Dear Thomas,

You can check the article about Sahampati in Buddhist Dictionary of Pali Proper Names:
http://www.metta.lk/pali-utils/Pali-Proper-Names/sahampati.htm
I am not aware of the name "Sahampati" to be found in the Hindu texts - as far as I know in Hinduism there is one Brahmaa for a period of 36000 kalpas. I think that "Sahampati"could be interpreted as "mighty or enduring lord"(Saha-pati) or perhaps "lord of the enduring" (Saha.m-pati)  if we take the adjective as substantive in neuter inferring tatta (Skt. tattva, n) - "that-ness" or "real nature" in Hindu philosophy, but this doesn't harmonize with Buddhist worldview. As is noted in the article above Buddhists derive "Sahampati" from the name of the monk Sahaka lived in the time of Kassapa Buddha.
Also it could be associated with Sahaa which in the later Mahaayaana cosmology is the name of our particular universe (thus Sahampati meaning something like "lord of this world"), but it would be difficult to agree it grammatically, not to speak that this is a later concept not found in the Pali cannon.

With metta,
Ardavarz

--- On Mon, 2/8/10, thomaslaw03 <thomaslaw03@...> wrote:

From: thomaslaw03 <thomaslaw03@...>
Subject: [Pali] Brahmaa Sahampati
To: Pali@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, February 8, 2010, 1:51 AM







 









Dear Pali friends,



I have some questions regarding Brahmaa Sahampati. Hope you can help?



Does the term, Sahampati, have any meaning? Is it just a individual name? Is this term Sahampati also found in the early Hindu texts? Is this term entirely a Buddhist word created by the early Buddhists?



Thank you very much.



Sincerely,



Thomas Law

























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