Brahman

Brahman is the ultimate reality in Hindu thought: the infinite, imperishable ground from which the world arises, by which it is held, and into which it returns. It is not one god among many but the very being of everything, beyond birth, change and limit.

What brahman means

The word is linked to a root meaning “to grow” or “to expand”, which hints at something boundless. The Upanishads describe brahman as being, consciousness and fullness, and often say what it is by saying what it is not. Keep three similar words apart: Brahman is the absolute, Brahma is the creator deity, and a brahmin is a member of the priestly class.

Brahman in the schools

Thinkers describe brahman in two ways. Without attributes, it is the pure reality beyond all description. With attributes, it is God who knows, loves and rules the world. Shankara’s Advaita stresses the first and teaches that the self and brahman are one. Ramanuja and Madhva stress the personal Lord and read the relation between world, self and God as one of dependence or difference.

Brahman in the Bhagavad Gita

In 8.3, Krishna calls the supreme imperishable reality brahman. Verse 5.20 describes the steady knower who rests in brahman, unmoved by pleasant or unpleasant events, and 18.54 speaks of becoming one with brahman, serene and free of grief and craving. In 14.27 Krishna says he is the foundation of brahman itself, which is why the Gita is read both as a path to the impersonal absolute and as a path to a personal God. You can explore this in Chapter 8.

Brahman, atman and the world

The Upanishadic claim is that the inner self, atman, is not separate from brahman in essence. The visible world is explained through maya, the power by which one reality appears as many. Realizing brahman is the aim of jnana and the meaning of moksha.

Brahman is the central theme of the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras, and appears in the Bhagavad Gita in verses such as 8.3, 5.20 and 18.54.