Shloka 42
Adhyāya 302: Guṇa-vicāra, Gati-bheda, and the Imperishable State
Yājñavalkya–Janaka
एवमेष महानात्मा सर्गप्रलयकोविद: । विकुर्वाण: प्रकृतिमानभिमन्यत्यबुद्धिमान्,इस प्रकार सृष्टि और प्रलयके तत्त्वको जाननेवाला यह महान् आत्मा अविकारी होकर भी प्रकृतिके संसर्गसे युक्त हो विकारवान्-सा हो जाता है एवं प्राकृत-बुद्धिसे रहित होनेपर भी शरीरमें आत्माभिमान कर लेता है
evam eṣa mahānātmā sargapralayakovidaḥ | vikurvāṇaḥ prakṛtimān abhimanyaty abuddhimān ||
Vasiṣṭha said: Thus this great Self, though truly versed in the principles of creation and dissolution, remains in itself unmodified; yet, through association with Prakṛti, it appears as if it undergoes change. And though it is in fact free from material (prakṛta) intelligence, it nevertheless comes to imagine an ‘I’ in relation to the body—mistaking the non-self for the Self.
वसिष्ठ उवाच