Brahman

Brahman Brahman is the Hindu Absolute of the Vedānta tradition (see Vedānta). In the Vedic (see Vedas) hymns the neuter noun brahman (or brahma) refers to the power of the word and a brahman (see Brahmans) or brāhmana is a member of the priestly caste who understands the word. In the Upaniṣads (see Upaniḅads) Brahman becomes the eternal first cause, present everywhere and nowhere, always and never—the ultimate unknowable mystery or riddle of the universe. The closest one can come to revealing what Brahman is is to say or write the sacred syllable “Oṃ” (see Oṃ). Brahman can be incarnated in Brahmā (see Brahmā), and Viṣṇu (see Viṣṇu), and Śiva (see Śiva), or Devī (see Devī), but when the Absolute takes no form there is no existence. To put it another way, everything that is owes its existence to Brahman.