Atma and Paramatma

Many people, both in India and the West, are under the mistaken impression that the paramatma or Supreme Soul, and the jivatma or individual soul are the same, and that therefore Brahman and Parabrahman are one. Certainly, the atma is the part and parcel of Paramatma, the Supreme Lord, but does this really mean that atma and Paramatma are one? If the atma is part and parcel of Paramatma, then does this mean that the tiny subatomic atma and the great Paramatma are identical?

Some sectarian philosophers and religionists assert that the Bhagavad-gita is only a song of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and the Vedas are the pure knowledge of Parabrahman. Thus they attempt to draw an artificial distinction between the Vedas and Bhagavad-gita. Does the Esoteric Teaching follow the philosophy of the original Vedas, or are we following some other understanding found in Bhagavad-gita? Is there really any difference or contradiction between the Vedas and Bhagavad-gita? Bhagavad-gita says,

vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham

“By all the Vedas, I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.” [Bhagavad-gita 15.15]

The actual purpose of the Vedas and Vedanta is to help us understand Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the relationship of Bhagavad-gita with all other Vedic literature, especially Vedanta. If you cannot understand Kṛṣṇa by your study of Vedas and Vedanta, then it is srama, simply useless labor.

dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsāṁ
viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ
notpādayed yadi ratiṁ
śrama eva hi kevalam

“The occupational activities a man performs according to his own position are only so much useless labor if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the Personality of Godhead.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.8]

So if your hard work and study of Vedas and Vedanta or other scriptures, meditation, yoga and so forth do not lead you to understanding Kṛṣṇa, then it is certainly just useless labor, srama. Veda means knowledge, and anta means ultimate. Thus the ultimate conclusion of the Vedas is called Vedanta. The four original Vedas, Upanisads, Mahabharata and many other Vedic scriptures were compiled by Vyasadeva, who is also considered an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore there is no actual difference between the conclusions of the Vedas, Vedanta and Bhagavad-gita.

All the Vedic literatures agree that ultimate knowledge is to know God. You may not accept Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the Vedic literatures certainly do. All the great acaryas and Master Teachers in India, like Ramanujacarya and Madhvacarya, accept Kṛṣṇa. Even Sankaracarya accepted Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead: sa bhagavan svayam Kṛṣṇa [Gita-bhasya, Introduction].

So all the great Master Teachers have accepted Kṛṣṇa as the ultimate aim of the Vedic Esoteric Teaching. Many acaryas have written commentaries on Vedanta-sutra that accept Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So we have to follow the footprints of the great stalwart acaryas.

ācāryopāsanaṁ

“One should approach a bona fide spiritual Master Teacher (acarya).” [Bhagavad-gita 13.8]

tarko ’pratiṣṭhaḥ śrutayo vibhinnā
nāsāv ṛṣir yasya mataṁ na bhinnam
dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ
mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ

“Dry arguments are inconclusive. A great personality whose opinion does not differ from others is not considered a great sage. Simply by studying the Vedas, which are variegated, one cannot come to the right path by which religious principles are understood. The solid truth of religious principles is hidden in the heart of an unadulterated self-realized person. Consequently, as the Vedic sastras confirm, one should accept whatever progressive path the mahajanas advocate.” [Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 17.186].

If we follow the footprints of the acaryas, Master Teachers, great souls or mahajanas, then we find there is no distinction between the philosophy of Vedanta-sutra and Bhagavad-gita. When most people speak of Vedanta, they are referring to the Vedanta-sutra commentary of Sankaracarya, the Sariraka-bhasya. But Sankara’s impersonalist commentary is a comparatively recent invention; by the time Sankara wrote Sariraka-bhasya, all the great acaryas had already written commentaries on Vedanta-sutra, and they all disagree with Sankara’s impersonal interpretation.

Actually, Srimad-Bhagavatam is the original commentary on Vedanta, written over 5,000 years ago by Srila Vyasadeva, the author of Vedanta-sutra. If anyone can understand the real meaning of Vedanta-sutra, it would be Vyasadeva, the original author. And he asserts throughout Srimad-Bhagavatam that Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead. Srimad-Bhagavatam begins with a quote from Vedanta-sutra: janmady asya yatah [Vedanta-sutra 1.1.2], and goes on to glorify the exalted position and qualities of Sri Kṛṣṇa.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
janmādy asya yato ’nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ
tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ
tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ’mṛṣā
dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi

“O my Lord, Sri Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmaji, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.1]

Vedanta does not mean impersonal godlessness. Vedanta means to know God, Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, bhakti-yoga or the Esoteric Teaching is the real study of Vedanta. This is the conclusion of all the Vedic scriptures and Master Teachers, from the original author of the Vedas and Vedanta, down through history to the present day.

