Brahma = Abraham?

[Cypress]

Tulu Studies

The character of Abraham has been described in the Bible (Genesis) and later retold in the Anacalypsis. Abraham (or the Brahma) was actually a mass hero, an uncommon leader of early tribes, born ca. 1900 BC, more or less during the chaotic time of earth movements, migration of major rivers and mass exodus of tribes from the Indus Valley civilization.​

Abraham is said to have been lived for a period of 175 years. (The cited lifespan appears to be an exaggerated figure, characteristic of hero worship societies, nevertheless may imply that Abraham was a strong, dynamic character and had considerably long healthy lifespan.) Different tribes called him slightly differently depending upon the style of pronunciation native to them. He was called Abraham by Jews and subsequently by Christians. Arabs called him ‘Ibrahim’ whereas IndoAryans referred to him as Brahma. His father, ‘Terah’ originally came from a place known as Ur of Chaldees or Culdees, a part of Asia Minor.​

Terah had a beautiful daughter called ‘Sara’ (or ‘Saraswati’ for Indo- Aryans and cohabitants of Pirak and northwest India) born to another wife who was not Abraham’s mother. Abraham or the Brahma fell in love with Sara and married her. For this or other reasons the Abraham and Sara left Ur and settled in Mesopotamia. There he organized Jews and became a venerated hero figure. Abraham has been considered as the founder of Jews. Similarly, Muslims believe ‘Ibrahim’ to be one of their early leader or founder. The original Kaba temple (later a mosque) at Mecca is said to have been built in honour of Abraham or the Ibrahim.​

At that time, the present day Asia minor-Indian subcontinent region consisting of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (though had different individual provincial names at that time) were all contiguous states where communications and concepts freely exchanged among diverse townships. The Abraham (or the Brahma) was a dynamic leader of the masses and the ordinary people believed that he was the creator of the tribes. The legend of Abraham continued after his death and continued to inspire or haunt memories of the tribes living in the Asia minor-Indian subcontinent region. The legend of Abraham inspired Vedic tribes and others alike. This is the initiation the concept of Lord Brahma the creator of universe in Hindu mythology. Abraham became the Brahma the supreme God after couple of centuries following his demise. In the primitive cultures accustomed to spirit worship, the legendary Brahma, who organized tribes, represented a supreme hero capable of creation of tribes and later the universe itself. Legends turned into myths and Brahma was deified and considered supreme God.​

 

[Madhuri]

It's an interesting idea but I don't believe they are the same person. I'd need a whole lot of evidence to suggest so and what I've read about this topic has not been sufficient evidence.

 

[xkatz]

If I may add (as I am not Hindu)...

I agree with Madhuri on this one. It's a neat idea, but I do not think they are same. Brahma is deity (or an aspect thereof), Abraham is a prophet; the two have different roles.

 

[Cypress]

Are there any mantras of Brahma by the way?
Is there any tantric text dedicated to Brahma?

 

[Riverwolf]

Aum Satchit Ekam Brahma ^_^

 

[Madhuri]

There's also Brahma Gayatri:

"om bhur bhuva sva tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dhimahi dhiyo yo na pracodayat om"

And here are some more:

Brahma Mantras

 

[dharmacentral]

To my knowledge, both Aum Satchit Ekam Brahma and the Brahma Gayatri are referring to Brahman, the Absolute, and not the demi-urge creator-god Brahma. The last 'a' in the word Brahma is short, thus referring to Brahman. We have hundreds of grammatical instances of this throughout the Sanskrit literature - including the "Brahma-Sutra", which is definitely referring to Brahman! If this instances were referring to the creator-god, then the last 'a' would be long (Brahmaa).

Brahman, the Absolute of Vedanta, and Brahmaa, the creator-god are not synonymous and are never portrayed as such in the Vedic scriptures. It was the very early Indologists who made the mistake of equating the two.

 

[Madhuri]

That's interesting, I didn't know Dharmacentral!

 

[dharmacentral]

That's interesting, I didn't know Dharmacentral!

Thank you for your kind message, Madhuriji. The early Indologists were truly chauvinist incompetents in many respects. Especially before the early 19th Century, they either mistook multiple terms to mean the same thing (like Brahman, Brahma, Brahmaa) or sometimes they made the very opposite mistake.

