN 978-0143064459, page 405</ref><ref>David Leeming (2005), The Oxford Companion to World Mythology, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195156690, page 54</ref>
| image1 = Ek_onkar.png
| image2 = Om devanagari.PNG
}}
The metaphysical concept of Brahman, particularly as ''nirguni Brahman'' – attributeless, formless, eternal Highest Reality – is at the foundation of [[Sikhism]].<ref name=sskohli39>SS Kohli (1993), The Sikh and Sikhism, Atlantic, ISBN 81-71563368, page 39</ref> This belief is observed through ''nirguni Bhakti'' by the Sikhs.<ref>Hardip Syan (2014), in The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies (Editors: Pashaura Singh, Louis E. Fenech), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199699308, page 178</ref><ref>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, page 188-190</ref>
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".<ref>SS Kohli (1993), The Sikh and Sikhism, Atlantic, ISBN 81-71563368, page 38</ref> 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".<ref name=eleanor/>
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.<ref>[[Max Muller]], [https://archive.org/stream/upanishads01ml#page/92/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad 6.2.1] Oxford University Press, pages 93-94</ref><ref>[[Paul Deussen]], Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, pages 156-157, 162-163</ref> The ideas about God and Highest Reality in Sikhism share themes found in the ''Saguna'' and ''Nirguna'' concepts of Brahman in Hinduism.<ref name=sskohli39/><ref>N Mandair (2009), Postcolonial Philosophy of Religion (Editor: Purushottama Bilimoria, Andrew B. Irvine), Springer, ISBN 978-9400791770, page 145-146</ref>
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.<ref>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</ref><ref>HS Singha (2009), Sikh Studies, Vol. 7, Hemkunt Press, ISBN 978-8170102458, page 47</ref>
==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 (soul) exists" is held to be a metaphysical truth and central to its theory of rebirths and [[Kevala Jnana]].<ref>Ray Billington (1997), Understanding Eastern Philosophy, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415129657, page 46</ref>
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.<ref>James Bissett, Cultural and Religious Heritage of India, Volume 2: Jainism (Editors: Sharma and Sharma), Mittal, ISBN 81-70999553, page 81</ref> 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.<ref>C Caillat and N Balbir (2008), Jaina Studies, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120832473, page ix-x</ref> 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.<ref name=pjaini>P Jaini (1998), The Jaina Path of Purification, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-1578-5, pages 90-93</ref><ref>J Koller (2004), "Why is Anekāntavāda important?", (Editor: Tara Sethia, Ahimsā, Anekānta, and Jainism), Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-2036-3, pages 400-407</ref> Those who have understood and realized the Absolute Truth are the liberated ones and the Supreme Souls, with [[Kevala Jnana]].<ref name=pjaini/>
==Comparison of Brahma, Brahman, Brahmin and Brahmanas==
[[Brahma]] is distinct from Brahman.<ref name="BondKunin2003p231"/> Brahma is a male deity, in the post-Vedic Puranic literature,<ref name=pandeyp40>{{cite book|author=R. M. Matthijs Cornelissen|title=Foundations of Indian Psychology Volume 2: Practical Applications|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=BkkgeKXyiOIC |year=2011|publisher=Pearson |isbn=978-81-317-3085-0 |pages=40 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Doniger1999p437"/> In theistic schools of Hinduism where deity Brahma is described as part of its cosmology, he is a mortal like all gods and goddesses, and dissolves into the abstract immortal Brahman when the universe ends, thereafter a new cosmic cycle (kalpa) restarts again.<ref name=pandeyp40/><ref name="Fowler2002p330">{{cite book|author=Jeaneane D. Fowler|title=Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=8dRZ4E-qgz8C |year=2002|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-898723-93-6 |pages=330 }}</ref>
