Originally, in the earliest mantras of the Vedic Samhitas, the word Brahman probably meant pious effigies coming out of the prayers in their fire-sacrifices, and hence the actual power behind the rituals. "Great indeed are the devas who have sprung out of Brahman." - Atharva Veda It was deemed a singular substrate from which all that is arises, and debuts with this verse: Brahman manifests as Hiranyagarbha, the " world soul", which also can take many forms or manifestations of the thousands of gods. Brahman is regarded as the source and essence of the material universe. It can be at best described as infinite Being, infinite Consciousness and infinite Bliss. This Supreme Cosmic Spirit or Absolute Reality called Brahman is said to be eternal, genderless, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, and ultimately indescribable in human language. Then through knowledge, realizing the infinitude of the infinite, it remains as infinite alone. That supreme Brahman is infinite, and this conditioned Brahman is infinite. The word "Brahman" is derived from the verb brh ( Sanskrit:to grow), and connotes greatness. The seers who inspired the composition of the Upanisads asserted that the liberated soul ( jivanmukta) has realized his identity with Brahman as his true self (see Atman). The trimurti can thus be considered a personification of hiranyagarbha as the active principle behind the phenomena of the universe. In the Rig Veda, Brahman gives rise to the primordial being Hiranyagarbha that is equated with the creator God Brahmā. Though its nature is transpersonal it is sometimes considered anthropomorphically as Isvara, the Supreme Lord. Brahman is the unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality which is the Divine Ground of all things in this universe. More.īrahman ( Devanagari: ब्रह्म ) is the concept of the Godhead found in Hinduism. Without rendering support, you may see irregular vowel positioning and a lack of conjuncts. It is a compilation of hymns but lacks the awesome grandeur which makes the Rig-Veda such a breathtaking spiritual experience.This page contains Indic text. The Atharva-Veda (the wisdom of the Atharvans) is called so because the families of the atharvan sect of the Brahmins have traditionally been credited with the composition of the Vedas. The Veda also outlines various chants which should be sung to pray and pay respects to the various instruments which are involved in the sacrifice. The Yajur-Veda or the wisdom of sacrifices lays down various sacred invocations (yajurs) which were chanted by a particular sect of priests called adhvaryu.
There are painstaking instructions in Sama-Veda about how particular hymns must be sung to put great emphasis upon sounds of the words of the mantras and the effect they could have on the environment and the person who pronounced them. These were meant for the priests who officiated at the rituals of the soma ceremonies.
The Sama-Veda or the wisdom of chants is basically a collection of samans or chants, derived from the eighth and ninth books of the Rig-Veda. The most often addressed gods were nature gods like Indra (rain god king of heavens), Agni (fire god), Rudra (storm god the 'howler'), Soma (the draught of immortality, an alcoholic brew). It contains 1028 hymns (10,589 verses which are divided into ten mandalas or book-sections) dedicated to thirty-three different gods. As a body of writing, the Rig-Veda (the wisdom of verses) is nothing short of remarkable. Its traditional date goes back to 3000 BC, something which the German scholar Max Mueller accepted. Henotheism is the idea that one God takes many different forms, and that although individuals may worship several different gods and goddesses, they really revere but one Supreme Being. Some Vedic hymns and poems address philosophic themes, such as the henotheism that is key to much Hindu theology. The four as a group came to be viewed as sacred in Hinduism. Four collections were made, so it is said that there are four Vedas. The Veda was composed in Sanskrit, the intellectual language of both ancient and classical Indian civilizations.
The oldest literature of Indian thought is the Veda, a collection of religious and philosophical poems and hymns composed over several generations beginning as early as 3000 BC.