Bhagavad Gita: Understanding One Shloka at a time. (Chp. 2, Verse 22) — HBR Patel

Trying to understand Bhagavad Gita, one Shloka at a time…

वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय
नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि |
तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णा
न्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही || 22||

Just as a man gives up the old worn out garments to wear the new ones, in the same way, the embodied soul gives up the old and worn out bodies to enter the new ones.

In this shloka, Bhagwan Shri Krishna continues to explain the true nature of the soul to Arjuna. Bhagwan defines birth, death, and re-incarnation with a succinct analogy that can be understood even by a child. Our True Identity, the body dweller that resides within us i.e. the soul is eternal and it can never be destroyed. The soul simply changes the physical body like we change the old worn-out clothes to a new one.

The physical body that we falsely consider as our true identity is destructible and the soul that resides within which is our true identity is indestructible. So, there should be no grief when one discards…