Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta Shlok Blog -69
Shlok-22
वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि । तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णान्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ॥ ॥ 2-22 ||
English Transcription
Waasaansi Jeernnani Yatha Vihaay Nawaani Grihanati Naroyparaani | Tatha Shareeraani Vihaaya Jeernaanyanyaani Sanyaati Nawaani Dehi || 2-22 ||
Hindi Translation
Manushya jaise puraane kapdon ko chorkar doosre naye kapde dhaaran kar leta hai, aise hi dehi puraane shareeron ko chorkar doosre naye shareeron me chala jaata hai.
English Translation
Like a man who has cut off his old clothes puts on others that are new, thus the embodied self casts off old bodies and moves on to others that are new.
Meaning
In the previous Shlok, we saw how Shri Krishna showed the interdependence of the mortal factors over immortal factors and the immortal factors over mortal factors to make the entire system work. In this Shlok, we will see how he will explain the importance of moving on and not being stuck at one particular thing, always and forever.
It has been established that the soul never changes in itself, but it does change the body it takes to operate from. Thus, exactly like a human body changes clothes, similarly the soul changes its orientation from one body to another. Till the body is in contact with nature, then the soul takes turns leaving the old body to enter a new one.
Humans have a habit to call the old body dead and the new body birth wherein the body takes new shapes and sides. But what we don’t know is that the old is not actually dead, it is alive and back to its origins because the body decomposes, makes manure, adds to the soil, gives nutrition to the soil, and allows nature to grow which allows new cells formation and new births allocation. So the dead is not actually dead but alive and the living is not actually living but approaching death. So from now on, do not worry about the dead and think of them as new births and don’t worry about the new living and think of them as retired lives.
Till the time the body does not get the complete knowledge of the actual existence of theirs, the soul stays in the body and makes it believe in its duties. The moment the said happens, people understand the real cause, they fight it out and then, their life purpose is met, their soul’s job is done and it is time to move on to something new, exciting, and exhilarating.
Now the point to note here is that death is not just related to a person’s age. It is not relevant if the person dying is a child or aged. The person who dies is so because their life has been over and they need not be alive and push away someone else’s birth. Thus, when the person is no more, it is not because they were aged and elderly and their life was over, it was because their age was limited to that number and when that was served, the life is over. This means that you need to do something in this life and you need to do that now because no one has seen the next and no one knows what the next is coming and when. So you don’t know when you will die. So you need to work it out soon and make sure that you are in line.
The example used here is that the person changes clothes and wears new ones, similarly, the soul also changes the body and goes into a new one. This also shows the independence of the person. The person is independent and can change the body the moment there is a need to do so. Similarly, the soul is independent to change the body when it is destined to and it will do it.
All this is not said to prove which thing is dependent upon what. It is majorly to establish the fact that crying over what has happened or what is destined to happen is useless.
An alternate question here can be that when you change from an old cloth into a new one, you do gain happiness and it is a new cloth, a new beginning, and new happiness. Seeing the same in terms of death looks very difficult and sad because it does not look happy at all. Then why is this comparison holding any value? The answer is very easy.
Changing an old cloth is happy for the body and not for the old cloth and its counterparts. Same for the soul. The soul is happy to find a new life and have a new way to proceed and even if it is sad for the living counterparts of the family, it is inevitable and extremely important, so the sadness of the people is smaller than the need for the happiness and moving on of the soul. Thus even if this comparison looks naive at the beginning, it is very deep-dived relevance and there is no doubt that everyone cannot understand this every time.
Conclusion
Shri Krishna is trying to establish the fact that not everyone is equipped with the power to evaluate the Punya-Paap, or boon-sin, ratio of what they do and how it impacts everyone out there. Sometimes, emotions take over the better of the person and then the person is left confused and unraveled wherein any decisions they take or have taken, they aren’t very sure about the same. When the mind chooses an item of clothing, it selects it as per its needs and not as per the one the body wants. The body has to be happy in the one bought. Similarly, the soul has to be happy in the body it is sent in and it gets home.
That’s all for Shlok-22, Chapter-2. We shall meet again for Shalok-23, Chapter-2 tomorrow. Till then, let’s chill and stay happy for the rest of the time
