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CHAPTER IX
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ABSOLUTE SELF
When the mutual relationship between the Cosmos (jagat),
the personal Self (jiva) and the Paramesvara (Paramatman)
'have been explained in this way, it becomes quite clear in
-what sense one has to take the word ' ansa ' used by the
Blessed Lord in the phrases " the Jiva is an 'amsa' of Myself "
[1], and "I have pervaded the whole of this world by one
amsa'" [2] in the Bhagavadgita, and also used by
Badarayanacarya in the Vedanta-Sutras [3], or the word ' pada ' used in the Purusa-Sukta in the line
'"pado 'sya visva bhutani tripud asyamrtam divi "—'the jagadatman
(the Cosmic-Self) Which has pervaded the moveable and the
immoveable, and yet remained over ten fingers '. Although
the Paramesvara or the Paramatman is all-pervading, yet,
as It is unorganised, homogeneous, and devoid of Name and
Form, that is to say, uncuttable ( acchedya ) and immutable
(avikarya), it is impossible to break It up into individual pieces
[4]. Therefore, in order to distinguish between this
homogeneous Parabrahman which pervades everything on all
sides, and the Atman within the body of a man, one has to
say in common parlance that the ' sarira-atman ' (the Atman
within the body) is an ' amsa ' (part) of the Parabrahman.
Yet, the word ' amsa ' or ' part ' has not to he taken in the
meaning of ' an independent piece which has been cut-
out ', or ' one of the grains taken out of the numerous grains
in a pomegranate ' ; and it must be taken in its elementary
meaning to indicate that the Atman is a part of the
Parabrahman in the same way as ether ( akaia ) in the house or
in an earthenware pot ( mathakasa, ghatakasa ) are parts of an
all-pervading ether ( See Amrtabindupanisad 13 ). The
Samkhya Prakrti, and the homogeneous element accepted by the
Materialistic Gross-Non-Dualism of Haeckel, are in the same
way qualityful, that is, limited, parts of the Real qualityless
Paramesvara. Nay, whatever perceptible or imperceptible
fundamental element is arrived at according to the
Materialistic sciences, (then may it be how much soever
comprehensive like ether), it is only a Name and Form broken
in upon by Time and Space, that is to say,, it is perishable and
limited. It is true that it has occupied the Parabrahman to
the extent of its capacity, but instead of the Parabrahman
being thereby in any way limited,
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