Brahman is the central metaphysical concept of the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, referring to the singular, undifferentiated, ultimate reality that is held to underlie and constitute all existence. The term derives from the Sanskrit root brh, meaning to grow or to be great. In Advaita Vedanta, as systematized by the 8th-century philosopher Adi Shankaracharya, Brahman is characterized as sat (pure being), chit (pure consciousness), and ananda (pure bliss) - a formulation rendered as saccidananda. Whether Brahman is best understood as strictly impersonal and attributeless (nirguna), as possessing qualities and admitting of a personal dimension (saguna), or as a reality that transcends the distinction entirely is a matter of ongoing philosophical and theological dispute across Hindu traditions. The definition and nature of Brahman are themselves contested; see brahman-nirguna-saguna-viewpoint-debate and brahman-nature-debate.

Within the academic study of Indian philosophy and within living Hindu traditions, Brahman remains an active site of interpretation rather than a settled doctrine. The Advaita position, associated with Shankaracharya's reading of the Brahmasutras, the principal Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita (the Prasthanatrayi), holds that Brahman is the sole reality and that the apparent plurality of the world - including the individual self (atman) - is the product of maya (cosmic illusion or superimposition). The identity of atman and Brahman, summarized in the mahavakya “tat tvam asi” (“that thou art”), is the pivotal claim of Advaita.

This position has been contested from within the Vedantic tradition itself. Ramanujacharya's Vishishtadvaita holds that individual souls and the material world are real but exist as modes within Brahman, which is a personal God (Ishvara). Madhvacharya's Dvaita Vedanta maintains a permanent distinction between the individual soul, the world, and Brahman as God. Later thinkers, including those in the Shakta and Kashmir Shaiva traditions, offer further alternative accounts of ultimate reality that partially overlap with but are not reducible to the Advaita framework.

Contemporary philosophy of religion and comparative philosophy engage Brahman in relation to questions of pantheism, panentheism, and absolute idealism. Scholars debate the degree to which Shankaracharya's Advaita is a form of idealism, whether maya constitutes a genuine ontological commitment or a heuristic device, and how the concept relates to Western metaphysical categories. These debates are active in peer-reviewed scholarship and have no settled resolution.

The relationship between Brahman and religious practice is itself disputed. Because nirguna Brahman admits of no attributes, it cannot straightforwardly be the object of worship or devotion. Advaita accommodates this by treating saguna Brahman - Brahman as Ishvara, endowed with qualities - as a pedagogically useful but ultimately provisional framing. Critics from within and outside the tradition contest whether this move is philosophically coherent.

- Advaita (Non-dual) Viewpoint: Brahman is the sole, undifferentiated reality; atman and Brahman are identical; apparent multiplicity is the result of maya. The goal of inquiry (jnana) is the recognition of this identity. brahman-advaita-viewpoint

- Vishishtadvaita (Qualified Non-dual) Viewpoint: Brahman is the supreme personal God (Ishvara) of whom individual souls and matter are real, inseparable modes. Difference and identity are both genuine features of reality. brahman-vishishtadvaita-viewpoint

- Dvaita (Dualist) Viewpoint: Brahman as God is eternally and fundamentally distinct from individual souls and the material world. The Advaita identification of atman with Brahman is a philosophical error. brahman-dvaita-viewpoint

- Kashmir Shaiva Viewpoint: Ultimate reality is Shiva, understood as dynamic, self-manifesting consciousness; this overlaps with but is distinct from the Advaita account of Brahman, which is criticized for treating maya as an unexplained primitive. brahman-kashmir-shaiva-viewpoint

- Naturalist / Non-cognitivist Viewpoint: Philosophical naturalists and some analytic philosophers of religion hold that the concept of Brahman is either incoherent, unfalsifiable, or fails to refer to any actual feature of reality; the language of Brahman is interpreted as expressing cultural, psychological, or ethical orientations rather than metaphysical truths. brahman-naturalist-viewpoint

- The Maya Problem: Critics within the Vedantic tradition and in contemporary analytic philosophy argue that Shankaracharya's account of maya generates a dilemma - if maya is real, Advaita monism fails; if it is unreal, its explanatory function collapses - a dispute with a long documented record of named disputants and formal responses. brahman-maya-dilemma-controversy

- Shankaracharya's Crypto-Buddhism Charge: Ramanuja and Madhva independently charged that Shankaracharya's Advaita is effectively a form of Buddhism in Vedantic clothing, making the Upanishads superfluous; Advaitins have contested this characterization for centuries. brahman-crypto-buddhism-controversy

- brahman-history - brahman-nirguna-saguna-viewpoint-debate - brahman-nature-debate - brahman-maya-dilemma-controversy - brahman-crypto-buddhism-controversy - brahman-advaita-viewpoint - brahman-vishishtadvaita-viewpoint - brahman-dvaita-viewpoint - brahman-kashmir-shaiva-viewpoint - brahman-naturalist-viewpoint - atman - maya - Advaita Vedanta - Upanishads

1. Adi Shankaracharya, Brahmasutra-Bhashya, trans. Swami Gambhirananda (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1965). 2. Eliot Deutsch, Advaita Vedanta: A Philosophical Reconstruction (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1969). 3. Karl H. Potter, ed., Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Vol. III: Advaita Vedanta up to Samkara and His Pupils (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1981). 4. Ramanujacharya, Sri Bhashya, trans. George Thibaut, in Sacred Books of the East, vol. 48 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1904). 5. B. N. K. Sharma, A History of the Dvaita School of Vedanta and Its Literature, 3rd ed. (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2000). 6. Paul Deussen, The System of the Vedanta (Chicago: Open Court, 1912). 7. Alexis Sanderson, “Saivism and the Tantric Traditions,” in The World's Religions, ed. Stewart Sutherland et al. (London: Routledge, 1988), 660-704.