Issue #20: Old clothes and new clothes.
That's how it is for the soul.
Hey everyone!
Today, we cover one of the most famous verses of the Bhagavad Gita in which Lord Krishna uses an analogy to help us understand the science of the soul and the body better:
vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya
navāni gṛhṇāti naro ’parāṇi
tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāny
anyāni saṁyāti navāni dehī
Synonyms
vāsāṁsi — garments; jīrṇāni — old and worn out; yathā — just as; vihāya — giving up; navāni — new garments; gṛhṇāti— does accept; naraḥ — a man; aparāṇi — others; tathā — in the same way; śarīrāṇi — bodies; vihāya — giving up; jirṇāni — old and useless; anyāni — different; saṁyāti — verily accepts; navāni — new sets; dehī — the embodied.
Translation
As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.
BG 2.21 (Bhagavad Gita As It Is, Chapter 2, Verse 21)*
That example is easy to understand, right?
When you get tired of your current clothes, you put on a new one, and life goes on. It's no big deal and another insignificant occurrence in your life. Believe it or not, the soul leaving your body and taking another one is as simple as that.
When the soul can't enjoy anymore in one material body, then it leaves to take another - this is death. On the external platform, death is a traumatic event for everyone concerned. But for the soul, it's something he has done millions of times in his existence.
This transference is possible due to the Super Soul.
Not sure if you still remember the Super Soul from the earlier issues. The Super Soul (paramatma) is an expansion of the Lord who sits alongside your personal soul (jiva atma). They are like friends...best friends, actually.
In the ancient scriptures, these 2 souls are compared to 2 birds sitting on a tree. One of them is busy eating the fruit in the tree (that's you) whereas the other one is sitting & watching you eat (that’s the Lord or the Super Soul). This "bird" is waiting for you to stop eating & turn your attention to Him.
If you turn around to look at Him, then all sufferings are finished.
This busy eating of the fruit in the tree is our busy life of material enjoyment on Earth - this is what makes us forget God. We get distracted by so many fruits in the tree (or the many material opportunities which life offers us), that we lose track of time and purpose. When the bird has finished with the fruits of one tree, it moves on to another tree, meaning - the soul jumps into another body, when it’s current body is no longer useful for further enjoyment.
So, Krishna tells Arjuna that the souls of the soldiers he will kill soon will simply accept another body at death. In fact, dying in the course of the war, whether they are on the good side or the bad side, is a sacrifice. Hence, those souls will have a higher form of life in their next birth. Thus Arjuna has nothing to lament about but only rejoice.
What do we learn today?
Upon death, you will easily accept another body. It's guaranteed.