मनःषष्ठानीन्द्रियाणि प्रकृतिस्थानि कर्षति ॥ ७ ॥
mamaivāṃśo jīvaloke jīvabhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ .
manaḥṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛtisthāni karṣati .. 7 ..
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An integral portion of Myself—of the Supreme Self, of Nārāyaṇa,—is the eternal Jīva (individual soul) in samsara, manifesting himself in every one as the doer and enjoyer. He is like the sun reflected in water; the reflected sun is but a portion of the real sun; and on the removal of water the reflected sun returns to the original sun and remains as that very sun.—Or, it is like the akasa (space) in the jar, which is limited by the upadhi of the jar. This akasa of the jar is but a portion of the infinite akasa and becomes one with the latter on the destruction of the jar which is the cause of limitation; then it returns no more. Thus the statement “to which having gone none return” is quite explicable.
(Objection):—How can there be a portion of the Supreme Self who has no parts? If He has parts, He would be liable to destruction on the separation of parts.
(Answer):—Our theory is not open to this objection; for, it is only a portion limited by the upadhi set up by avidya; it is a portion as it were, an imaginary portion. This truth was established at length in the thirteenth discourse,*
It has been shewn there that, as a matter of faci, Jiva is not a portion of Paramatman, that he is identical with the Supreme Self.—A.
How Jiva dwells in the body and departs from it.
How does the Jīva of individual Soul, who is only an imaginary portion of Myself, live in the world? or how does he leave it? †—Listen: He draws round himself the (five) senses, such as hearing, with the manas, the sixth sense—those six senses which abide in the Prakṛti, i.e., in their respective seats such as the orifice of the ear.
i.e., if Jiva is the Supreme Self, how is it that he is spoken of as a samsarin, or as departing from this world?—A.
When (does he draw them round himself)?