Bhagavad Gita Verse 7, Chapter 15

mamaivaansho jeevaloke jeevabhootaha sanaatanaha |
manahashashthaaneendriyaani prakritisthaani karshati || 7 ||
 
My eternal fragment, in this world of souls, becomes the individual soul. It draws itself to the mind and five senses, established in Prakriti.
 
mama : my
eva : only
anshaha : fragment
jeevaloke : in this world of souls
jeevabhootaha : becomes the individual soul
sanaatanaha : eternal
manahashashthaani : mind and five
indriyaani : senses
prakritisthaani : established in Prakriti
karshati : draws itself
 
So far, we saw the state of the select few individuals who strive for liberation. Now Shri Krishna summarizes the state of the jeevas, the individual souls who are stuck in the cycle of samsaara, of birth and death. The jeeva, ignorant of its true nature which is infinite, harbours selfish desires with the aim of removing its finitude. In order to do so, it needs to be able to contact and transact with Prakriti. The equipment needed to transact with Prakriti comprises the mind and the five senses. Therefore, the jeeva attracts or pulls these six aspects of Prakriti unto itself.
 
Before we proceed, we need to clarify one point here. The word fragment implies that the eternal essence, speaking as Ishvara, can be broken or divided into pieces. Yet, we know that the eternal essence is indivisible. To solve this confusion, we need to remind ourselves of the examples provided in the thirteenth chapter. We can try to divide space using walls, but space is indivisible. Also, we can lose the sun's reflection when we break a pot filled with water, but nothing happens to the sun. There is no coming or going of space or of the sun. The limitations, the upaadhis such as walls and pots "as though" try to divide, but cannot do so in essence.
 
The Jnyaaneshwari provides yet another example. It describes an ascetic monk who has taken up a contemplative and solitary life in the jungle. One night he dreams that he is a householder with a wife and kids. In order to provide for his family, he has to work hard at his job to make ends meet. His job causes a great deal of stress to him. But when he wakes up from his dream, he remains the same monk, unaffected by the apparent ties of family life. The dream world is yet another upaadhi or limitation caused by ignorance of his real nature.
 
So then, the jeeva draws a mind and five senses in order to exhaust its desires. However, it still needs a physical body to transact with Prakriti. How does all this happen? We see this in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 20, Chapter 8

parastasmaattu bhaavonyovyaktovyaktaatsanaatanaha |
yaha sa sarveshu bhooteshu nashyatsu na vinashyati || 20 ||
 
But, there exists another supreme, timeless unmanifest, beyond that (other) unmanifest, which, after destruction of all beings, is not destroyed.
 
paraha : supreme
tasmaat : that
tu : but
bhaavaha : exists
anyaha : another
avyaktaha : unmanifest
avyaktaat : unmanifest
sanaatanaha : timeless
yaha : that
saha : which
sarveshu : all
bhooteshu : beings
nashyatsu : after destruction
na : does not
vinashyati : destroyed
 
Previously, Shri Krishna spoke about the endless cycle of creation and dissolution of the universe. All living and non-living beings go into a state of suspended animation for 4.32 billion years, after which they come back into manifest mode for another 4.32 billion years. But there is one more thing. There are a select few beings that escape this endless cycle. They are the ones who are liberated.
 
Let us go back to our example of the movie projector where the light that illuminates the film strip identified itself with a character in the movie. How does that piece of light get liberated? By knowing that the identification with the movie character is false, and the identification with the light is real. The light in the projector remains constant regardless of how many times the movie is shown and rewound. It transcends the movie.
 
Similarly, Shri Krishna informs us that there is something beyond this cycle of creation and dissolution, something that transcends time and space. In other words, everything in this world is transitory and will eventually lead to sorrow. Unless we realize that everything that we think will give us happiness is subject to destruction sooner or later, we will never become aware that there is something beyond our materialistic pursuits.
 
So, what exactly is this “another unmanifest”? This is taken up next.