| Subject: | Anthropology \ History |
| Title: | Early Sanskritization and the Emergence of Brahmā: Indo-Gangetic and Videha Contexts of Brahmanical Textual Production |
| Author(s): | Om Pathak |
| Published on: | 30th April 2026 |
| Published by: | Lyceum India |
| Name of the Journal: | Lyceum India Journal of Social Sciences |
| ISSN/E-ISSN: | 3048-6513 |
| Volume & Issue: | Volume: 3, Issue: 5 |
| Pages: | 77-86 |
| Original DOI (if any): | 10.5281/zenodo.19690115 |
| Repository DOI: | |
| Abstract: | The essay will explore the evolution of Brahmā based on two key temporal factors: first, the period of emergence; second, the locations where both Brahma and Brahminism emerged in Indo-Ganges (Kuru-Pānchāla) and Videha. The influence of Brahmanical text creation and developing cosmological conceptions will also be examined. The study argues that the process of Sanskritization was not just a linguistic expansion; it was rather a social stratification and the means of establishing social hierarchy and other cultural constructs through the creation and distribution of ritual authority. Further, it discusses the role played by the Kuru state in establishing a unified system of Vedic ritual and its contribution to the creation of Brahmana literature, providing a historical context for what we know today as Brahma and how sacrificial cosmology, along with the deities such as Prajapati emerged. Lastly, will discuss how Videha developed and evolved as a site of philosophical creativity, where rituals were interpreted and internalised, leading to the development of Brahman as an abstracted form of a non-personal metaphysical principle, thereby bringing forward the concept of Brahma. |
| Keywords: | Early Sanskritization, Brahmanical Tradition, Brahmā, Brahman, Videha, Kuru Polity, Prajāpati, Sacrificial Cosmology, Vedic Religion |
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