ब्रह्मन्
Brahman
brahman
In simple words
Brahman is the name the Upanishads give to the deepest reality behind everything — what the whole universe finally is. Schools differ on whether Brahman is personal or impersonal and on how the world relates to it.
What is it?
Originally linked to the power of Vedic ritual speech, Brahman became in the Upanishads the single source, support and end of all things, often described as being, consciousness and bliss (sat-chit-ananda). The Vedanta schools are largely organised around how they interpret Brahman: as attributeless and non-dual, as a personal God qualified by souls and matter, or as the independent Lord distinct from everything else. The Gita uses the term for the imperishable Absolute and relates it closely to Krishna as the supreme person.
Scholar’s note
Standard distinctions: nirguna (without qualities) and saguna (with qualities) Brahman; Advaita treats the latter as Brahman seen through maya, i.e. Ishvara. Ramanuja rejects any attributeless Brahman, arguing that scripture always describes Brahman with auspicious qualities (kalyana-gunas). Madhva identifies Brahman with Vishnu, full of infinite qualities. The Brahma Sutras open with the inquiry into Brahman (brahma-jijnasa) and define it as the source of the world's origin, maintenance and dissolution.How its meaning differs
The Upanishads describe Brahman in many ways: as the essence of all, as what cannot be described, and as identical with the inner Self — setting up the questions later schools answer.
Brahman alone is real: pure, attributeless consciousness without a second. The world and the personal God are how Brahman appears through maya; the Self is Brahman.
Brahman is the personal Lord Narayana, possessing infinite good qualities, with individual souls and matter as His real body; unity is that of an organism, not of identity.
Brahman is Vishnu, the only independent reality; souls and the world are real, dependent and forever distinct from Him.
The absolute is Shiva as dynamic consciousness, inseparable from its own power (shakti); the world is its real self-expression rather than an illusion.
Sikh thought speaks of the one formless Creator (Ik Onkar), both transcendent and immanent, rather than using Brahman in a Vedantic sense; the comparison is drawn by scholars, not by the tradition itself.
Where it appears in the Gita
That which pervades all cannot be destroyed
जो सबमें व्याप्त है, उसका विनाश नहीं
अविनाशि तु तद्विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम्।
Know that to be imperishable by which all this is pervaded; no one can destroy the indestructible.
जिससे यह सम्पूर्ण संसार व्याप्त है, उसे अविनाशी जान; इस अविनाशीका विनाश कोई नहीं कर सकता।
4.24ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्म हविब्र्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणा हुतम्।
अर्पण अर्थात् जिससे अर्पण किया जाय, वे स्रुक्, स्रुवा आदि पात्र (भी) ब्रह्म है, हव्य पदार्थ (तिल, जौ, घी आदि) (भी) ब्रह्म है (और) ब्रह्मरूप कर्ताके द्वारा ब्रह्मरूप अग्निमें आहुति देनारूप क्रिया (भी ब्रह्म है), (ऐसे यज्ञको करनेवाले) जिस मनुष्यकी ब्रह्ममें ही कर्म-समाधि हो गयी है, उसके द्वारा प्राप्त करनेयोग्य (फल भी) ब्रह्म ही है।
5.24योऽन्त:सुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तज्र्योतिरेव य:।
जो मनुष्य (केवल) परमात्मामें सुखवाला (और) (केवल) परमात्मामें रमण करनेवाला है तथा जो केवल परमात्मामें ज्ञानवाला है, वह ब्रह्ममें अपनी स्थितिका अनुभव करनेवाला (ब्रह्मरूप बना हुआ) सांख्ययोगी निर्वाण ब्रह्मको प्राप्त होता है।
8.3अक्षरं ब्रह्म परमं स्वभावोऽध्यात्ममुच्यते।
परम अक्षर ब्रह्म है (और) परा प्रकृति-(जीव-) को अध्यात्म कहते हैं। प्राणियोंकी सत्ता-को प्रकट करनेवाला त्याग कर्म कहा जाता है।
13.12ज्ञेयं यत्तत्प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वामृतमश्नुते।
जो ज्ञेय (पूर्वोक्त ज्ञानसे जाननेयोग्य) है, उस (परमात्मतत्त्व) को मैं अच्छी तरहसे कहूँगा, जिसको जानकर (मनुष्य) अमरताका अनुभव कर लेता है। (वह ज्ञेय-तत्त्व) अनादिवाला (और) परम ब्रह्म है। उसको न सत् कहा जा सकता है (और) न असत् ही (कहा जा सकता है)।
14.27I am the ground of Brahman, of immortality, of eternal dharma and of absolute joy
ब्रह्म, अमृत, शाश्वत धर्म और ऐकान्तिक सुखकी प्रतिष्ठा मैं हूँ
ब्रह्मणो हि प्रतिष्ठाहममृतस्याव्ययस्य च।
Brahman, imperishable immortality, eternal dharma and absolute joy all rest in Me, and are not different from Me.
ब्रह्म, अविनाशी अमृत, शाश्वत धर्म और ऐकान्तिक सुख—सबका आश्रय मैं हूँ; ये मुझसे भिन्न नहीं।
Where else it appears
Follow this idea
Trace the idea from one source to the next.
- 1Textतैत्तिरीयोपनिषद्Taittiriya UpanishadPresents Brahman through the layers of the person and describes it as the source of beings.
- 2Textछान्दोग्योपनिषद्Chandogya UpanishadUddalaka's teaching to Shvetaketu identifies the subtle essence of all with the Self.
- 3Gita verseBhagavad Gita 13.12The Gita describes the supreme Brahman, beginningless, as the one thing to be known.
- 4Textब्रह्मसूत्रBrahma SutrasThe sutras systematise Upanishadic statements about Brahman; every Vedanta school comments on them.
- 5Traditionअद्वैत वेदान्तAdvaita VedantaOne reading: Brahman is attributeless and non-dual.
- 6Traditionविशिष्टाद्वैतVishishtadvaita VedantaAnother reading: Brahman is the personal Lord with the world as His body.
- 7Traditionद्वैत वेदान्तDvaita VedantaA third reading: Brahman as Vishnu, eternally distinct from souls and matter.
Explore related concepts
Continue exploring
Related concepts
Related texts
Different perspectives