Brahma & Brahmā [fr. bṛh, see brahant. Perhaps less with regard to the greatness of the divine principle, than with ref. to the greatness or power of prayer or the ecstatic mind (i. e. holy enthusiasm). On etym. see Osthoff, "Bezzenberger's Beiträge" xxiv.142 sq. (=Mir. bricht charm, spell: Oicel. bragr poetry)] -- I. Brahman(nt.) [cp. Vedic bráhman nt. prayer; nom. sg. bráhma] 1. the supreme good; as a buddhistic term used in a sense different from the brahmanic (save in controversy with Brahmans); a state like that of Brahmā (or Brahman) A ii.184 (brahmappatta). In cpds. brahma˚. -- 2. Vedic text, mystic formula, prayer DA i.244 (brahmaŋ aṇatī ti brāhmaṇo). II. Brahmā [cp. Vedic brahmán, m., one who prays or chants hymns, nom. sg. Brahmā] 1. the god Brahmā chief of the gods, often represented as the creator of the Universe (vasavattī issaro kattā nimmātā) D i.18; iii.30, also called Mahābrahmā (D i.235 sq., 244 sq.; iii.30; It 15; Vism 578; DhA ii.60); and Sahampati (Vini.5; D ii.157; S i.136 sq.; Vism 201; KhA 171; SnA 56) and Sanaŋkumāra (D ii.226; iii.97). The duration of his life is given as being 1 kalpa (see Kvu 207, 208). -- nom. Brahmā Vin i.5; D ii.46; J vi.486; Miln 224; Vism 2 (brahmānaŋ atibrahmā, Ep. of Buddha Bhagavā); SnA 229 (B. mahānubhāvo); gen. abl. Brahmano Dii.209; Vism 205; SnA 177; instr. Brahmanā D i.252; ii.239; Dh 105, 230; Vism 48, 405; DhA ii.60; acc. Brahmānaŋ D ii.37; voc. Brahme S i.138. -- 2. a brahma god, a happy & blameless celestial being, an inhabitant of the higher heavens (brahma -- loka; in which to be reborn is a reward of great merit); nom. sg.brahmā S i.142 (Baka br.); M i.327 (id.); A iv.83; PvA 138 (˚devatā for brahma˚?); gen. abl. brahmuno S i.142, 155; instr. brahmunā D iii.147, 150 &brahmanā PvA 98; voc. sg. brahme M i.328. pl. nom. brahmāno Miln 13, 18 (where J vi.486 has Mahā -- brahmā in id. p.); DhsA 195; gen. brahmānaŋ Vism 2; Mhbv 151. -- paccekabrahmā a br. by himself S i.149 (of the name of Tudu; cp. paccekabuddha). -- sabrahmaka (adj.) including the brahma gods D i.62; Aii.70; Vin i.11; DA i.174.  III. brahma (adj. -- n.) [cp. brahmā II. 2; Vedic brahma˚ & Sk. brāhma] 1. holy, pious, brahmanic; (m.) a holy person, a brahmin -- (adj.) J ii.14 (br. vaṇṇa=seṭṭha vaṇṇa C.); KhA 151 (brahma -- cariyaŋ= brahmaŋ cariyaŋ). -- (m.) acc. brahmaŋ Sn 285; voc. brahme (frequent) Sn 1065 (=brahmā ti seṭṭhavacanaŋ SnA 592); J ii.346; iv.288; vi.524, 532; Pv i.129 (=brāhmaṇa PvA 66). -- 2. divine, as incorporating the highest & best qualities, sublime, ideal, best, very great (see esp. in cpds.), A i.132 (brahmā ti mātāpitaro etc.), 182; iv.76. -- 3. holy, sacred, divinely inspired (of the rites, charms, hymns etc.) D i.96 (brahme mante adhiyitvā); Pv ii.613 (mantaŋ brahmacintitaŋ) =brāhmaṇānaŋ atthāya brahmaṇā cintitaŋ) PvA 97, 98). -- Note. The compn form of all specified bases (I. II. III.) is brahma˚, and with regard to meaning it is often not to be decided to which of the 3 categories the cpd. in question belongs.   -- attabhāva existence as a brahma god DhA iii.210. -- ujjugatta having the most divinely straight limbs (one of the 32 marks of a Great Man) D ii.18; iii.144, 155. -- uttama sublime DhsA 192. -- uppatti birth in the brahma heaven S i.143. -- ûposatha the highest religious observance with meditation on the Buddha & practice of the uposatha abstinence A i.207. -- kappa like Brahmā Th 1, 909. -- kāya divine body D iii.84; J i.95. -- kāyika belonging to the company of Brahmā, N of a high order of Devas in the retinue of Br. (cp. Kirfel, Kosmographie