One well-wisher who read my post on Brahma pointed out that I made a mistake by equating Brahma with Brhman (pronounced ‘BraahmaN’).

I did not equate the two, but rather stated that the word Brahma inspired the word BraahmaN. The latter term came to stand for “the one who knew about Brahma.” The term ‘Brahma’ or ‘Brahman’ (pronounced ‘brahman’) in this context referred to the refined theological / metaphysical and esoteric concept of Brahma, the cosmic power that created the universe as well as the supreme power that pervades the universe. As a result, the word ‘brahma’ came to mean large and gigantic (‘bruhat’). Words like Brahmanda (literally “the gigantic egg” =universe), brahma-rakshsha, brahma-ratha, naga-brahma, and so on became common.

My goal in reconstructing the original legend and expanding on the concept of Brahma is to understand the historical and sociological evolution of our religious beliefs. I’m not going to go into detail about the theological aspects that are fairly well known because they’ve already been covered extensively by others.

Abraham, a historical hero and mass leader who claimed to be the creator of tribes, became a legend both during his lifetime and after his death. He is mentioned in the Bible and is revered by Jews as a leader and by Muslims as a prophet (Ibrahim). The Vedic scholars acknowledged him as the ultimate cosmic power and the creator. The Abraham/Brahma legend spread throughout the connected geographical region of West Asia-Asia Minor-and Central Asia.

Despite the fact that both communities shared many common concepts and beliefs, the Vedic people and contemporaneous Jews had a deep rivalry. Whatever words began with the letter A were used by Jews, the Vedics used without the initial A. (It could also be the other way around.) As a result, Ahura or Asura for Jews became Sura for Vedics. (Recall the Puranic legends about the Sura-Asura wars.) Veda evolved from Avesta. Abraham was renamed Brahma, and so on.

Some more thoughts on the word ‘braahmaN’: The word is made up of the words ‘brahma + aN.’ The word ‘aaN’ is a Tulu word that means “male.” In Tulu, AaN+ jovu (literally’male being’) refers to man. Surprisingly, the word ‘jovu,’ which is now used in Brahmin Tulu to refer to a girl child, is related to the Sanskrit word ‘jeeva.’

The word ‘aaN’ appears to have been borrowed into early Sanskrit from Tulu, as have some of the other words discussed in previous postings. As a result, the term braahmaN originally referred to a young male who studied scriptures pertaining to the knowledge of Brahma, the cosmic power. Prof Michael Witzel may be able to shed more light on the status of the suffix/word ‘aaN’ in Brahman, as well as the conversion of ‘jovu’ to ‘jeeva’ or vice versa.

Overall, these discussions support my theory that at least some Tulu ancestors lived in the Pirak civilised habitation in Sind, Baluchistan, during the early historical period when the Vedas were composed. Tulu ancestors who migrated brought Brahma worship in the form of ‘Bermer(u)’ to Tulunad, their subsequent homeland.

Tulu Bermer (Brahma) resembled the original form of Abraham, the horse-riding hero. In some ways, these Tulu ancestors were following the ancient cult of hero worship, which evolved into spirit worship after Abraham’s death. The cults of hero worship (for example, Koti-Chennaya, Kanthabare-Boodabare, etc.) and spirit worship (for example, Panjurli, Kalurti, Kodamanthaya, etc.) have persisted in Tulu culture to this day.

On second thought, it appears that the cult of Brahma worship was more widespread in India prior to the ascension and dominance of Shaivism. Migrating other Dravidian ancestors, such as Kannada and Tamil, carried the Brahma cult to different parts of southern India, as evidenced by relics of Brahma temples and Brahma name tags such as Brahmaiah, Bommaya, Brahmasandra, and so on. Many aspects of the Brahma cult were absorbed by Jainism.

As a result, the legend of Brahma bears witness to the evolution and transition of our theological faiths from primitive hero/spirit worship to the concept of abstract cosmic powers at higher philosophic metaphysical levels on the one hand and Hindu Gods in human forms on the other.