Paramatman (Sanskrit: परमात्मन्, IAST: Paramātman) or Paramātmā is the absolute Atman, or supreme Self, in various philosophies such as the Vedanta and Yoga schools in Hindu theology, as well as other Indian religions such as Sikhism.
[7] Since the Paramatman of Jainism is unable to create and govern the world, there is no place of God as a creator and bestower of fortune.
Paramatman goes out riding on the Jiva following consciousness and work, knowledge of former life or natural capacity.
When, a seer, he sees the Golden-hued, the maker, the Lord, the Spirit who is the source of Brahman, then he becomes the knower and shakes from his wings sin and virtue; pure of all stains he reaches the supreme identity.Aurobindo makes the Spirit or Purusha the Source of everything, including Brahman.
[15] The Dualistic school of philosophy initiated by Anandatirtha draws its support from the afore-cited passage as well as from the passage of Katha Upanishad I.3.1 of an earlier Upanishad that speaks about two souls which taste the fruits of action, both of which are lodged in the recess of the human heart, and which are different from each other as light and shade, that carried the flaw—how could the Universal soul be regarded as enjoying the fruits of action?
[16] Jivatman is chit, the sentient, and Paramatman is Isvara, both have the same attributes; they are inseparably present together on the tree which is achit, the insentient, or the gross Avidya component of existence.
Jivatman and Paramatman are both seated in the heart, the former is driven by the three modes of nature and acts, the latter simply witnesses as though approving the former's activities.
The Katha Upanishad states that never has any man been able to visualise Paramatman by means of sight, heart, imagination or mind.
Maya is the Cosmic Nescience that has in it the plurality of subject and object and therefore, Isvara is organically bound with the world.
Beyond the Prana or Isvara is the state of the Infinite limitless Brahman[19] which is why in the Bhagavad Gita VII.24, Krishna tells Arjuna—"not knowing My unsurpassable and undecaying supreme nature the ignorant believe Me to have assumed a finite form through birth."
instructs that the individual self is the Paramatman in reality, the association of the individual self with ajnana i.e. with avidya, which he terms as anatmabandhah, bondage by the anatman or non-atman, makes it to identify itself with gross, subtle and causal bodies and from that arises samsāra, which is of the form of superimposition of qualities of sukha, dukkha etc., on itself, the atman.
In Chapter 13 of the Bhagavad Gita, Paramatman is described as Krishna residing in the hearts of all beings and in every atom of matter.
Paramatman is also described in the Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 9) as worthy of the bhakti (devotion) of the individual selves:For I am actually both the one who receives and the Lord over all acts of worship.
[24] Vaishnava sects maintain that attaining knowledge of Brahman and identification of atman with Brahman is an intermediate stage of self-realization, and only Bhakti Yoga can lead to the next step of Paramatman realization as the indwelling God, ultimately leading up to liberation (Mukti) by God-realization.
[25] Jiva Goswami, Gaudiya Vaishnava scholar, distinguishes between Brahman, Paramatman, and Bhagavan, citing a passage from the Bhagavata Purana (1.2.11): "The knowers of the Absolute Reality call that Reality advaya-jnana, 'nondual consciousness,' which is designated as Brahman, Paramatma or Bhagavan."