Brahman (philosophy)

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Brahman ( Sanskrit , n. ब्रह्मन् brahman ) denotes in Hindu philosophy the unchanging, infinite, immanent and transcendent reality, which represents the eternal source of everything that is. The oldest meaning of the word in the Vedas is “holy word” or “holy formula” and here acquired the general meaning of a “holy power”. Since the Upanishads , the word Brahman has stood for the absolute, that is, that which remains unchangeable, but also retained its original meaning, namely that of "holy speech".

Explanation

Brahman is an impersonal concept of the divine that does not include a creator or a ruler, a ground of being, without beginning and without end. And yet it forms the conceived chronological beginning of all being. Because this, according to the philosophers of the Upanishads, is the necessary prerequisite for everything material and spiritual to arise in the first place. Although without attributes, Brahman is described as Sat-Chit-Ananda (Being-Consciousness-Bliss). How else, so the early considerations, could it have generated consciousness itself. Accordingly, it cannot be described as completely insubstantial. Because if one assumes that it can produce matter, it must itself have substance. Brahman is omnipresent, in mind and matter, as an invisible, inaudible and unthinkable force. It is also the immortal that is above the gods. It is also called Avyaktabrahman ( Sanskrit n., अव्यक्तब्रह्मन् avyaktabrahman), that is the “divine original ground” (Brahman) in its form, which is not revealed to humans. Avyaktabrahman is the divine-in-itself in its unmanifested form, the source of the world.

A monistic approach becomes clear which opposes polytheism. This approach, however, can in turn take on a theistic form if, in the Hindu religious life, the respective preferred gods are considered the highest Brahman. This happens as a result of personalization. For followers of Shiva this represents the Brahman, for followers of the goddess Devi one of her forms, while Vishnu worshipers regard this as the highest Brahman. The Upanishads deal intensively with the definition of the term, as a much quoted saying in Sanskrit explains:

" Sarvam khalvidam brahma - verily, everything is Brahman."

- Chandogya Upanishad (3.14.1)

Since no statement can define Brahman, the sage says: neti, neti - not so, not so. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (3.8.8) also describes the Brahman in which it denies all properties:

“This ... those who know Brahman call the immortal. It is not coarse, not fine; not short, not long; bloodless, fatless; shadowless, dark; windless, spaceless; without liability; without sense of touch, without sense of smell, without sense of taste, without sense of sight, without sense of hearing; without language ability, without thinking ability; without warmth, without breath, without mouth; no name, no gender; not aging, not dying; threatless, immortal; without space, without sound; not open, not closed; not following, not preceding; not outside, not inside. Nothing reaches to him, nobody reaches to him ... "

Brahman and Atman

In the age of the Upanishads (750-500 BC) Brahman and Atman are understood as a unit of essence that represent the true essence of the world. This one is universally recognized as Brahman, specifically as Atman.

“This is my Atman in the inner heart, smaller than a grain of rice or a grain of barley or a grain of millet or a grain of millet. This is my atman in the inner heart, greater than the earth, greater than the sky, greater than the worlds. [...] The all-active, all-wishing, all-smelling, all-tasting, all-embracing, wordless, careless, this is my soul in the inner heart, this is the Brahman, to which I will depart from here. To whom there was, indeed, there is no doubt. "

- Chandogya Upanishad (3.14)

A central sentence of the Chandogya Upanishad is: Tat tvam asi , “That is you”. It expresses the oneness of man with Brahman.

In the Bhagavadgita Krishna describes the Brahman to the hero Arjuna :

“Unrestricted by sense bonds, it shines as if through sensory power. It carries the universe and, untouched, it enjoys every 'quality'. Is in and outside the world, fixed and mobile, Arjuna, so fine that no one notices it. It is both distant and close at the same time. It permeates the beings divided and in truth remains undivided. Preserves its being through its power, creates and destroys it instantly. It is called the 'light of lights' that sits enthroned beyond all darkness, knowledge and goal of knowledge; in every being's heart it dwells. "

- Bhagavad-Gita (13.14-17)

Brahman in Vedanta

In Vedanta , the concept of Brahman and its relationship to the individual soul was interpreted differently in the various schools.

Likelihood of confusion

A frequent and historically eminently important confusion is that between the terms Brahman (neutral) and the creator god Brahma . The latter represents a male, personal deity that has developed from the Brahman understanding. This monotheistic form offers an alternative to the monistic worldview. In the literature there are many misleading claims only due to the confusion of the two different terms Brahman and Brahma, especially since these are declined in a similar way in Sanskrit .

literature

Single receipts

  1. ^ Robert Charles Zaehner : Der Hinduismus - Its history and its teaching Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, Munich, p. 52
  2. ↑ Robert Charles Zaehner : Hinduism - Its history and its teaching. Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, Munich, p. 53.
  3. ↑ Robert Charles Zaehner : Hinduism - Its history and its teaching. Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, Munich, p. 57.
  4. ↑ Swami Harshananda: Hindu Gods and Goddesses , Sri Ramakrishna Math Mylapore, Madras, p. 13.