Ātman

In Hindu philosophy, the self: the inner core of a person, which some schools identify with ultimate reality, brahman.

Also: atman, atma, self (Hindu philosophy)

What it means

In early Vedic texts ātman simply meant 'oneself'; in the Upaniṣads it became a central philosophical idea, the self that underlies a person's faculties and activities as brahman, the absolute, underlies the universe. Britannica describes it as the self identified with the eternal core of the personality, which either passes into a new life after death or is released (mokṣa). Schools differ on its nature. Advaita Vedānta, promoted by Śaṅkara, holds that the individual self is ultimately identical with brahman and that seeing this brings liberation. Nyāya treats selves as many enduring substances that bear cognition, desire and memory. Buddhist thinkers denied any such enduring self (anattā).

The questions it belongs to

• 1.3.2 Personal IdentityAre you the same person you were at five?

Thinkers

• Yājñavalkya
• Śaṅkara
• Udayana

Traditions

• Indian

To read

• A Thousand Teachings — Adi Shankara
• Commentary on the Brahma Sūtras (Brahmasūtrabhāṣya) — Adi Shankara

Sources and further reading

• Atman (Britannica)
• Vedanta, Advaita (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
• Nyaya (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Written by the Coordinates of Thought editors and checked against the sources above on 29 October 2026. Not peer-reviewed. How we write and check.

All terms in the glossary