What do the Upanishads mean by Brahman and Atman?
Is the self inside you a part of ultimate reality, or is it identical with it? The Upanishads themselves give both answers, and later schools still argue.
▶ Start the storyIn the Upanishads, Atman is the self and Brahman the ultimate essence of the cosmos, and the texts postulate the two as the "summit of the hierarchically arranged and interconnected universe". The Upanishads are texts of the late Vedic and post-Vedic periods that document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and the emergence of central concepts of Hinduism. The word came to be understood as "sitting near a teacher": a student sitting down near the teacher while receiving spiritual knowledge.
Both words are slippery. Atman has a wide range of meanings, including breath, spirit and body. Brahman may mean a formulation of truth or the ultimate essence of the cosmos.
The big question is how they relate. Older Upanishads state that Atman is part of Brahman but not identical, while younger ones state that Brahman is identical with Atman. Shankara used four Upanishadic sentences, the Mahavakyas or Great Sayings, such as "Tat tvam asi" ("That Thou art"), to establish that identity.
Later schools of Vedanta are named for how they answer. Advaita sees no difference. Vishishtadvaita sees the individual soul as part of Brahman, similar but not identical. Dvaita sees souls and matter as eternal and separate entities.
Advaita
- No difference between atman and Brahman
Dvaita
- Souls and matter are eternal and mutually separate
- The self "enters into" Brahman, like a drop into an ocean
There are many Upanishads. 108 are known, and the first dozen or so, the principal ones, were for centuries memorised by each generation and passed down orally. Women such as Maitreyi and Gargi take part in the dialogues.
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Recap
Advaita says no difference, Vishishtadvaita says part-and-similar, Dvaita says separate.
💡 A trick to remember it · Drop and ocean: one school says the drop is the ocean, one says it is part of it, one says it only enters it.
Surprising fact · Older Upanishads say Atman is part of Brahman; younger ones say they are identical.
Sources (1)
No source, no claim. Every fact in this lesson (16 claims) cites at least one of these.