________________
Paramatna Prakash Commentary
(I. 62). Atman and Karman have not created each other, but they are there already united from beginningless time (I. 59). It is this Karman that brings about the various conditions like bondage, etc., for the soul; and it is Karman that fashions body and other accessories of the spirit (I. 60, 63, -etc.). There are eight kinds of Karmas that obscure the nature of and mislead the spirit (I. 61, 78). The stains of Karman are burnt by the fire of meditation (I. 1,3).
The Spirit and Super-Spirit: The Atman himself is Paramatman, but he remains as Atman because of special Karmas; as soon as Atman is realized by himself, he is Paramatman, the divinity (II. 174). In view of their essential nature the ego and the Paramatman are the same (I. 26, II. 175, etc.). Though Paramatman lives in body, he will never be one with the body (I. 36). When Atman becomes free from Karman, which is of eight kinds, he develops infinite happiness which is not obtained by Indra even in the company of crores of nymphs (I. 61, 118).
Atman and Brahman in Upanishads: Atman, which indicated breath in early Vedic literature, implies in the Upanishads a Universal soul of which the individual soul is merely a miniature. Then follows the conception of unitary Atman which is the source of everything else. Atman is as much a cosmic principle as the Brahman both of which are used as synonyms in many passages, Atman is conceived as the Reality, everything besides being an illusion only. At times the actual agency etc. are attributed to Bhutatman who under the influence of Prakrti becomes manifold. As a lump of iron, when buried in the bosom of carth, is reduced to earth, so the individual Atman is merged into Brahman. It is through delusion that the human self, the self within us, considers itself as an individual; but in fact it is identical with Brahman, the impersonal absolute. There is neither the duality nor the plurality of the self, but every personal self and impersonal