For example, it took them decades to finally realize that Krishna, Gopal, Govinda, etc. were are just different epithets referring to the very same person! They literally thought there was one god known as Krishna, a different god known as Gopal, etc. It really confused them when Arjuna calls Krishna so by so many different epithets in the Bhagavad Gita, and they were dumb enough to think that Arjuna was addressing different gods rather than just one Krishna!

Jaya Sri Rama!

 

[Madhuri]

For example, it took them decades to finally realize that Krishna, Gopal, Govinda, etc. were are just different epithets referring to the very same person! They literally thought there was one god known as Krishna, a different god known as Gopal, etc. It really confused them when Arjuna calls Krishna so by so many different epithets in the Bhagavad Gita, and they were dumb enough to think that Arjuna was addressing different gods rather than just one Krishna!

Jaya Sri Rama!

Lol! I didn't know that either.
No wonder so many people have huge misconceptions about Sanatan Dharma.

 

[Cypress]

Perhaps Brahma was worshiped in Mohenjo Daro and later came into the vedic patheon?
Brahma has a beard, no other Hindu deity I know has a beard.

http://de.academic.ru/pictures/dewiki/77/Mohenjo-daro_Priesterkonig_.jpeg

 

[dharma_seeker]

^^ This is not Brahma's sculpture. Probably depicting the social lifestyle of indus valley civilization.

Regarding Brahma, ... in the puranic sense (Puranas), Brahmaa is said to be the creator, and then Vishnu who is the maintainer, sustainer etc and then Shiva who is the destroyer of evils. Since, the creation has already come into existence, Brahmaa's work is kind of finished and less importance has been given to him in Puranas and more importance is put to worship the sustainer and destroyer i.e. Shiva and Vishnu.

But there are temples in India which are dedicated to Lord Brahma.

 

[dharma_seeker]

In Sanskrit, the prefix "a" is always denoted to mean "anti" or "not".

For example, harm is "himsa" and no-harm is "ahimsa". Same thing with duty "dharma" and 'anti-dharmic' 'adharma'.

Thus, it is easy to conclude that if Brahma is GOD, then Abrahma is obviously "anti GOD" or the 'devil'. :clap

With the fact that all Abrahamics have engaged in destruction of cultures, peoples, societies, religions wherever they have set foot, this is quite clear.

GOOD ONE!!

:clap

 

[dharma_seeker]

LORD Brahma Mantra

Om Namo Rajo Jushei Sristau
Sthithou Sattwa Mayayacha
Tamo Mayaya Sam-harinei
Vishwa RupayaVedhasei
Om Brahmanyei Namaha

"Om is the name of He who created this cosmos with its three qualities of
goodness, passion, and ignorance - who brought all things to form and who
created the universe. He is Brahma unto whom I bow down."

 

[Madhuri]

GOOD ONE!!

:clap

Although not accurate because Brahma does not mean God.

I've just read something interesting:

Brahma is the name for the principle which creates all of the manifest realms

I will post the link so you can read (if interested) the rest of the article. It's very good.

Brahma

At the bottom of the page there is even a mantra to Brahma and its meaning.

 

[dharma_seeker]

Although not accurate because Brahma does not mean God.

I've just read something interesting:

Brahma is the name for the principle which creates all of the manifest realms

I will post the link so you can read (if interested) the rest of the article. It's very good.

Brahma

At the bottom of the page there is even a mantra to Brahma and its meaning.

I never said Brahma is GOD.

Thanks for link though.

 

[Andal]

Perhaps Brahma was worshiped in Mohenjo Daro and later came into the vedic patheon?
Brahma has a beard, no other Hindu deity I know has a beard.

http://de.academic.ru/pictures/dewiki/77/Mohenjo-daro_Priesterkonig_.jpeg

I agree with Dharma. This is most likely a sculpture of a person (maybe priest) from the IVC. There are statues of Sri Devi as well as Shiva that have come out of this era. Brahma isn't really worshiped anyway.

 

[Madhuri]

I never said Brahma is GOD.

I know, I was just pointing that out for the thread.

 

[Riverwolf]

Brahma and Abraham have nothing to do with each other. The only possible similarity that can be drawn between them is the creator role, and that's a real stretch, because Brahma is the Creator of the Universe, and Abraham is the Patron of the nation of Israel: not something I'd equate with Creator.

That their names are vaguely similar is coincidence; trying to cite that as evidence for a relationship between the two is like trying to cite the same as evidence that there's a clear relationship between Santa and Satan.

 

[Madhuri]

Santa and Satan.

I always knew Santa was evil!! :cover: