The Absolute, the Ultimate Reality, whose characteristics are — absolute existence (sat), absolute consciousness (chit) and absolute bliss (ananda). According to Sankaracharya Brahman, the Absolute, has five different phases: Hiranyagarbha, the Cosmic Self, Ishvara, the personal god in the form of an Avatar, Jiva, the individual soul, Prakriti, the perishable Nature and Shakti, the creative power.