The Individual Consciousness and the Cosmic

Abstract

The enquiry into the nature of Ātman, and Brahman; and their relation to each other is one of the core concepts found in the Vedas and Upaniṣads. The word Brahman etymologically means the Great, the Supreme. In understanding the concept of Brahman we find difference among the Vedic concept of Brahman and the Upaniṣadic concept of Brahman. In the Vedas, Brahman is not understood from metaphysical point of view; while in the Upaniṣads Brahman is conceived as an Ultimate explanation of the world. But the Upaniṣadic view of Brahman cannot be said to be entirely a metaphysical concept as the unity of Brahman and Ātman is not a mystical experience, they means two different states of the same reality. The individual consciousness or Ātman is therefore said to be limited Brahman. The aim of this paper is to understand the relation between the individual consciousness or self and the whole cosmos as the one Ultimate reality in different forms and names. In this regard, I have also attempted to give a small introduction of “Brahmavidyā” or the knowledge of Brahman in order to interpret how the individual self can have the knowledge of its real nature (that is ‘So’hum’- I am already divine) by understanding Brahmavidyā.