Logo

Can you explain the difference between God and atma according to the Bhagavad-Gita?

Last Updated: 26.06.2025 06:13

Can you explain the difference between God and atma according to the Bhagavad-Gita?

Bhāti = illumination - consciousness

Advaita Vedānta - (Non-duality) God (Paramātma) and the individual Self (jīvātma) are one and the same = identical.

Asti = being

Everyone says the pet population is out of control. Everyone says you MUST spay or neuter your pets. No one wants to talk about how its almost $1,000 to spay or neuter a pet. Why is it so expensive if its so necessary? Animal shelters do it for free.

Visiṣṭhādvaita Vedānta - (Qualified non-duality) They are one but ontologically distinct, like a flower and its smell or like a picture and its pixels.

Krishna sums the relationship up in two verses:-

Priyam = Love.

What is something brutally honest that needs to be said?

Dvaita Vedānta - (Duality) God and the individual Self are absolutely distinct and separate.

So these verses affirm the identity of God and the Individual Self and there are three views according to the three major schools of Vedānta.

One may ask which of these three views is correct - well each school argues its case in depth and prolixity. The summary and take away information is that Param-ātma and jīvātma are intimately and inseparably related to each other and share three qualities:-

What is it like to have an insanely beautiful girlfriend?