Question
In Pratibimba Vada, which is the jivatman? The original or the reflected?
Answer
Jivatman is the reflected consciousness.
Consciousness as one with dual aspect is Transcendent and Immanent. The Transcendental Consciousness is called the Paramatma. The Consciousness which is embedded in Mind and Matter is the Jivatma. In the first case Consciousness is formless and in the second it is with form.
The Serpent Power the secrets of tantric and shaktic yoga by Sir John Woodroffe
Sir John gives an excellent summary of Sankhya and Vedantic view on Jivatma in this book between pages 49 to 82.
The Transcendent Consciousness is the majestic bird that only watches. Advaitists say that the consciousness rays of the Transcendent Consciousness enliven the mind and the matter of the jiva. It is the consciousness of the mind and matter of the Jiva that is called reflected consciousness. In reality it is the same as the Transcendent consciousness.
An analogy that is useful to understand this is the moonlight that is seen by all of us for 15 nights. The moonlight is known to be reflected sunlight. The point is that the light emanating from the Moon is not intrinsic to the Moon. Similarly the consciousness associated with forms like Jiva is not intrinsic to the Jiva but merely reflected consciousness.
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