BRAHE. 406 BRAHMANISM. Hven as the sito for an observatory, tlic King also offering to defray the cost of erection, and of the necessary astronomical instruments, as well as to provide him with a suitable salary. Brahe accepted the generous i)roi)nsal, and in 157U the foundation-stone of the castle of Urani- borg ('fortress of the heavens') was laid. Here, for a period of twenty years, Brahe prosecuted liis observations with the most unwearied in- dustry — with a zeal, in fact, stillicient to create a new epoch in astronomy as a science of ob- servation. The scientific greatness of Brahe was no protection against the petty prejudices of the nobles, who could not bear to see honor heaped on one who. according to their notions, had dis- graced their order, nor against the meaner jeal- ousies of physicians, who were annoyed at his dispensing medicine gratis to the poor. So long as his munificent patron, Frederick II., lived, Brahe's position was all that he could have de- sired, but on his death, in 1588, it was greatly changed. For some years under Christian IV., Brahe was simply tolerated: but in 1507 his position had grown so unbearable that he left the country altogether, having been the year before deprived of his observatory and emolu- ments. After residing a short time at Rostock and at Wandsbeek, near Hamburg, he accepted an invitation of the Emperor Rudolph II. — who conferred on him a pension of 3000 ducats — to Benack, a few miles from Prague, where a new Uraniborg was to have been erected for him; but he died at Prague on October 13, IGOl. At Benack he had Kepler as his assistant, and to the advice of Brahe that celebrated astronomer owed much. The scientific publications of Brahe are numerous. Consult Dreyer, Picture of Scien- tific Life and Work of Ti/clio Brahe (London, 1890). ♦' BRAHMA, brii'ma. According to its com- monest usage, the name of the Supreme Being, or Creator of the Universe, in the Hindu religion and philosophy. The Sanskrit word hruhman itself has three distinct phases, which are im- portant to note: (1) hrdhman, neuter and ac- cented on the first syllable, with nominative singular brdhmd, signifies exaltation, force, espe- cially the power of prayer, devotion, worship ; and later, holiness, spirit, the all-pervading es- sence of the universe; (2) brahman, masculine and accented on the ultima, with nominative singular hralniiO. denotes a personification of the latter, the Supreme Creator of the Universe; (3) Jirahmiiii, also masculine and similarly ac- cented, denotes a priest, a Brahman. The first two meanings alone are considered here ; for the third see Br.iimanism ; and Caste. In the Rigveda brdhmii, neuter, signifies only the power of prayer: in the hilcr development of the IJrahmanas and Upanishads (q.v. ) it ilenotes the essence of the imiverse from which all creat- ed things are evolved, and into which they arc reabsorbed. The personified god lirahmu, mas- culine, is a deified form of this absohite spirit, and to know him is the step toward the higher knowledge of the impersonal and supreme soul. Brahma as a divine being represents creative activity, and he shares respectively with the other two members of the Hindu Trinity, Vishnu and Siva, in producing, maintaining, and dissolv- ing the wiirld. As a formal triad this iiniini is of later origin in the develojiment of Hindu mythology. The attribute of creative activity is ascribed to various gods in the older Vedic period; but in the stage of the Brahmanas, the father-god, Prajapati, or Brahma, appears as the individual creator. In !Manu (q.v.), i. 1, seq., Brahma is described as self-existent and as evolv- ing the world from an egg — the doctrine of the cosmic egg — and his existence endures for an leon that is practically eternal. The representations of Brahma in Hindu mythology often show hira as born in a lotus sprung from the navel of Vishnu. Five heads were originally assigned to him, but one was destroyed by Siva. His color is red and he rides upon a swan. The goddess Sarasvatl. or eloquence personified, is his con- sort. In the practice of the Hindu r ligion to- day Brahniii plays almost no part. Vishnu and Siva have supplanted this too abstract god. But in the reform sjiiritual movement of the Brahino- Somaj (q.v.), God is worshiped under the form of the ideal and supreme Brahma, which com- prises the three manifestations of Brahma, Vish- nu, and Siva. Consult H. W. Griswold. Brah- man (New York, 1001, Macmillan). See India; Trimvrti; Siva; Vishnu. BRAHMAGXJPTA, brii'magoop'ta (born in 598). One of the most prominent Hindu mathe- maticians and astronomers. He wrote (U28) the Brahma-sphuta-siddhanta (the Improved Sys- tem of Brahma ) , of which chapters xii. and xviii. are on mathematics. Two other works by him are known, at least by title. Brahmagupta's mathe- matical chapters have been translated into Eng- lish by Colebrooke (London, 1817). BRAHMANA (brah'mii-na) The. Second of the three grand divisions of Vedic literature, con- sisting of writings relating to prayer (brdtunaii) and sacrifice. These works, belonging to a much later period than the hymns, when the language had become obscure, represent the views of va- rious teachers in regard to the interpretation of the text, the ritual, dogma, and the relation of the hymns to the sacrifice. In addition, a mass of legends, mythology-, and speculations on philosophy and etymology produce a strange con- glomerate, containing much that is absurd, but also much of value for the study of language and civilization. Attached to the Brahmana are two other classes of writings: the Atanyak'n.i. con- taining instructions for the perfornuince of the sacrifice by wood-dwellers, and the Upanishads. Of the preserved Brahmana, the most important are the Aitarei/a Brahmana, attached to the Rigveda; the Chandogija Brahmana, with the Chandogya Upanishad, belonging to the /S'«)h- avcda ; and the (Jatapatha Brahmana, belonging to the White Yajiirrrda. BRAHMANASPATI, bra'ma-nas'pft-t*. See Briiiasi'Ati. BRAHMANISM, bra'mon-Iz'm. As a reli- gious term. Brahinanism is a comprehensive name usually employed to specify the system of relig- ious institutions originated and elaborated by the Brahmiins, who are and have liecn from an early period the sacerdotal and dominant caste among the Hindus. The earliest phases of relig- ious thought in India of which a clear notion can now be formed are exhibited in a body of writ- ings which long ago came to >e regarded as sacred, known under the collective name of Vcrf", 'knowl- edge,' or ^ruti. 'revelation.' The Hindu .scriptures consist of four separate collections of sacred
