bráhman n. (lit. ‘growth’, ‘expansion’, ‘evolution’, ‘development’ ‘swelling of the spirit or soul’, fr. √ 2. bṛh) pious effusion or utterance, outpouring of the heart in worshipping the gods, prayer, [RV.]; [AV.]; [VS.]; [TS.]
the sacred word (as opp. to vāc, the word of man), the Veda, a sacred text, a text or Mantra used as a spell (forming a distinct class from the ṛcas, sāmāni and yajūṃṣi; cf. brahma-veda), [RV.]; [AV.]; [Br.]; [Mn.]; [Pur.]
the Brāhmaṇa portion of the Veda, [Mn. iv, 100]
the sacred syllable Om, [Prab.], Sch., (cf. [Mn. ii, 83])
religious or spiritual knowledge (opp. to religious observances and bodily mortification such as tapas &c.), [AV.]; [Br.]; [Mn.]; [R.]
holy life (esp. continence, chastity; cf. brahma-carya), [Śak. i, 24/25]; [Śaṃk.]; [Sarvad.]
(exceptionally treated as m.) the Brahmă or one self-existent impersonal Spirit, the one universal Soul (or one divine essence and source from which all created things emanate or with which they are identified and to which they return), the Self-existent, the Absolute, the Eternal (not generally an object of worship but rather of meditation and-knowledge ; also with jyéṣṭha, prathama-já, svayám-bhu, a-mūrta, para, paratara, parama, mahat, sanātana, śāśvata; and = paramātman, ātman, adhyātma, pradhāna, kṣetra-jña, tattva), [AV.]; [ŚBr.]; [Mn.]; [MBh.] &c. ([IW. 9, 83] &c.)
bráhman n. the class of men who are the repositories and communicators of sacred knowledge, the Brāhmanical caste as a body (rarely an individual Brāhman), [AV.]; [TS.]; [VS.]; [ŚBr.]; [Mn.]; [BhP.]
food, [Naigh. ii, 7]
wealth, [ib.] [10]
final emancipation, [L.]
(brahmán), m. one who prays, a devout or religious man, a Brāhman who is a knower of Vedic texts or spells, one versed in sacred knowledge, [RV.] &c. &c.
[cf. Lat., flāmen]
N. of Bṛhas-pati (as the priest of the gods), [RV. x, 141, 3]
one of the 4 principal priests or Ṛtvijas (the other three being the Hotṛ, Adhvaryu and Udgātṛ; the Brahman was the most learned of them and was required to know the 3 Vedas, to supervise the sacrifice and to set right mistakes; at a later period his functions were based especially on the Atharva-veda), [RV.] &c. &c.
Brahmā or the one impersonal universal Spirit manifested as a personal Creator and as the first of the triad of personal gods (= prajā-pati, q.v.; he never appears to have become an object of general worship, though he has two temples in India See [RTL. 555] &c.; his wife is Sarasvatī, [ib.] [48]), [TBr.] &c. &c.
= brahmaṇa āyuḥ, a lifetime of Brahmā, [Pañcar.]
an inhabitant of Brahmā's heaven, [Jātakam.]
the sun, [L.]
N. of Śiva, [Prab.], Sch.
the Veda (?), [PārGṛ.]
the intellect (= buddhi), [Tattvas.]
N. of a star, δ Aurigae, [Sūryas.]
a partic. astron. Yoga, [L.]
N. of the 9th Muhūrta, [L.]
(with Jainas) a partic. Kalpa, [Dharmaś.]
N. of the servant of the 10th Arhat of the present Avasarpiṇī, [L.]