God Is The Paramātmā - The Supersoul in Everyone's Heart
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that God is not merely a distant creator who set the universe in motion and walked away. Rather, the Supreme Personality of Godhead accompanies every single living entity throughout their journey in the material world. This localized, all-pervading feature of the Lord, situated in the core of everyone's heart and within every atom, is known as the Paramātmā, or Supersoul.
The Three Features of the Absolute Truth
To understand the nature of God fully, one must grasp how He reveals Himself to different classes of transcendentalists. Śrīla Prabhupāda constantly quotes the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to explain the three distinct phases of God realization.
- Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramatma or Bhagavan.
- The Bhagavatam has enunciated that the Absolute Truth is present in three features - in the beginning as the impersonal Brahman, in the next stage as the Paramatma in everyone's heart, at last, as the ultimate realization of the Absolute Truth, Bhagavan.
- Brahman is His transcendental bodily effulgence, and Paramatma is His partial representation. As such, Brahman or Paramatma realization of the Absolute Truth is but a partial realization.
- The Absolute Truth is ultimately understood as Bhagavan, partially understood as Paramatma and vaguely understood as the impersonal Brahman.
- When one comes to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead (vasudevah sarvam iti), when one realizes that Vasudeva is both Paramatma and the impersonal Brahman, he is then in perfect knowledge.
The Jīvātmā and the Paramātmā
It is a common philosophical error to confuse the individual soul (ātmā) with the Supersoul (Paramātmā). Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies the eternal distinction between the tiny, controlled living entity and the supreme, absolute controller.
- Part and parcel of God can be called God, but he is not Supreme God. Therefore there are two words in Vedic language: atma, Paramatma. Atma means living entities. We are all atmas. And God is Paramatma.
- The difference between atma and Paramatma is that the atma, or the soul, is present only in a particular body, whereas the Paramatma is present everywhere. In this connection, the example of the sun is very nice.
- There is a gulf of difference between the living entity (atma) and the controlling Lord (Paramatma), the soul and the Supersoul. Paramatma is the controller, and the atma is the controlled; therefore they are in different categories.
- It is mistaken idea that the Paramatma and the atma, jivatma, is the same. They are same in quality, but Paramatma is worshipable and jivatma is the worshiper.
- The Supersoul, or Paramatma, however, being present everywhere and within everyone, is also conscious of everyone's existence. The theory that the soul and the Supersoul are one is not acceptable because it is not confirmed by authoritative Vedic literature.
The Two Birds in the Tree
To illustrate the relationship between the soul and the Supersoul within the body, the Upaniṣads use the famous analogy of two birds sitting in a tree. Śrīla Prabhupāda uses this to explain how karma operates under the Lord's supervision.
- The living entity and the Supreme Person as Paramatma, both of them are sitting in this body. That is explained in the Upanisad as two birds are sitting in the same tree. One bird is eating, and one bird is witnessing.
- That is the Vedic statement, that there are two birds sitting on the same tree. One bird is enjoying the fruit of the tree, and the other bird is simply witnessing. So the two birds, jivatma and paramatma, are always associated.
- The jivatma is enjoying or suffering by eating the fruits of the bodily activities, but the Paramatma, who is free from such bondage, witnesses and sanctions the activities of the individual soul as the individual soul desires.
- In the Bhagavad-gita the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Paramatma is described as upadrasta (the overseer) and anumanta - the permitter.
- The individual living soul is subject to the laws of fruitive activity, but the Supersoul, Paramatma, is not affected by the fruitive activities of the individual soul.
The Supreme Director and Witness
Because the Paramātmā travels with the individual soul from body to body, He is the perfect witness to all our past deeds. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Lord uses this perfect knowledge to direct our material wanderings and award us exactly what we deserve.
- As stated in Bhagavad-gita, sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca: the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Paramatma, is situated in everyone's heart, and from Him come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.
- According to the living entity's desires, he is wandering from one body to another and from one planet to another, under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Paramatma.
- The Paramatma, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is living in everyone's heart as isvara, as the controller, and that He is giving directions for the living entity to act as he desires.
- He knows. I may forget my past activities due to the change of body, but because the Supreme Lord as Paramatma is sitting within me, He knows everything; therefore the result of my past karma, or past activities, is awarded to me.
- We may forget the misdeed for which we may suffer at this present moment, but we must remember that Paramatma is our constant companion, and therefore He knows everything, past, present and future.
The Internal Spiritual Master
While the Paramātmā sanctions material desires for the forgetful soul, His true desire is for the soul to return to the spiritual world. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that when a person shows a genuine desire for spiritual life, the Supersoul immediately acts as their internal guide.
- When the living entity falls down into the material world, the Supreme Lord, through His svamsa expansion (Paramatma), keeps company with the living entity. In this way the living entity may some day return home, back to Godhead.
- When a conditioned soul is seriously anxious to get out of the influence of the material clutches, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated within him as Paramatma, gives him this knowledge: Surrender unto Me.
- Paramatma (Vasudeva) is situated in everyone's heart, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gita. The Lord says: "To those who are constantly devoted and who worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me."
- When a devotee wants to serve the Supreme Lord, the Lord, as Paramatma, gives the devotee the intelligence to make progress in devotional service. The Lord directly witnesses our activities and experiences our desires.
- Within the heart of every living being the Lord Himself as the Supersoul (Paramatma) becomes the spiritual master, and from without He becomes the spiritual master in the shape of scriptures, saints and the initiator spiritual master.
Conclusion
A proper understanding of the Paramātmā completely dispels the illusion that we are independent operators in a mechanical universe. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, expanding as Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, is intimately present within every atom and within the heart of every single living entity. He is the ultimate proprietor of the bodily machine, acting as the infallible witness to our actions and the supreme permitter of our desires. While He neutraly sanctions the karmic wandering of those who wish to forget Him, His true compassion manifests when a soul turns toward spiritual life. At that moment, the Paramātmā acts as the caitya-guru, the internal spiritual master, providing the perfect intelligence and guidance necessary to transcend material existence. By understanding that this supreme friend is constantly present within the heart, a devotee naturally abandons all false designations and joyfully surrenders to His divine dictation.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category God Is The Paramatma. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.