The works of Ādi Śaṅkarācārya

Aparokṣānubhūtiḥ

Verse 59

यद्वन्मृदि घटभ्रान्तिं शुक्तौ वा रजतस्थितिम् ।तद्वद्ब्रह्मणि जीवत्वं भ्रान्त्या पश्यति न स्वतः ॥ ५९ ॥

In plain words

You look at clay and see a pot. You look at a piece of shell and see silver. In exactly the same way you look at Brahman and see a separate person: delusion is doing the seeing. Brahman is not that on its own.

Close to the Sanskrit

Just as one sees in clay the illusion of a pot, or in shell the presence of silver, so too in Brahman one sees individuality — through delusion, not of itself.