Jewels From Upanishads: 1.1 This And That, Both Complete Whole Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

That (Brahman)is complete whole,
This (soul)too is complete whole;
From whole has happened whole,
If whole's removed from whole,
What remains' still a complete whole.
Let peace be, let peace be, let peace be.
________________________________________________
Serious thoughts on the enquiry on Self (atman or soul)happen at the end of Vedas collectively known as Vedanta. Upanishads are part of this, of which are many, but selected versea from a few main Upanishads are included here.

This verse says that this soul (lower soul or the individual self)and the supreme soul are one and the same in their essence, and both are infinite in nature. This thought arise from advaita philosophy on non-duality. The transliteration of this verse is given as under:

aum pūrņam adah pūrņam idampūrņāt pūrņam udachyate |
pūrņasya pūrņam ādāya pūrņam eva avashishyate ||
aum shāntih shāntih shāntih

aum: the symbol representing Brahman, the Absolute; pūrņam: infinite, complete whole; adah:that (supreme Brahman): pūrņam idam:this (also is)infinite (refers to atman, also world): pūrņāt: from the infinite (supreme Brahman): pūrņam:the infinite atman; udachyate:has arisen, come to be; pūrņasya: of/to the infinite; pūrņam:infinitude; ādāya:realising, removing; pūrņam eva: infinite whole only but/alone; avashiśhyate:remains, is left; shāntih: peace (three-fold for physical, mental, and spiritual)

Hindu philosophy stresses on pūrņam, completeness or infinite nature of things. Buddhists believe in shūnyam, nothingness of things in the end. Using shūnyam in place of pūrņam, this verse can be re-written easily. The verse can also be interpreted mathematically by interpreting pūrņam as infinity. Infinity plus infinity or minus infinity is still infinity. The verse tells man to rejoice, for he has an infinite potential. This is the core belief and the verse is repeated in many Upanishads.