Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism

41 Brahmä Kumäris

Bodhäyana

Author of a (lost) gloss on the Brahma-

sütras.

body

Hinduism has an ambivalent attitude

towards the body. On the one hand

there is a sharp dichotomy between

body and spirit and most Hindu systems

insist onviveka(discernment) through

which a person learns to identify with

the spirit and to consider the body as

‘non-self’. On the other hand, the body

is valued as a vehicle of salvation: all

acts necessary to obtain liberation

require a well-functioning body. Many

systems of YOGAaim at maintaining or

restoring bodily health. In TANTRA(2)

the body acquires even greater impor-

tance as the seat of ÿakti and as an

indispensable instrument for realizing

BHUKTI and mukti([spiritual] LIBERA-

TION) together.

According to Hindu psychology and

physiology the human being has three

components: the gross body (sthüla

ÿarïra); the subtle body (sük•ma ÿarïra);

and the spirit–soul (ätman). While the

gross body decays at death, the subtle

body (roughly equivalent to what is

today called the ‘psyche’), in which the

person’s KARMAis stored, lives on and is

in due time reincarnated in a new

(gross) body. This cycle of death and

reincarnation continues as long as the

subtle body exists, united with the

undecaying and unchanging ätman.

Hindu strategies of liberation are aimed

at annihilating the subtle body, neutral-

izing the force of karmaand freeing the

ätmanfrom its bondage to the (gross

and subtle) body. (See also NÄ¥I.)

bondage (bandha)

Hindus believe that due to the influence

of immemorial KARMA(2) every human

being is born in (spiritual) bondage and

that every effort must be undertaken to

achieve LIBERATION. Bondage is caused

by AVIDYÄ(ignorance, lack of wisdom).

It consists of the triad of moha–lobha–

krodha (delusion–greed–anger) which

causes people to commit acts that bind

them into the cycle of rebirths. More

specifically, each Hindu school of

thought defines the causes of bondage

in correlation to the view of the nature

of liberation. Thus SÄßKHYAconsiders

the spirit’s infatuation with nature as

the cause of its bondage; Advaitins iden-

tify avidyä with the habitual perceiving

of plurality; RÄMÄNUJA teaches that

‘forgetfulness’ (of one’s true nature as a

child of God) is the root of human

bondage. All systems also teach means

and practices to become free. (See also

LIBERATION; REBIRTH.)

Brahmä

In Hindu mythology the creator of the

universe; the first member of the tri-

mürti (consisting of Brahmä, Vi•æu and

Ÿiva). He is represented as four-faced.

Originally he had five heads; the loss of

the fifth head is explained variously by

different myths. In iconography he is

represented with four arms, holding a

sceptre, a ladle, a string of beads and the

book of the Veda. His consort is

SARASVATÏ, the goddess of learning. His

vehicle (VAHANA) is a swan. There are

only a few Brahmä temples left in India,

the most famous in Puskär (Gujarat).

The BRAHMÄPURÄŒAcontains a large

amount of mythology concerning

Brahmä.

Brahmä Kumäris (‘Daughters of

Brahmä’)

A religious order of celibate women,

founded in 1937 by a Sindhi business-

man, Dada Lekhraj (1876–1969). Their

headquarters are on Mount Abu; they

have centres in all major Indian cities

and in some cities outside India. They

claim a following of over 100,000

worldwide and are active in YOGAedu-

cation. Dada Lekhraj had visions of

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