Part 9 - Brahma

The conception of Brahman which has been the highest glory for the Vedānta philosophy of later days had hardly emerged in the Ṛg-Veda from the associations of the sacrificial mind. The meanings that Sāyana the celebrated commentator of the Vedas gives of the word as collected by Haug are:

1. food, food offering,
2. the chant of the sāma-singer,
3. magical formula or text,
4. duly completed ceremonies,
5. the chant and sacrificial gift together,
6. the recitation of the hotr priest,
7. great.

Roth says that it also means

“the devotion which manifests itself as longing and satisfaction of the soul and reaches forth to the gods.”

But it is only in the Satapatha Brāhmaṇa that the conception of Brahman has acquired a great significance as the supreme principle which is the moving force behind the gods.

Thus the Satapatha says,

“ Verily in the beginning this (universe) was the Brahman (neut.). It created the gods; and, having created the gods, it made them ascend these worlds:

1. Agni this (terrestrial) world,
2. Vāyu the air,
3. and Sūrya the sky.....

Then the Brahman itself went up to the sphere beyond. Having gone up to the sphere beyond, it considered, ‘How can I descend again into these worlds?’ It then descended again by means of these two, Form and Name. Whatever has a name, that is name; and that again which has no name and which one knows by its form, ‘this is (of a certain) form,’ that is form: as far as there are Form and Name so far, indeed, extends this (universe).

These indeed are the two great forces of Brahman; and, verily, he who knows these two great forces of Brahman becomes himself a great force^[1].

In another place Brahman is said to be the ultimate thing in the Universe and is identified with Prajāpati, Puruṣa and Prāṇa (the vital air^[2]). In another place Brahman is described as being the Svayambhū (self-born) performing austerities, who offered his own self in the creatures and the creatures in his own self, and thus compassed supremacy, sovereignty and lordship over all creatures^[3]. The conception of the supreme man (Purusa) in the Ṛg-Veda also supposes that the supreme man pervades the world with only a fourth part of Himself, whereas the remaining three parts transcend to a region beyond. He is at once the present, past and future^[4].

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

See Eggeling’s translation of Satapatha Brāhmana S. B. E. vol. xi.iv. pp. 27, 28.

[2]:

See S. B.E. xliii. pp. 59, 60, 400 and XLiv. p. 409.

[3]:

See Ibid. XLiv. p. 418.

[4]:

R. V. x. 90, Purusa Sūkta.