Concepts
Record
Root
आत्मन्
āt-man
The formation is debated; often linked to an old root for breathing.
Literally: Self, as close as your breath.
Dimensions
What the usual translation loses
soul
"Soul" imports a separate, created thing. Ātman is the self you already are, not something you have.
How the meaning grew
- Veda
Breath, the life in a body.
- Everyday Sanskrit
Simply “oneself”, the reflexive pronoun.
- Upaniṣads
The innermost self, the witness that is not the body, senses or thoughts; described by negation, “not this, not this”.
- Advaita Vedānta
Ātman and brahman are one.
- Buddhism
anātman, the teaching that no fixed self can be found, argued against exactly this idea.
In the texts' own words
“This self is brahman”
Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad 2
“Not this, not this”
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.3.6
“Lift the self by the self”
Gītā 6.5
Word family
ātmaja · child, “born of oneself”mahātmā · great-souledparamātman · the supreme selfātma-jñāna · self-knowledgeadhyātma · concerning the selfanātman · not-self
Cousins in English
German Atem and atmen, “breath, to breathe”, are widely thought to be relatives.
Easily confused
- Ātman (the self) and jīva (the individual living being, the self as it feels bound).
Pairs with
ब्रह्मन्brahmananātman