Can you explain the difference between God and atma according to the Bhagavad-Gita?
Last Updated: 22.06.2025 09:47
Visiṣṭhādvaita Vedānta - (Qualified non-duality) They are one but ontologically distinct, like a flower and its smell or like a picture and its pixels.
Asti = being
Dvaita Vedānta - (Duality) God and the individual Self are absolutely distinct and separate.
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Bhāti = illumination - consciousness
Advaita Vedānta - (Non-duality) God (Paramātma) and the individual Self (jīvātma) are one and the same = identical.
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:-
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Priyam = Love.
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.
Krishna sums the relationship up in two verses:-