JEEVATMA & PARAMATMA

In the Upanishads it is explained that there are two types of souls which are technically known as Jiva-Atma and Param-Atma.

Jiva-atma, or the individual soul, is the living entity and Param-Atma refers to the Supreme Lord who expands Himself as the Supersoul, who enters into the hearts of all living entities as well as all atoms.

This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-Gita [13.23] where it is stated that besides the living entity, who tries to enjoy in his physical body, there is another, a transcendental enjoyer who is the Lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and guide, and who is known as the Supersoul.

Because Monist Philosophers and Impersonalists take the Soul and Supersoul to be One, they think that there is no difference between the Supersoul and the Individual Soul.

To clarify this the Lord says that He is the representation of Param-Atma in every body. He is different from the Individual soul; He is Parah, Transcendental.

Below is the explanation from Yoga Principles

• PARAMATMA:- is the Supreme Principle, whatever we call it: God, Supreme Self, Divine Self, Love, Truth or Reality.
• ATMA:- may be described as God’s ray of light, which exists as the “light of life” in every living being. It is part of PARAMĀTMĀ and is therefore identical in nature with it. Just as the seed of a tree contains all the qualities of the tree, the Ātmā also carries the qualities of the Supreme Self.
• JIVATMA:- the individual soul, is the reflection of the Ātmā within an individual; a “wave” that emerges from the ocean of existence and wanders from embodiment to embodiment, and after a long process of development and experience again returns to the unity of the Ātmā. The soul that has manifested itself in a form, however, does not identify with its divine essence but rather with its attributes, the physical body, the mind, the thoughts, etc. The aim of the path of Yoga is to dispel this illusion.