pp. 191, 193, 197) D i.220; ii.69; A iii.287, 314; iv.40, 76, 240, 401; Th 1, 1082; Vism 225, 559; KhA 86. -- kutta a work of Brahmā D iii.28, 30 (cp. similarly yaŋ mama, pitrā kṛtaŋ devakṛtaŋ na tu brahmakṛtaŋ tat Divy 22). See also under kutta. -- giriya (pl.) name of a certain class of beings, possibly those seated on Brahmagiri (or is it a certain class of performers, actors or dancers?) Miln 191. -- ghaṭa(=ghaṭa2) company or assembly of Brahmans J vi.99. -- cakka the excellent wheel, i. e. the doctrine of the Buddha M i.69; A ii.9, 24; iii.417; v.33; It 123; Psii.174; VbhA 399 (in detail); -- cariya see separate article. -- cārin leading a holy or pure life, chaste, pious Vin ii.236; iii.44; S i.5, 60; ii.210; iii.13; iv.93, A ii.44; M iii.117; Sn 695, 973; J v.107, 382; Vv 3411 (acc. pl. brahmacāraye for ˚cārino); Dh 142; Miln 75; DA i.72 (brahmaŋ seṭṭhaŋ ācāraŋ caratī ti br. c.); DhA iii.83;a˚ S iv.181; Pug 27, 36. -- cintita divinely inspired Pvi i.613=Vv 6316 (of manta); expln at PvA 97, as given above III.3, differs from that at VvA 265, where it runs: brahmehi Aṭṭhak' ādīhi cintitaŋ paññācakkhunā diṭṭhaŋ, i. e. thought out by the divine (seer) Aṭṭhaka and the others (viz. composers of the Vedic hymns: v. s. brāhmaṇa1, seen with insight). -- ja sprung from Brahmā (said of the Brāhmaṇas) D iii.81, 83; M ii.148. Cp. dhammaja. -- jacca belonging to a brahman family Th 1, 689. -- jāla divine, excellent net, N. of a Suttanta (D No. 1) Vism 30; VbhA 432, 516; KhA 12, 36, 97; SnA 362, 434. -- daṇḍa "the highest penalty," a kind of severe punishment (temporary deathsentence? ) Vin ii.290; D ii.154; DhA ii.112; cp. Kern, Manual p. 87. -- dāyāda kinsman or heir of Brahmā D iii.81, 83. -- deyya a most excellent gift, a royal gift, a gift given with full powers (said of land granted by the King) D i.87 (=seṭṭha -- deyyaŋ DA i.246; cp. Dial. i.108 note: the first part of the cpd. (brahma) has always been interpreted by Brahmans as referring to themselves. But brahma as the first part of a cpd. never has that meaning in Pali; and the word in our passage means literally "a full gift." -- Cp. id. p. Divy 620, where it does not need to mean "gift to brahmans," as Index suggests); D i.114; Jii.166=DhA iii.125 (here a gift to a br., it is true, but not with that meaning); J vi.486 (sudinnaŋ+); Mhbv 123. We think that both Kern (who at Toev. s. v. unjustly remarks of Bdhgh's expln as "unjust") and Fick (who at "Sociale Gliederung" p. 126 trsls it as "gift to a Brahman") are wrong, at least their (and others') interpretation is doubtful. -- devatā a deity of the Brahmaloka PvA 138 (so read for brahmā˚). -- nimantanika "addressing an invitation to a brahma -- god," title of a Suttanta M i.326 sq., quoted at Vism 393. -- nimmita created by Brahmā D iii.81, 83. -- patta arrived at the highest state, above the devas, a state like the Br. gods M i.386; A ii.184. -- patti attainment of the highest good S i.169, 181; iv.118. -- patha the way to the Br. world or the way to the highest good S i.141; Aiii.346; Th 1, 689. Cp. Geiger, Dhamma 77. -- parāyana devoted to Brahmā Miln 234. -- parisā an assembly of the Brahma gods D iii.260; M i.330; S i.155; Aiv.307. -- pārisajja belonging to the retinue of Br., N. of the gods of the lowest Rūpa -- brahmaloka S i.145, 155; M i.330; Kvu 207; cp. Kirfel, Kosmographie191, 194. -- purohita minister or priest to Mahābrahmā; ˚deva gods inhabiting the next heaven above the Br. -- pārisajjā devā (cp. Kirfel loc. cit.) Kvu 207 (read ˚purohita for ˚parohita!). -- pphoṭana [a -- pphoṭana; ā+ph.] a Brahmaapplause, divine or greatest applause DhA iii.210 (cp. Miln 13; J vi.486). -- bandhu "brahma -- kinsman," a brāhmaṇa in descent, or by name; but in reality an unworthy brahman, Th 2, 251; J vi.532; ThA 206; cp. Fick, Sociale Gliederung p. 140. -- bhakkha ideal or divine food S i.141. -- bhatta a worshipper of Br. J iv.377 sq. -- bhavana Br. -- world or abode of Br. Nd1 448. -- bhūta divine being, most excellent being, said of the Buddha D iii.84; M i.111; iii.195, 224; S iv.94; A v.226; It 57; said of Arahants A ii.206; S iii.83. -- yāna way of the highest good, path of goodness (cp. brahma -- patha) S v.5; J vi.57 (C. ariyabhūmi: so read for arāya˚). -- yāniya leading to Brahmā D i.220. -- loka the Br. world, the highest world, the world of the Celestials (which is like all other creation subject to change & destruction: see e. g. Vism 415=KhA 121), the abode of the Br. devas; Heaven. -- It consists of 20 heavens, sixteen being worlds of form (rūpa -- brahmaloka) and four, inhabited by devas who are incorporeal (arūpa˚). The devas of the Br. l. are free from kāma or sensual desires. Rebirth in this heaven is the reward of great virtue accompanied with meditation (jhāna) A i.227 sq.; v.59 (as included in the sphere called sahassī cūḷanikā lokadhātu). -- The brahmās like other gods are not necessarily sotāpannā or on the way to full knowledge (sambodhi -- parāyaṇā); their attainments depend on the degree of their faith in the Buddha,Dhamma, & Sangha, and their observance of the precepts. -- See e. g. D iii.112; S i.141, 155, 282; A iii.332; iv.75, 103; Sn 508, 1117; J ii.61; Ps i.84; Pv ii.1317; Dhs 1282; Vbh 421; Vism 199, 314, 367, 372, 390, 401, 405, 408, 415 sq., 421, 557; Mhbv 54, 83, 103 sq., 160; VbA 68; PvA 76; VbhA 167, 433, 437, 510. See also Cpd. 57, 141 sq.; Kirfel, Kosmographie 26, 191, 197, 207, and cp. in BSk. literature Lal. Vist. 171. The Br. -- l. is said to be the one place where there are no women: DhA i.270. -- yāva Brahmalokā pi even unto Br.'s heaven, expression like "as far as the end of the world" M i.34; S v.265, 288. -- ˚ûpaga attaining to the highest heaven D ii.196; A v.342; Sn 139; J ii.61; Kvu 114. -- ˚ûpapatti rebirth in Heaven Sn 139. -- ˚parāyana the Br. -- loka as ultimate goal J ii.61;iii.396. -- ˚sahavyatā the company of the Br. gods A iv.135 sq. -- yāna the best vehicle S v.5 (+dhammayāna). -- vaccasin with a body like that of Mahābrahmā, combd with -- vaṇṇin of most excellent complexion, in ster. passage at D i.114, 115; M ii.167, cp. DA i.282: ˚vaccasī ti Mahābrahmuṇo sarīra -- sadisena sarīrena samannāgato; ˚vaṇṇī ti seṭṭhavaṇṇī. -- vāda most excellent speech Vin i.3. -- vimāna a palace of Brahmā in the highest heaven D iii.28, 29; It 15; Vism 108. -- vihāra sublime or divine state of mind, blissful meditation (exercises on a, altruistic concepts; b, equanimity; see on these meditations Dial i.298). There are 4 such "divine states," viz. mettā, karuṇā, muditā, upekkhā (see Vism 111; DhsA 192; and cp. Expositor 258; Dhs trsl. 65; BSk. same, e. g. Divy 224); D ii.196; iii.220 (one of the 3 vihāra's: dibba˚, brahma˚, ariya˚); Th 1, 649; J i.139 (˚vihāre bhāvetvā . . . brahmalok' ûpaga), ii.61; Dhs 262; Vism 295 sq. (˚niddesa), 319. -- veṭhana the head -- dress of a brahmin SnA 138 (one of the rare passages where brahma˚=brahma III. 1). -- sama like Brahmā Sn 508; SnA 318, 325; DhsA 195. -- ssara "heavenly sound," a divine voice, a beautiful and deep voice (with 8 fine qualities: see enumd under bindu) D ii.211=227; J i.96; v.336.