January28 – Bhagavadgita Chapter 2; Verses 2.22 (Day 28) Sankhya Yoga

 

January 28 – Chapter 2; Verse 22

Day 28 [2.22]

वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय

नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि ।

तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णा-

न्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ॥ २-२२॥ 

vāsānsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya
navāni gṛihṇāti naro ’parāṇi
tathā śharīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇānya
nyāni sanyāti navāni dehī (2.22) 

வாஸான்ஸி ஜீர்ணானி யதா² விஹாய

நவானி க்³ருஹ்ணாதி¹ நரோ‌ப¹ராணி |
த¹தா² ஶரீராணி விஹாய ஜீர்ணானி-

அன்யானி ஸன்யாதி¹ நவானி தே³ஹீ ||22|| 

22. Just as a man casts off worn-out clothes and puts on new ones, so also the embodied Self casts off worn-out bodies and enters others that are new. 

Commentary by Swami Venkatesananda: ‘Reincarnation’ is a fact only in relation to the physical body.  The Self is unborn and undying! Life is continuous, only the dress is replaced by new ones every now and then.

All religions agree that the soul is imperishable and survives the body.  There seems to be difference of opinion only in regard to its donning a physical body post mortem.  It is admitted, too, that the soul on departing from here undergoes various experiences necessary for eventual ascension into the kingdom of God or to become one with Him, expressed as you care to put it.

The spirit or soul cannot act without body, or rather, the instrument by which the soul functions and gathers experiences is called body, and getting into or assuming one of these is known as ‘incarnation’. The soul does not enjoy the pleasures of a heaven or suffer the pains of a hell, except through the medium of a body composed of the five elements, organised to suit the peculiar conditions of its existence at that stage, and so subtle or gross. There is a great difference between the physiological structure of fish and bird and that of the human being, but basically they are all composed of the five elements. The fish-body is adapted to life in the sea, the bird-body to flight, and the human-body to a different kind of life. Similarly, the souls incarnating on other planets might assume or obtain physical bodies adapted to the conditions there. The soul is really not reborn (in fact it was never born at all), but when it assumes a new body, we say it is born. This verse takes the sting out of death and removes fear of death from our heart. Who would not like new clothes? It also reminds us that the body is only a garment bound to deteriorate and become useless. We should keep it clean and healthy, but not forget the Self which is the enduring reality.

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 Commentary by Swami Krishnanada from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.4. 

https://www.swami-krishnananda.org/brdup/brhad_IV-04.html

 Just as a goldsmith takes a little gold from here and a little gold from there and puts these pieces of gold into a melting pot, boils the pieces making them into one lump and gives a new shape to this lump, even so a new body is formed out of the ingredients collected from nature. The goldsmith does not create new gold. He only creates a new shape of the gold after melting it in a furnace. That is how he prepares ornaments, etc. Likewise, the material forces, earth, water, fire, air, and ether are the elements out of which bodies are formed. The present body is made up of these elements. The future body also will be made up of these elements. They are the same elements that work wherever you go, whatever be the birth that you take, and whichever be the shape the soul assumes in whichever realm, in its new incarnation. Even if it is in a very highly elevated state like that of a Gandharva, or a Pitṛ, or a celestial in paradise, even if such a lustrous body is to be assumed by the soul, it is made of nothing but this same material. It is formed of these elements only in their finer essences. When they are gross, they look like the bodies we have. When they are fine, they begin to be transparent like glass, for instance. You know, even glass is made up of matter. It is as much material as a lump of iron or a hard brick. But the glass shines. It is transparent. Light can pass through it because of the fineness of the structure, notwithstanding the fact that glass is made up of the same matter as a hard brick. So, one can take any form; one can be reborn in any shape, maybe a Gandharva, a celestial, or any other being. You may even go to the realm of Hiraṇyagarbha, assuming the subtlest form of matter known as the Prakṛiti. Any form the soul can take. It can adjust and readjust the material elements according to the need which is indicated by the nature of the mind that actually reincarnates.

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