Nāda Brahman: A Philosophical Inquiry into Music as the Ultimate Reality

Abstract

This essay looks into the idea of Nāda Brahman from a philosophical point of view. Nāda Brahman is an old Indian theory that says sound (nāda) is the most important metaphysical principle (Brahman). This view goes beyond music as just an auditory experience and sees it as the foundation of life. It has its roots in the Vedas and Upanishads and was later developed in the Śaiva and Nāda Yoga traditions. By carefully reading original sources and commentaries that try to make sense of them, the study looks into how sound, especially unstruck sound (anāhata nāda), connects the real and the spiritual. It looks at how this sonic cosmos affects Indian art, spirituality, and the idea of what it means to be human. The paper uses ideas from ancient thinkers like Abhinavagupta and Ananda Coomaraswamy as well as modern scholars like Guy L. Beck and Kapila Vatsyayan to show how sound, awareness, and freedom (moksha) are all connected. In this way, it shows Nāda Brahman not only as a religious idea, but also as a real thing that people experience in the culture of Indian classical music and mysticism.