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:This article is about the concept of transcendent reality in Hinduism. See also Brahmin and Brahman (disambiguation).In the Vedantic (and subsequently Yogic) schools of Hinduism, Brahman is the signifying name given to the concept of the unchanging, infinite, immanent and transcendent reality that is the Divine Ground of all being. It is regarded as the source and sum of the cosmos, that constricted by time, space, and causation, as pure being, to some extent a sort of "world soul." Thus, in the beginning of its history, it was deemed a sort of super-stuff from which all that is arises, and debuts with this verse:
Great indeed are the Gods who have sprung out of Brahman.
Atharva Veda
However, as the centuries passed and the first Upanishads, the primary Vedantic scriptures that putatively serve as commentaries on the original liturgical books of the Vedas, are written the concept of Brahman fittingly grew in scope and complexity. Soon, the ancient writers of the Upanishads, around the 1st millennium BCE, insisted that brahman, in addition to being material, efficient, formal and final causes of the cosmos, was also utterly beyond all four senses of origin. Essentially, it is also beyond being and non-being alike, and thus does not quite fit with the usual connotations of the word God and even the concept of monism. It is said that brahman cannot be known, that we cannot be made conscious of it, because brahman is our very consciousness. Brahman is also not restricted to the usual dimensional perspectives of being, and thus enlightenment, moksha, yoga, samadhi, nirvana, etc. in the Hindu perspective is not merely coming to know brahman, but to realize one's 'brahman-hood', to actually realize that one is and always was brahman. Indeed, closely related to the Self concept of brahman is the idea that it is synonymous with jiva-atma, or individual souls, our atman (or soul) being readily identifiable with the greater soul of Brahman.
1 Etymology and origin of the name Brahman
In Vedic Sanskrit, bráhman (neuter gender) means
"growth", "development", "swelling", also "pious utterance", "worship", from a root bṛh, "swell", cognate to EnglishThe English language is a West Germanic language, originating from England. It is the third most common "first" language (native speakers), with around 402 million people in 2002. English has lingua franca status in many parts of the world, due to the mil "bulge". brahmán (masculine gender) on the other hand, nowadays replaced by brahmin, is a priest, one of the Brahmin casteVarna (caste) Caste is derived from a Portuguese word for lineage, breed or race, casta''. The term caste when used in human culture is usually in conjunction with the social division in Hindu society, particularly in India. This term is also used in ento (brahmin formerly being the adjective relating to brahman).
Connected with the ritual of pre-Vedantic Hinduism, bráhman signified the power to grow, the expansive and self-altering process of ritualA ritual is a formalised, predetermined set of symbolic actions generally performed in a particular environment at a regular, recurring interval. The set of actions that comprise a ritual often include, but are not limited to, such things as recitation, s and sacrificeSacrifice is the practice of offering food, or the lives of animals or people to the gods, as an act of propitiation or worship. The term is also used metaphorically to describe selfless good deeds for others. Theologies of sacrifice The theology of sacri, often visually realized in the sputtering of flames as they received the all important gheeGhee or clarified butter is rendered milk fat ( butter). Unlike butter, ghee can be stored for extended periods without refrigeration, provided it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation. Also unlike butter, ghee can be heated up to its smok (clarified butter) and rose in concert with the mantras of the Vedas. Brahmin came to refer to the highest of the four castes, the Brahmins, who by virtue of their purity and priesthood are held to have such powers.
A minority opinion in historical linguistics and the Sanskrit community is that of Georges Dumézil, who posits that etymologically, the Latin word flamen (a priest) may be cognate to brahman, an idea that would support his "trifunctional hypothesis."
