The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c39.s2.89

v2.c39.s2.89

The development of the meaning of Ātman was accompanied by the development of the conception of the relation of the Ātman of the universe and the Ātman of the individual. The comparison of the macrocosm and the microcosm had been familiar from the time of the Rigveda,² where the cosmic Puruṣa is clearly closely allied to the individual man. In the case of Puruṣa, however, under that name we do not find that the conception of his Ātman was developed: of the individual man we have the question asked, later at least, what is left after his members are dispersed by death; but, though it might have been expected that this problem would have been posed in the case of Puruṣa, there is no evidence that this was ever done. The reference to the cosmic Ātman seen by Deussen³ in a passage of the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa⁴ is as shown above too doubtful to found any argument upon: if the cosmic Ātman is really deliberately meant, it is very strange that the series of identifications of macrocosm and microcosm should not end there, but should proceed to the abode of the Ātman in the heart, the heart in the man, the man in the immortal, and the immortal in the Brahman. More important is the recognition of the Ātman as cosmic in the Atharvaveda, as the conclusion of the second Skambha hymn.⁵