Precisely Uddhava ... and why the confusion with Krishna, the Gita Inventor (except that they had all been having visions of what they thought was Krishna)?
mbbhat wrote:Brahma = big (unlimited) ma (mother). So Prajapita Brahma is both CORPOREAL Father and mother of humanity.
I have never heard this etymology and cannot find reference to it anywhere. Is it just one of those made up Hindi ditties so beloved of BKs?
Brahma (ब्रह्म), masculine, arises from the Sanskrit root 'brha' meaning 'growth, development, expansion, swelling' etc.
Sightly more interesting is "Brahmānda" (ब्रह्माण्ड), or Brahmand, which arises from stems brha (to expand) + anda (egg), means universe as an expansion of a cosmic egg (Hiranyagarbha), or the macrocosm.
Hiranyagarbha is also a name of Brahma, so called because he was born from a golden egg and in tantra, the Shri Yantra represents the expansion of the universe from the cosmic egg after its creation, the cosmic egg is represented by a dot in the center of the Shri Yantra mandala and called the bindu. The expansion of the universe coming about by Shiva through the power of Shakti.
I think one can see where the roots of BK Gyan are coming from ... a confusion of all these previously existing Hindu concepts ... but not just "what did Lekhraj Kirpalani think of when he called himself Prajapati Brahma?" but "how did the name come about?" was it from the spirits through one of the other mediums?
Hindus believe that Brahma and Vishnu were touring the Universe one day and found a pillar of light which extended farther than they could perceive in two directions. They were curious and decided to split up to see if one of them could find an end. Vishnu went in one direction and Brahma the other, After some time, they returned to their staring place.
Vishnu said that he was unable to find the beginning, no matter how far he traveled.
Brahma said that he found a beginning. He lied.
Thereupon, the Pillar of light immediately changed into a form of Shiva who called Brahma a liar and sentenced him to be little observed in the divine ceremonies. This is why you will not find many pujas to Brahma.