Brahman is a metaphysical concept of Hinduism referring to the ultimate unchanging reality,<ref name="BondKunin2003p231">{{cite book|author1=Helen K. Bond |author2=Seth D. Kunin|author3=Francesca Murphy |title=Religious Studies and Theology: An Introduction |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=HokZ5UW5fZsC&pg=PA231 |year=2003|publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0-8147-9914-7 |pages=231 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=William Sweet |title=Approaches to Metaphysics |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=cyCme74cZ1IC |year=2006|publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-2182-4|pages=145–147 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=H. James Birx |title=Encyclopedia of Anthropology |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=8m_vBQAAQBAJ |year=2005|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4522-6536-0 |pages=1279 }}</ref> that, states Doniger, is uncreated, eternal, infinite, transcendent, the cause, the foundation, the source and the goal of all existence.<ref name="Doniger1999p437"/> 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.<ref name="Doniger1999p437"/> It is a gender neutral abstract concept.<ref name="Doniger1999p437">{{cite book|author=Wendy Denier|title=Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ZP_f9icf2roC |year=1999|publisher=Merriam-Webster |isbn=978-0-87779-044-0 |pages=437 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=J. L. Brockington|title=The Sanskrit Epics|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=HR-_LK5kl18C |year=1998|publisher=BRILL Academic |isbn=90-04-10260-4 |pages=256 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Denise Cush |author2=Catherine Robinson |author3=Michael York |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=kzPgCgAAQBAJ |year=2012|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-18979-2 |pages=114–115 }}</ref> The abstract Brahman concept is predominant in the Vedic texts, particularly the Upanishads;<ref>{{cite book|author=Edward Craig|title=Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Brahman to Derrida|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=lS2cSqwMtf8C |year=1998|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-18707-7 |pages=1–4 }}</ref> while the deity Brahma finds minor mention in the Vedas and the Upanishads.<ref>{{cite book|author=Julius Lipner |title=Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=HDMLYkIOoWYC |year=1994|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-05181-1 |pages=43–44 }}</ref> In the Puranic and the Epics literature, deity Brahma appears more often, but inconsistently. Some texts suggest that god Vishnu created Brahma (Vaishnavism),<ref>{{cite book|author=S. M. Srinivasa Chari |title=Vaiṣṇavism: Its Philosophy, Theology, and Religious Discipline|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=evmiLInyxBMC |year=1994|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1098-3 |pages=147 }}</ref> others suggest god Shiva created Brahma (Shaivism),<ref>{{cite book|author=Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty |title=Siva: The Erotic Ascetic |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=dnfZ_MBErlQC |year=1981|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-972793-3 |pages=125 }}</ref> yet others suggest goddess Devi created Brahma (Shaktism),<ref name=kinsley137>{{cite book|author=David Kinsley |title=Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=HzldwMHeS6IC |year=1988|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-90883-3 |pages=137 }}</ref> and these texts then go on to state that Brahma is a secondary creator of the world working respectively on their behalf.<ref name=kinsley137/><ref>{{cite book|author=Stella Kramrisch|title=The Presence of Siva|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=O5BanndcIgUC&pg=PA205|year=1992|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=0-691-01930-4 |pages=205-206 }}</ref> Further, the medieval era texts of these major theistic traditions of Hinduism assert that the ''saguna''{{refn|group=note|representation with face and attributes)<ref>{{cite book|author=Arvind Sharma|title=Classical Hindu Thought: An Introduction|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=gDmUToaeMJ0C |year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-564441-8|page=4}}</ref>}} Brahman is Vishnu,<ref>{{cite book|author1=Mark Juergensmeyer |author2=Wade Clark Roof |title=Encyclopedia of Global Religion |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=WwJzAwAAQBAJ |year=2011|publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-1-4522-6656-5 |page=1335}}</ref> is Shiva,<ref>{{cite book|author=Stella Kramrisch |title=The Presence of Siva |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=O5BanndcIgUC |year=1992|publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0-691-01930-4 |pages=171 }}</ref> or is Devi<ref>{{cite book|author=David Kinsley |title=Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=HzldwMHeS6IC |year=1988|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-90883-3 |pages=136 }}</ref> respectively, they are different names or aspects of the Brahman, and that the Atman (soul, self) within every living being is same or part of this ultimate, eternal Brahman.<ref>{{cite book|author=William K. Mahony |title=The Artful Universe: An Introduction to the Vedic Religious Imagination |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=B1KR_kE5ZYoC |year=1998|publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-3579-3 |pages=13–14, 187 }}</ref>
