Para Brahman


Para Brahman or Param Brahman in Hindu philosophy is the "Supreme Brahman" that which is beyond all descriptions and conceptualisations. It is described as beyond the form or the formlessness that eternally pervades everything, everywhere in the universe and whatever is beyond.
Para Brahman is conceptualised in diverse ways. In the Advaita Vedanta tradition, the Para Brahman is a synonym of nirguna brahman, i.e., the attribute-less Absolute, which, according to Advaita vedanta, transcends conceptualisation, including both emptiness and infiniteness. Conversely, in Dvaita Vedanta and Vishistadvaita Vedanta traditions, the Para Brahman is defined as saguna brahman, i.e., the Absolute with attributes. In Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Shaktism, Vishnu, Shiva, and Adi Shakti respectively are Para Brahman. Mahaganapati is held to be Para Brahman by the Ganapatya sect, Kartikeya by the Kaumaram.

Etymology

Para is a Sanskrit word that means "higher" in some contexts, and "highest or supreme" in others.
Brahman in Hinduism connotes the Absolute and the Ultimate Reality in the universe. In major schools of Hindu philosophy it is the immaterial, efficient, formal and final cause of all that exists. Brahman is a key concept found in the Vedas and is extensively discussed in the early Upanishads and in Advaita Vedanta literature.

Advaita Vedanta

In Advaita Vedanta, the Para Brahman is defined as nirguna brahman, or Brahman without form or qualities. It is a state of complete knowledge of self as being identical with the transcendental Brahman, a state of mental-spiritual enlightenment. It contrasts with Saguna Brahman which is a state of loving awareness. Advaita Vedanta non-dualistically holds that Brahman is divine, the Divine is Brahman, and this is identical to that which is Atman and nirguna, infinite, love, truth, knowledge, "being-consciousness-bliss".
According to Eliot Deutsch, Nirguna Brahman is a "state of being" in which all dualistic distinctions between one's own soul and Brahman are obliterated and are overcome. In contrast, Saguna Brahman is where the distinctions are harmonised after duality between one's own soul and Brahman has been accepted.
Advaita describes the features of a nondualistic experience, in which a subjective experience also becomes an "object" of knowledge and a phenomenal reality. The Absolute Truth is both subject and object, so there is no qualitative difference:
  • The knowers of Truth declare knowledge alone as the Reality——that knowledge which does not admit of duality, in other words, which is indivisible & one without a second, & which is called by different names such as Brahman, Paramatma & Bhagavan.
  • "Whoever realises the Supreme Brahma attains to supreme felicity. That Supreme Brahma is Eternal Truth, Omniscient, Infinite."
The Upanishads state that the Supreme Brahma is Eternal, Conscious, and Blissful sat-chit-ânanda. The realisation of this truth is the same as being this truth:
  • "The One is Bliss. Whoever perceives the Blissful One, the reservoir of pleasure, becomes blissful forever."
  • "Verily know the Supreme One to be Bliss."

    Vaishnavism

In Vaishnavism, Vishnu is considered to be Para Brahman, especially in his form of Mahavishnu. He is also depicted as the Paramatman, according to the Narayana Sukta in the Yajurveda.
The Mahabharata describes Vishnu to be the Para Brahman, and is also identified with both purusha and prakriti. In the Bhagavata Purana, Narayana is described to be Para Brahman.
In Shuddhavaita, Vallabha praises Krishna as Para Brahman and considers Krishna as the "Brahman of the Upanishads, the Paramatman of the Smrti, and the Bhagavan of the Bhagavata".

Shaivaism

In Shaivism, Shiva is regarded to be Para Brahman, especially in his form of Parashiva, the supreme form of Shiva. According to the Shiva Purana, Shiva is described to be the only deity to possess both nirguna and saguna attributes, causing him to be the only one worthy of the epithet Ishvara.

Shaktism

In Shaktism, Adi Parashakti is considered to be the Para Brahman both with and without qualities, and also Brahman in its energetic state, the ultimate reality. According to the Devi Suktam and Sri Suktam in the Rigveda she is the womb of all creation. Thus Mahakali's epithet is Brahmamayi, meaning "She Whose Essence is Brahman". Tridevi is the supreme form of Adi Parashakti. Her eternal abode is called Manidvipa.
The Markandeya Purana describes the ten-headed Kāli as the Unborn, the Eternal, Mahamari and Lakshmi. In the Devi Bhagavata Purana, the four-armed Vishnu describes Mahā Kāli as Nirguna, creatrix and destructrix, beginningless and deathless. The Kāli Sahasranama Stotra from the Kalika Kulasarvasva Tantra states that she is supreme and indeed Durga, Śruti, Smriti, Mahalakshmi, Saraswati, Ātman Vidya and Brahmavidya. In the Mahanirvana Tantra she is called Adya or Primordial Kali, who is the origin, protectress and devourer of all things. In Chapters 13 and 23 of Nila Tantra she is called the cause of everything, Gayatri, Parameshwari, Lakshmi, Mahāmāyā, omniscient, worshipped by Shiva himself, the great absolute, supreme, the mother of the highest reality and Ātman.
Mahā Kāli's own form is referred to as Para Brahman in the Devyāgama and different Tantra Shastras. She is also variously referred to as Soul of the universe, Paramatman, Bīja and Nirguna.