बहुरूप इवाभाति मायया बहुरूपया ।
रममाणो गुणेष्वस्या ममाहमिति मन्यते ॥
bahu-rūpa ivābhāti māyayā bahu-rūpayā |
ramamāṇo guṇeṣv asyā mamāham iti manyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.9.2)
“The ātmā [i.e., “self”] appears as if to be of many [different] forms [i.e., those of a child, an elder, etc., and those of a human, a deva, an animal, etc.] through māyā, which is of many [different] forms, and, enjoying amid its [i.e., māyā’s] guṇas [i.e., within various bodies, etc.], thinks of ‘my’ and ‘I’ [i.e., identifies with these forms fabricated by māyā].”
Commentary
iveti jīvasya cit-kaṇa-rūpatvān na tattvata ity arthaḥ |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“‘As if’ (iva) conveys that because of the jīva’s form being that of particle of consciousness (cit), it is not actually such [i.e., the jīva is not any of the forms fabricated by māyā it appears as if to be]. This is the meaning.”