Verse 2.2.184

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.2.184:

नित्य-सिद्धास् ततो जीवा भिन्ना एव यथा रवेः ।
अंशवो विस्फुलिङ्गाश् च वह्नेर् भङ्गाश् च वारिधेः ॥ १८४ ॥

nitya-siddhās tato jīvā bhinnā eva yathā raveḥ |
aṃśavo visphuliṅgāś ca vahner bhaṅgāś ca vāridheḥ || 184 ||

nitya-siddhāḥ–eternally established; tataḥ–therefore; jīvāḥ–the individual spirit souls; bhinnāḥ–separated; eva–certainly; yathā–as; raveḥ–of the sun; aṃśavaḥ–rays; visphuliṅgāḥ–sparks; ca–also; vahneḥ–of a fire; bhaṅgāḥ–waves; ca–and; vāri-dheḥ–of the ocean.

Because the jīvas have existence that is eternal (nitya-siddha), they appear to be distinct from Parabrahman. Just as sunrays are distinct from the sun, sparks are distinct from the fire, and waves are distinct from the ocean, so the eternally existent jīvas are distinct from Parabrahman.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

(By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)

It might be argued, “Only due to the illusion of Māyā do the living beings appear to be numerous and distinct parts of Brahman. When they become liberated and are free from Māyā’s influence, there will be no difference between the jīvas and Brahman, and the form of Brahman alone shall exist.”

To refute this, the bhakti-śāstras speak two verses, beginning here with nitya-siddhā. They say, “In the opinion of the Tattvavādī sampradāya, the difference between the jīvas and the Supreme Brahman is not an imagined delusion created by the illusory potency Māyā; rather, all jīvas are eternally related to Parabrahman as eternally existent separated parts (aṃśas). Therefore, the living being is always, and in all respects, different from the Supreme Lord Parameśvara. Just as the difference between the sun and its rays, the fire and its sparks, and the ocean and its waves are eternally established distinctions, so the difference between Parameśvara and the jīva is also eternally established (nitya-siddha).”