BRAHMAN. — The word occurs in the Veda with different gender and accent, in two distinct meanings. Brahman, neuter, is first the “prayer,” endowed with magical power, which, in union with the rite, compels the gods to grant the desires of men. It then becomes the substance of the sacrifice (vājā), the mysterious force that emanates from it, until it is freed in the Upaniṣads from the external and material part of the rite, and, detached from the sacrifice, rises to the rank of the Absolute. It is then the “Being in itself” (sat), eternal, infinite, unknowable, the principle and end of all things. In this sense, Brahman is the fundamental theme of the philosophy of the Vedānta.
Brahman, masculine, is at first he who possesses the brahman, the priest, the Brahmin. Only in a few passages of the Ṛgveda does the brahman appear invested with a special function, alongside the hotṛ, the udgātṛ, and the adhvaryu. In the Atharvaveda and in the Brāhmaṇas (v.) he is assigned the task of “mediator of the sacrifice.” He silently oversees the ceremony, and if the officiants commit errors of act or word, he remedies them with appropriate expiations. He is required to know all the Vedas, but his particular text is the Atharvaveda, the breviary of the army (v. BRAHMAN).