Sri Aurobindo

The Hour of God

and other writings

III. On Yoga

Purna Yoga [3]

God or Parapurusha is Parabrahman unmanifest and inexpressible turned towards a certain kind of manifestation or expression, of which the two eternal terms are Atman and Jagati, Self and Universe. Atman becomes in self-symbol all existences in the universe; so too, the universe when known, resolves all its symbols into Atman. God being Parabrahman is Himself Absolute, neither Atman nor Maya nor un-Atman, neither Being nor not-being, (sat, asat), neither Becoming nor non-Becoming (sambhūti, asambhūti), neither Quality nor non-Quality (saguna, nirguna); neither Consciousness nor non-Consciousness (caitanya, jada); neither Soul nor Nature (purusa, prakrti), neither Bliss nor non-Bliss; neither man, nor god nor animal; He is beyond all these things, He maintains and contains all these things in Himself as world; He is and becomes all these things.

The only difference between Parabrahman and Parapurusha is that we think of the first as something beyond our universe- existence, expressed here indeed, but still inexpressible, and of

the second as something approaching our universe-existence, inexpressible indeed, but still here expressed. It is as if, in reading a translation of the Ramayana or Homer's Iliad, we were to look at the unapproachable something no translator can seize and say "This is not the Ramayana", "This is not the Iliad" and yet, looking at the comparative adequacy of the expressions which do succeed in catching something of the original spirit and intention, wert the same time to say "This is Valmikie", "This is Homer". There is no other difference except this of standpoint. The Upanishads speak of the Absolute Parabrahman as Tat; they say Sa when they speak of the Absolute Parapurusha.