The term is contextually related to "the ultimate reality" in various schools of Hindu traditions. Shiva or Goddess in
Shakti traditions. In monist traditions, is considered directly inseparable from (attributeless) Brahman or the "universal ground of all beings", wherein the Brahman is identical with Atman, the true individual self. A
Jiva is instructed to identify themselves with the
Atman, which is the
Brahman in a being, thus the purpose of human birth is to realize "I am Brahman" (
Aham Brahmasmi) through
Prajna which leads to the state of "ultimate consciousness" referred as
sat-chit-ananda and subsequently
Moksha, however as long as a being identifies with
Maya which is finite, material and tangible, they will continue to gather
Karma and remain in
Saṃsāra. or Brahman is held to be the source of all reality, source of all conscious thought, and source of all perfection-bliss.
Textual references The
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad () is among the earliest Hindu texts which links and then discusses
Atman (Self), Brahman (ultimate reality), awareness, joy and bliss such as in sections 2.4, 3.9 and 4.3. The
Chandogya Upanishad (), in section 3.14 to 3.18, discusses Atman and Brahman, these being identical to "that which shines and glows both inside and outside", "dear", "pure knowing, awareness", "one's innermost being", "highest light", "luminous". Other 1st-millennium BCE texts, such as the
Taittiriya Upanishad in section 2.1, as well as minor Upanishads, discuss Atman and Brahman in saccidananda-related terminology. An early mention of the compound word is in verse 3.11 of Tejobindu Upanishad, composed before the 4th-century CE. The context of is explained in the Upanishad as follows:
Vaishnava philosophy Tulsidas identifies
Rama as . ==See also==