Verse 2.173

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

सर्वात्मनोऽप्यवच्छेदो विराजः सूत्रजन्मनः ।
इयानस्मीति सम्मोहात्कामकर्मसमन्वयात् ॥ १७३ ॥

sarvātmano'pyavacchedo virājaḥ sūtrajanmanaḥ |
iyānasmīti sammohātkāmakarmasamanvayāt || 173 ||

English translation of verse 2.173:

Though infinite, the Virāj which has evolved from the Sūtrātman, becomes a limited being due to ignorance and thinks, “This much I am,” in virtue of kāma and karma.

Notes:

The Virāj is the cosmic being (samaṣṭi) in its gross physical aspect. It has come out of the Hiraṇyagarbha, the cosmic being in its subtle aspect. And so it is infinite; it is the self of all. Nevertheless, on account of its association with avidyā, it becomes a limited being when it assumes the individual form (vyaṣṭi), the physical body of man. The Taittirīya text (II, vi, 1) says that “He (the Self) wished—Let me be many; let me be born” (so'kāmayata, bahu syām prajāyeyeti). Further, it says that after cieating the world He entered into that very being (tatsṛṣṭvā tadeva anuprāviśat). The desire (kāma) and the action (karma) on the part of the cosmic being are intelligible only in the context of its association with māyā. It is the principle of māyā that accounts for the finitude and the diversification of the Absolute.