Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 15, Verse 7

ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूतः सनातनः । मनःषष्ठानीन्द्रियाणि प्रकृतिस्थानि कर्षति

mamaivāṃśo jīvaloke jīvabhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ | manaḥṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛtisthāni karṣati

Translation

A ray of Myself, the eternal Jīva in the world of jīvas, attracts the senses, with manas the sixth, abiding in Prakṛti.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

mama

my

eva

even

aṃśaḥ

portion

jīvaloke

of living things, in the world

jīvabhūtaḥ

jīva-become

sanātanaḥ

ancient

manaḥṣaṣṭhāni

mind, sixth, of whom, them

indriyāṇi

senses

prakṛtisthāni

in nature, placed

karṣati

draws

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

An integral portion of Myself — of the Supreme Self, of Nārāyaṇa — is the eternal Jīva (individual soul) in saṃsāra, 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 ākāśa (space) in the jar, which is limited by the upādhi of the jar. This ākāśa of the jar is but a portion of the infinite ākāśa 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. To the objection — how can there be a portion of the Supreme Self who has no parts? — the answer is: it is only a portion limited by the upādhi set up by avidyā; it is a portion as it were, an imaginary portion.