Chapter 2, Verse 22
वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि | तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णा- न्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ॥२२॥
vāsāṃsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya navāni gṛhṇāti naro 'parāṇi | tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāny anyāni saṃyāti navāni dehī ||22||
Meaning
Just 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.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
This is one of the Gita's most beautiful and accessible metaphors. The soul's relationship to the body is like a person's relationship to their clothing — the person (soul) remains the same while the outer covering changes.
We change clothes when they wear out, when they no longer serve us, or when circumstances require different attire. We do not mourn the old shirt beyond what is appropriate. The person who wore it continues. This is how the soul relates to bodies.
This metaphor has several important implications. First, it normalizes death: the physical body's end is not the soul's end — it is simply a wardrobe change on a much grander scale. Second, it suggests that our attachment to any particular body — including our current one — should be calibrated: we care for the body as we care for a good coat, but we are not the coat.
For those grieving the loss of a loved one, this verse offers a specific comfort: the person you loved — their consciousness, their soul, their essential being — continues. The body you held and knew has been changed, but the deeper person has not been annihilated.
Krishna's teaching here is not to minimize grief — it is to situate grief within a larger understanding of what has actually happened.
💡 Key Takeaway
Death is the soul changing bodies, not the soul being destroyed — as natural as a person changing worn-out clothes.
Related Verses
सञ्जय उवाच | तं तथा कृपयाविष्टमश्रुपूर्णाकुलेक्षणम् | विषीदन्तमिदं वाक्यमुवाच मधुसूदनः ॥१॥
sañjaya uvāca | taṃ tathā kṛpayāviṣṭam aśrupūrṇākulekṣaṇam | viṣīdantam idaṃ vākyam uvāca madhusūdanaḥ ||1||
Sanjaya said: To him who was thus overcome with pity and grief, whose eyes were filled with tears and who was despondent, Madhusudana (Krishna) spoke the following words.
न हि प्रपश्यामि ममापनुद्याद् यच्छोकमुच्छोषणमिन्द्रियाणाम् । अवाप्य भूमावसपत्नमृद्धं राज्यं सुराणामपि चाधिपत्यम् ॥२-८॥
na hi prapaśyāmi mamāpanudyād yac chokam ucchoṣaṇam indriyāṇām | avāpya bhūmāv asapatnam ṛddhaṃ rājyaṃ surāṇām api cādhipatyam ||2-8||
I do not see what will remove this grief which is drying up my senses, even if I were to obtain an unrivaled and prosperous kingdom on earth or even lordship over the gods.
तमुवाच हृषीकेशः प्रहसन्निव भारत । सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये विषीदन्तमिदं वचः ॥२-१०॥
tam uvāca hṛṣīkeśaḥ prahasann iva bhārata | senayor ubhayor madhye viṣīdantam idaṃ vacaḥ ||2-10||
O descendant of Bharata, Hrishikesha, smiling gently, spoke the following words to the grief-stricken Arjuna between the two armies.