Advaita Prakaranam of Mandukya Upanishad (Chapter 3) Part 9

यथा भवति बालानां गगनं मलिनं मलैः ।
तथा भवत्यबुद्धानामात्माऽपि मलिनो मलैः ॥ ८ ॥

yathā bhavati bālānāṃ gaganaṃ malinaṃ malaiḥ |
tathā bhavatyabuddhānāmātmā'pi malino malaiḥ || 8 ||

We differentiate jiva and paratma because we see certain attributes in jivatma differentiating it from paramatma. Jiva is alpajna, ragadveshi etc. So we add adjective to jivatma as samsari.

Naturally we have to say paramatma is different because he is sarvajna etc nitya buddha + svabhavah etc. Here acharya says all attributes given to atma are superimposition. The attributes belong to the container or upadhi. It is like water in different bottles. When you look from outside there is green water in green bottle and red water in red bottle. All coloured waters, but really speaking colour belongs to bottle and not water. Similarly omniscience belong to not the atma or paramatma. It is the attribute of the total buddhi or you may call maya. Similarly omnipotence and it does not belong to paramatma but it is attribute of total prana.

Sakti is the attribute of matter. Any power like electrical power or magnetic power. Any force belongs to matter. So whether is it iccha or kriya or jnana - it belongs to paramatma upadhi but we attribute to pramatma. We give adjective to atma as parama. Because big powers and noble attributes are there we give the attribute parama.

Here also in the atma, in the individual upadhi has limited powers, attributes and so we give an adjective jivatma. Jiva, maranam etc are attributes of living body, born body and so on. Now jivat sariram and later mrta sariram. Jiva is an adjective which belongs to the body only That is again given to atma. One side we superimpose the adjective like parama and another side jiva. Like to akasa we say total and small. All attributes are superimposition by ignorant people and not a fact.

The example is yatha + Just as the space appears to be polluted from the view of the children. Meaning ignorant or indiscriminate people. Just as space appears to be polluted from their point, in the same way atma also appears to be polluted. For whom? For ignorant people. Malam means impurity. In akasa the impurity is dust, smoke etc.

In atma the impurity is punya, papam sancita agami praradbham. We know there is no space pollution. there can be air pollution or water pollution or earth pollution. Space accommodates everything but is never polluted. In the same atma is never polluted. It is super imposition. So I am impure as long as I take myself to be impure or as long as I identify with the impure body. "Tatha bhavati abuddhanam"

What should we do to purify akasa. We have only to remove the misconception that space is impure. Purification of space is the removal of thought that it is impure. Similarly the purification of atma is the removal of the thought that I am impure. That very thought will give freedom from mortality etc. How to become immortal? We only remove the thought I am mortal. When that thought is gone I am immortal. Immortality is not an event Not that after some time one day you will become immortal. as we listen in purana that dhruva became a star. That we all be made into starts and kept some where. Even star also is mortal. If you remove that mortality thought you are immortal today. If you remove after ten years then after ten years you become immortal.

Incidentlly atma here means nto only jivatma. Jivatma is not touched by papas. But also paramatma. The so called kalaynaguna also is impurity only from vedantic angle.