Brahman (disambiguation)

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Contents 1 Hindu religion 2 Other religious 3 Languages 4 People 5 Other uses

The words Brahm and Brahman and similar have various meanings:-

[edit] Hindu religion

The Sanskrit terms Brahman, Brahma, both from a root brh "to grow, increase", are used in various meanings (depending on the Vedic accent and grammatical gender). See Brahman#Semantics and pronunciation for more details:-

• Brahman (bráhman, literally "growth", also "pious utterance, prayer", bráhma n.) is the Hindu idea of the formless transcendental immanent Divine, often in English called "the Brahman".
• Brahma (bráhma m.) is the Creator God, one of the trinity: Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheswara (Siva).
  • There have been rare cases of "Brahma" and "(the) Brahman" being used in English with each others' meanings, e.g. in R.W. Emerson's poem titled "Brahma".
• Brahman (brahmán, not to be confused with bráhman above) is a Vedic Sanskrit word for "priest": see Vedic priest.
• A Brahmin, spelt "Brahman" (bráhman) in Sanskrit, is a person belonging to the Brahmins, the priestly caste among the four varnas.
• The Brahmanas are important Hindu canonical texts that are part of each of the Vedas.

[edit] Other religious

• Brahma (Buddhism) is a type of Buddhist deity.

[edit] Languages

• Brahman languages are a hypothetical Trans-New Guinea family of languages spoken in Madang Province in Papua New Guinea.

[edit] People

• Brahm or Brahms used as a man's surname, is of German origin. This meaning originated as a short form of "Abraham's son"
• Nikolaus Joseph Brahm was a German zoologist (1751-1812?)
• Brahman (band) is a Japanese indie rock band

[edit] Other uses

• Brahman (cattle) is a breed of cattle descended from the Bos indicus.
• The Brahminy Kite is a species of bird
• Brahma (beer), a Brazilian brand of beer
• Boston Brahmin is a term often used to refer to the oldest families in Boston