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BRAHMAN
power of wielding bṛh or brah. And so what is brah? As we shall sce-it is something far from "intellect."
Byh occurs as a verb of which only the present participle survives, this being employed as an adjective: the commonly encountered brh-ant, meaning "great." Furthermore, there is a derivative form (with an inserted nasal: bṛmh) which appears in the verb brmh-ayati, “to make bṛh, to render bṛh," i.e., "to make or render great"; for brh means "to grow, to increase" and. when referring to sounds, "to roar." Bṛmhita, which, as we have just seen, signifies "made great," when referring to sounds denotes "the roaring of an elephant"-that mighty trumpeting which, whether angry or triumphant, is the greatest of all animal noises. Brh-the word itself-has a highly sonorous ring.
Brmhayati in classic Hindu medicine denotes the art of increasing the life-strength in weak people; the art of making fat. The doctor "fattens" (bṛmhayati) those who are thin. Similarly, divinities become bṛmhita, "fattened, swollen, puffed up," by hymns and praises; and men, in return, by blessings. There is a prayer pronounced over one setting forth on a journey: Ariṣṭam vraja panthānam mad-anudhyāna-bṛṁhitā: "Proceed along your path, and may it be free of obstacles and harm. You are increased (bṛṁhitā) by my soul-force, which accompanies you in the form of my inward vision.” To which is pronounced the reply: Tejo-rdha-bṛmhitaḥ: "These (enemics) I shall slay, being swollen or increased, by the half of your fiery lifestrength."
"1 84
Bṛmhayati means "increase, strengthen, fortify, intensify," and the Vedic noun barhaṇā, from the same root, denotes "power, strength." Thus it appears that, in the Vedic vocabulary, brahman corresponded exactly to what the Hinduism of subsequent centuries terms sakti: "energy, force, power, potency." s
" 85 A
84 Editor's note: I have not been able to locate the source of this quotation. 85 Editor's note: It has become customary in the Occident to designate the orthodoxy of the first great Indo-Aryan period (the religion of the
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| SR No. | 007309 |
| Book Title | Philosophies of India |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Heinrich Zimmer, Joseph Campbell |
| Publisher | Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd |
| Publication Year | 1953 |
| Total Pages | 709 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 34 MB |