So, what is the difference between Paramatma and jivatma? It is not very difficult to understand. Just like a grown man is a father with a number of children at home. Because they are his children, their ingredients and qualities are the same or very similar to his; but still, the father is in a superior position, and the children are dependent. The children are not qualitatively different from the father, but still, the father is superior or senior, and the children are inferior or junior. The father and his children are qualitatively one, but quantitatively different.

Similarly the jivatma, or individual soul, and Paramatma the Supreme Soul are quantitatively different, but qualitatively similar: jivatma is spirit, and Paramatma is spirit. But the jivatma is a tiny subatomic particle of spirit, and the Paramatma is the unlimited, infinite Spirit. This philosophy is called acintya-bhedabheda-tattva, or inconceivable, simultaneous oneness and difference. It requires transcendental logic to understand; ordinary two-valued Western Aristotelian materialistic logic can never accommodate the actual transcendental situation. We will examine this point in detail in later posts in this series.

Jivatma and Paramatma are one in quality, but different in quantity. We have some creative power, and God has creative power. Therefore we are qualitatively one with God. We can create some tiny satellites and launch them into orbit around the earth. But the Paramatma has created millions of gigantic planets and stars floating in unlimited space. So we have got some very tiny quantity of creative power, but we cannot create like Paramatma. That is the difference.

The question is really very simple, and the answer is also very simple. Paramatma is very great; you are very small. Certainly, the jivatma is part and parcel of the Paramatma. But Paramatma is a different individual person from the atma, and also vastly superior both in quantity and position.

Because we are similar to Paramatma in quality, we have some independent will. Paramatma has supreme independence, complete and unlimited independence. We are completely dependent on Paramatma, but have a little independence also. But when we misuse that little independence, both individually and collectively, to go against the purposes of Paramatma, we create havoc.

mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
prakṛti-sthāni karṣati

“The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. But due to materially conditioned consciousness, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.” [Bhagavad-gita 15.7]

Paramatma is certainly responsible for the creation of both the jivatmas and this material world, but He is not responsible for our misuse of our tiny independence. Just like a father certainly creates his children; but if the child becomes a thief, does it mean the father is responsible?

puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi
bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān
kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo ’sya
sad-asad-yoni-janmasu

“The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil among various species.” [Bhagavad-gita 13.22].

You are independent. You can associate with different qualities of material nature, but then you have to accept the karma generated by your material activities. Thus your misuse of your minute independence leads to the suffering experienced by all living entities in the material world. Therefore Paramatma’s instruction is sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam: “Give up all different types of religion and just surrender to Me.” [Bhagavad-gita 18.66]. But you do not abide by that. You create your own independent path; therefore you suffer.

The father loves his son and gives him good advice: “My dear boy, do like this. You’ll be happy.” But the son does whatever he likes, and gets into trouble. Then who is responsible for the son’s travails, the father or the son? Our experienced advice is that if you work according to the simple, clear instructions of God in Bhagavad-gita and other Vedic scriptures, then you’ll be happy. That is the value proposition of the Esoteric Teaching.

Many people who hold the impersonalist view that the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the individual soul are identical, also say that there is no difference between service to human beings and service to Paramatma. But the Vedic scriptures do not agree with that philosophy.

yathā taror mūla-niṣecanena
tṛpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopaśākhāḥ
prāṇopahārāc ca yathendriyāṇāṁ
tathaiva sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā

“As pouring water on the root of a tree energizes the trunk, branches, twigs and everything else, and as supplying food to the stomach enlivens the senses and limbs of the body, simply worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service automatically satisfies the demigods, who are parts of that Supreme Personality.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.31.14]

If you water the leaves of a tree, it will gradually dry up; but if you put water on the root, the whole tree is nourished. You simply waste your time if you water the leaf, because you cannot make the tree flourish and produce fruit that way. If you water the leaf, you simply think that you are doing service, but you are doing nothing. But if you water the root, automatically the branches, twigs and leaves flourish, and everything becomes invigorated.

We may help a few individuals by serving one person at a time; but this is like pouring water on the leaves of the tree. The best service is to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the medium of transcendental sound vibration.

maharṣīṇāṁ bhṛgur ahaṁ
girām asmy ekam akṣaram
yajñānāṁ japa-yajño ’smi
sthāvarāṇāṁ himālayaḥ

“Of the great sages I am Bhrgu; of vibrations I am the transcendental om. Of sacrifices I am the chanting of the holy names [japa], and of immovable things I am the Himalayas.” [Bhagavad-gita 10.25]

Therefore the Esoteric Teaching recommends to chant the Holy Names of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as one’s principal form of yoga and spiritual service. That will be most effective in reviving our original ecstatic spiritual consciousness. Then once we are in the normal healthy state of spiritual consciousness, we can really help other people.

When we hold the relationship between jivatma and Paramatma in the proper context of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva, or simultaneously one and different, our conception is properly aligned with the actual reality. This transcendental ontological conception is the actual active ingredient in spiritual progress, and will help us to attain the perfection of yoga very quickly.

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