With 15.6, the first major section of Chapter 15 was completed. The samsāra tree was described, the means to mokṣa were taught, and Brahman was defined as self-effulgent consciousness, not illumined by the sun, moon, or fire. From 15.7 onward, a new topic begins: Brahmaṇaḥ sarvātmakatvam — Brahman alone appears as everything. The whole universe is divided into two broad categories: the sentient living beings, jīva, and the insentient world, jagat. From 15.7 to 15.11, Bhagavān teaches that Brahman alone appears as the jīva. From 15.12 onward, Bhagavān will show that Brahman alone appears as the inert universe also.

This is a crucial chapter-flow shift. Until now, the seeker was being guided toward Brahman as the goal. Now Bhagavān shows that Brahman is not elsewhere. The same Brahman is present in every living being as the enlivening consciousness. In this portion, whenever Bhagavān uses “I” or “My,” it should be understood as Brahman, the original all-pervading consciousness.

The verse begins with mama eva aṃśaḥ — “a part of Myself alone.” This should be understood carefully. Brahman is all-pervading consciousness and cannot literally be cut into pieces. Consciousness is not like a cake from which one slice is separated. Therefore aṃśaḥ here does not mean a physical fragment. It means reflection, pratibimba, or ābhāsa. The original consciousness, Brahman, is reflected in the mind, and that reflected consciousness is called jīva. Swami’s explanation uses the language of OC, original consciousness, and RC, reflected consciousness. OC is one; RCs are many, because there are many reflecting media, many minds.

A simple example helps. There is one sun in the sky. If there are many mirrors, the same sun appears as many reflected suns. The original sun has not become divided. Yet many reflections appear because there are many reflecting media. In the same way, Brahman, the original consciousness, is one. But because there are many minds, many reflected consciousnesses appear. Each reflected consciousness is called a jīva or jīvātma.

The mind and body are both inert by themselves. The mind borrows sentiency from Brahman. Then the mind lends that sentiency to the physical body. Because of this borrowed consciousness, the body appears alive. Swami gives another useful example: electricity is invisible, but when it enlivens the filament, the bulb glows. The bulb’s brightness is borrowed through the filament from electricity. Similarly, the body is alive because the mind with reflected consciousness enlivens it; the mind itself is alive because of Brahman, the original consciousness.

Therefore, whenever we see a living body, we should not stop with the body. The body’s life indicates the presence of a live mind, and the live mind indicates the presence of original consciousness. In this way, life itself becomes a sign of Bhagavān’s presence. The body is like a bulb, the mind is like the filament, and Brahman is like the invisible electricity. When the filament is gone, the bulb may remain, but it does not shine. Similarly, when the mind with reflected consciousness is no longer connected with the body, the body becomes a dead body.

Bhagavān then says jīvaloke jīvabhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ — in the world of living beings, this reflection has become the jīva, and that jīva is sanātana, beginningless and continuing until liberation. The physical body dies, but the jīva does not die when the body dies. The jīva, meaning the subtle body with reflected consciousness, leaves the physical body. Even during cosmic dissolution, the jīva does not get destroyed; the mind goes into a dormant condition, just as in deep sleep the mind becomes dormant but does not die. We know this because on waking we continue with the same tendencies, memories, and worries.

The second half says: manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhāni indriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati. The jīva draws away the indriyas, the sense faculties, along with the mind as the sixth. Here indriyāṇi does not mean the physical sense organs like the eyeballs or ears. The physical organs remain in the dead body. What goes with the jīva are the subtle sensory faculties, the powers of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. The mind is counted as the sixth because the five sense faculties function meaningfully only with the mind behind them.

The word prakṛti-sthāni means “situated in prakṛti.” In this verse, prakṛti specifically means the physical body, the sthūla-śarīram. Until death, the sense faculties and mind are associated with this physical body. At death, the jīva draws them away. This is why the body may still have eyes, but it no longer sees; ears, but it no longer hears. The anatomy may remain, but the physiology is gone because the subtle faculties have been withdrawn.

The word karṣati means draws, pulls, or drags. This prepares the next verse, 15.8, where Bhagavān explains more directly how the jīva leaves one body and takes another, carrying the subtle faculties just as the wind carries fragrance from its source. Thus 15.7 begins the description, and 15.8 continues it.

The essential teaching of this verse is not merely “the soul travels.” The deeper Vedāntic point is that Brahman alone appears as the jīva through reflection in the mind. The body is alive because of the mind with reflected consciousness. The mind is alive because of Brahman. Therefore every living being is a visible sign of the invisible consciousness that is Bhagavān’s presence.