The origin and meaning of the term brahman are shrouded in mystery. Using the verbal root √bṛh, Western Indological scholars derive such meanings as "sacred magical power" (Hermann Oldenberg), "form, formulation" (Paul Thieme), "priestly utterance," "energy that is expressed in paradoxical terms" (Louis Renou), and "the live connection that holds the cosmos together" (Jan Hesterman) The meanings of brahman in the ancient "heard texts" (śrutis) and later Indian philosophical systems are not unrelated to these meanings. For example, the Vedic understanding of the brahman survives in Bhartrhari's concept of the "śabda brahman." Likewise, the ideas of power, energy, and cosmic unity among opposites are taken up in the Vedāntic notion of the brahman as absolute reality. The notion of the brahman as the sacred power within a priest may have contributed to an identification of the brahman with the inner spirit (ātman). This transformation of a...