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

Last Updated: 02.07.2025 00:28

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

Priyam = Love.

Bhāti = illumination - consciousness

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

Wout van Aert rode harder than ever on the Finestre to help deliver Simon Yates to Giro d’Italia victory - Cycling Weekly

Asti = being

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

Krishna sums the relationship up in two verses:-

Bill Oram: Seriously, who is going to beat the Beavers? - OregonLive.com

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:-

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.

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

If you are a programmer using an AI LLM to help you code, are you finding it speeding you up or slowing you down? What impact has it had on your programming?

Read also: