Brahman

Brahman or Brahma (Skt., literally, ‘growth’ or ‘expansion’). The one supreme, all pervading Spirit; the impersonal Absolute, beyond attributes, which is the origin and support of the visible universe. This neuter noun, Brahman (or Brahma) should be distinguished from the masculine form, Brahmā, the personal Creator-god in the Hindu triad of Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva.

The etymology of Brahman is obscure, but is traditionally derived from the verb root bṛh or bṛṃh, ‘to grow great’, ‘to increase’. In the earliest use of the word in the Vedas, and especially in Atharva Veda, the meaning of Brahman is the mysterious force behind a magical formula. It then means the sacred utterance through which the devas become great, and thus also ritual power and those in charge of it (i.e. brahmans). In the Śatapata Brāhmaṇa, and then in the Upaniṣads, the word Brahman comes to mean the source of power, and thus the impersonal, supreme, eternal principle behind the origin of the universe and the gods. It is this later meaning that is developed in the systematic philosophy of Vedānta which teaches that Brahman, the impersonal Absolute, is the essence, the Self (ātman), of all beings. Ātman and Brahman are one, and the knowledge of Brahman (brahmavidyā; see APARAVIDYA) is the supreme goal of human life as it confers liberation (mokṣa) from the ongoing cycle of suffering and rebirth (see e.g. ŚAṄKARA).