[[Brahmin]] is a [[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]] in [[Hinduism]] specialising in theory as priests, preservers and transmitters of sacred literature across generations.<ref>{{cite book | last=Doniger | first=Wendy | title=Merriam-Webster's encyclopedia of world religions| publisher=Merriam-Webster | location=Springfield, MA, USA | year=1999 | isbn=978-0-87779-044-0 | page=186}}</ref><ref>James Lochtefeld (2002), Brahmin, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing, ISBN 978-0823931798, page 125</ref>
The [[Brahmana]]s 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.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/77126/Brahmana Brahmana] Encyclopædia Britannica (2013)</ref><ref>[[Klaus Klostermaier]] (1994), A Survey of Hinduism, Second Edition, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791421093, pages 67-69</ref> They are embedded within each of the four Vedas, and form a part of the [[Hindu texts|Hindu]] ''[[śruti]]'' literature.<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/brahmana "Brahmana"]. ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''</ref>
==See also==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*[[Acintya]]
*[[Om|Aum]]
*[[Bardo]]
*[[Ginnungagap]]
*[[Jiva]]
*[[Mysticism]]
*[[Pure land]]
*[[Universal mind]]
*[[The All]]
*[[Yoga]]
{{div col end}}
==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|33em}}
==References==
{{Reflist|33em}}
===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |first=Jeaneane D. |last= Fowler|title=Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=8dRZ4E-qgz8C| year=2002| publisher=Sussex Academic Press |isbn=978-1-898723-93-6|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |first=Klaus K. |last= Klostermaier |title=A Survey of Hinduism: Third Edition |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=8CVviRghVtIC |year=2010|publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-8011-3 |chapter=Chapter 12}}
* {{Cite book | last =Michaels | first =Axel | year =2004 | title =Hinduism. Past and present | place =Princeton, New Jersey | publisher =Princeton University Press}}
* {{Citation | last =Potter | first =Karl H. | year =2008 | title =The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies: Advaita Vedānta Up to Śaṃkara and His Pupils | place =Delhi | publisher =Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited}}
* {{Citation | last =Puligandla | first =Ramakrishna | year =1997 | title =Fundamentals of Indian Philosophy | place =New Delhi | publisher =D.K. Printworld (P) Ltd.}}
* {{Citation | last =Raju | first =P.T. | year =1992 | title =The Philosophical Traditions of India | place =Delhi | publisher =Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited}}
* {{Citation | last =Sinari | first =Ramakant | year =2000 | title =Advaita and Contemporary Indian Philosophy. In: Chattopadhyana (gen.ed.), "History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization. Volume II Part 2: Advaita Vedanta" | place =Delhi | publisher =Centre for Studies in Civilizations}}
{{refend}}
==External links==
*[http://www.jstor.org/stable/1396951 The Concept of Brahman in Hindu Philosophy], Haridas Chaudhuri (1954), Philosophy East and West, Vol. 4, No. 1, pages 47–66
*[http://www.jstor.org/stable/1195422 The Idea of God in Hinduism], A. S. Woodburne (1925), The Journal of Religion, Vol. 5, No. 1, pages 52–66
*[http://www.jstor.org/stable/41694938 The Western View of Hinduism: An Age-old Mistake] (Brahman), JM De Mora (1997), Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Vol. 78, No. 1/4, pages 1–12
*[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/concepts-god/ Concepts of God] Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, (Compares Brahman with concepts of God found in other religions)
*[http://www.hinduwebsite.com/brahmanmain.asp Detailed essays on Brahman] at Hinduwebsite.com
{{Hindudharma}}
{{Theology}}
{{Philosophy topics}}
{{Indian Philosophy}}
{{Vaishnava philosophy}}
{{Names of God}}
[[Category:Hindu philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Conceptions of God]]
[[Category:Names of God in Hinduism]]