God Is The Supreme Soul - Understanding the Paramātmā
Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that true self-realization requires understanding not only our own identity as spirit souls but also our relationship with the Supreme Spirit. The Vedic literatures clarify that we are never alone in the material body; the Supreme Personality of Godhead always accompanies us as the Paramātmā, the Supreme Soul.
The Two Birds in the Tree
To explain the relationship between the individual soul and the Supreme Soul, the Upaniṣads provide a profound analogy. Śrīla Prabhupāda frequently uses this example to illustrate the dynamic taking place within every living body.
- The God, He is also with me always as friend. So it is said in the Upanisad, there are two birds in one tree. The two birds means I, individual soul, and God, the Supreme Soul.
- The individual soul and the Supreme Soul live together within the body. This is confirmed in the Upanisads by the analogy that two friendly birds live in one tree - one bird eating the fruit of the tree and the other simply witnessing and directing.
- Both the Supreme Soul and the jiva soul are sitting in the same body, as confirmed in the Upanisads. They are sitting as friends, but one is suffering, and the other is aloof from suffering.
- Although the individual living being, who is compared to the bird that is eating, is sitting with his friend the Supreme Soul, the individual living being cannot see Him.
Qualitative Oneness and Quantitative Difference
While both birds in the tree are spiritual, they are not equal in power or position. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that while we share the same spiritual quality as the Supreme Soul, our minute quantity makes us susceptible to material illusion.
- Self-realization does not mean that because the Supreme Soul and the individual soul are both souls they are equal in every respect. The individual soul is prone to be conditioned, and the Supreme Soul is never conditioned.
- Every living being is limited by time and space. Even though a living being is qualitatively one with the Lord, quantitatively there is a great difference between the Supreme Soul and the common individual soul.
- The Lord is not part of the soul - He is the unchangeable Supreme Soul, and the living entities are His parts and parcels.
- He is avikaram, changeless. He is always the same Supreme, but unfortunately the Mayavadi philosophers, because of their impure hearts, cannot understand that the Supreme Soul, the Supersoul, is different from the individual soul.
The Supreme Director and Witness
The individual soul desires, but it is the Supreme Soul who fulfills those desires and directs the wandering of all living entities. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that without the sanction of the Paramātmā, we cannot act.
- The seer and controller is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Soul, by whose direction the individual soul can understand when he is awake, when he is sleeping, and when he is completely in trance.
- Without the sanction of the Supreme Soul, the individual soul cannot do anything. The individual is bhukta, or the sustained, and the Lord is bhokta, or the maintainer.
- The conditioned soul has desires, and the Supreme Soul fulfills them, but the conditioned soul is unable to see the Supreme Soul. Thus Prajapati Daksa offers his obeisances to the Supreme Soul, the Supersoul, even though unable to see Him.
- Krsna says, "I am also the knower, but I am not the individual owner of the body. I am the superknower. I am present in every body as the Paramatma, or Supersoul."
Awakening the Eternal Relationship
The goal of human life is to wake up from the illusion of trying to enjoy the fruits of the material tree independently. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that true liberation is achieved when the minute soul turns its attention toward its eternal friend, the Supreme Soul.
- The same is stated here (Jiva jaga, jiva jaga). It is the prime business of human beings to connect again with the Supreme Soul.
- When the conditioned soul realizes that he is subordinate to the Supreme Soul, his position is called labdhatma, self-realization, or mukta-bandhana, freedom from material contamination.
- Realizing himself to be part and parcel of the Supreme Soul, the devotee discharges his devotional service and is completely aloof from material action and reaction.
- When one understands that the soul is part and parcel of the supreme soul and one thus engages in the devotional service of the supreme soul, one becomes siddha-sat-tama. One is then eligible to live in the Vaikuntha planets or Krsnaloka.
Conclusion
A foolish person may think they are the sole owner and director of their body, but the Vedic wisdom reveals a different reality. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the material body is merely a temporary machine, and within it reside two distinct identities: the infinitesimal individual soul and the infinite Supreme Soul (Paramātmā). The Māyāvādī philosophy, which attempts to erase the distinction between these two souls, is a product of material illusion. The Supreme Soul is the unchangeable, all-pervading witness and director who mercifully accompanies the wandering living entity life after life. True self-realization does not mean falsely claiming to be God; it means understanding our eternal, constitutional position as the subordinate, loving servitor of the Supreme Soul. When the conditioned soul stops trying to independently enjoy the bitter fruits of the material tree and instead turns to please its eternal friend within the heart, it immediately achieves liberation and genuine peace.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category God Is The Supreme Soul. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.