eka eva paro hy ÄtmÄ
sarveá¹£Äm api dehinÄm
nÄneva gá¹›hyate mÅ«á¸hair
yathÄ jyotir yathÄ nabhaḥ

 ekaḥ - one; eva - only; paraḥ - the Supreme; hi - indeed; ÄtmÄ - Soul; sarveá¹£Äm - among all; api - and; dehinÄm - embodied beings; nÄnÄ - many; iva - as if; gá¹›hyate - is perceived; mÅ«á¸haiḥ - by those who are bewildered; yathÄ - as; jyotiḥ - a celestial body; yathÄ - as; nabhaḥ - the sky.


Text

Those who are bewildered perceive the one Supreme Soul, who resides in all embodied beings, as many, just as one may perceive the light in the sky, or the sky itself, as many.

Purport

The last line of this text, yathÄ jyotir yathÄ nabhaḥ, introduces two analogies in which we perceive one thing to be many. Jyotiḥ indicates the light of heavenly bodies such as the sun or moon. Although there is only one moon, we may see the moon reflected in pools, rivers, lakes and buckets of water. Then it would appear as if there were many moons, although there is only one. Similarly, we perceive a divine presence in each living being because the Supreme Lord is present everywhere, although He is one. The second analogy given here, yathÄ nabhaḥ, is that of the sky. If we have a row of sealed clay pots in a room, the sky, or air, is in each pot, although the sky itself is one.

The ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (1.2.32) gives a similar analogy concerning fire and wood:

yathÄ hy avahito vahnir
 dÄruá¹£v ekaḥ sva-yoniá¹£u
nÄneva bhÄti viÅ›vÄtmÄ
 bhÅ«teá¹£u ca tathÄ pumÄn

“The Lord, as the Supersoul, pervades all things, just as fire permeates wood, and so He appears to be of many varieties, though He is the absolute one without a second.â€