Impressions travel with the soul.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
शरीरं यदवाप्नोति यच्चाप्युत्क्रामतीश्वरः |गृहीत्वैतानि संयाति वायुर्गन्धानिवाशयात् ||१५-८||
śarīraṃ yadavāpnoti yaccāpyutkrāmatīśvaraḥ . gṛhitvaitāni saṃyāti vāyurgandhānivāśayāt ||15-8||
Use this verse for samskara awareness.
Meaning
When the lord of the body obtains a body and when he leaves it, he carries these senses and mind with him, like the wind carrying fragrances from their source.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
The soul carries subtle impressions from one body to another.
Word-by-word meaning
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Explanation
Krishna explains the movement of the embodied soul using the metaphor of wind carrying fragrance. The subtle body, with mind and senses, carries impressions and tendencies.
Read the traditional commentary
Krishna now explains the mechanics of reincarnation with one of the most beautiful images in all of scripture. The soul, here called īśvara because it is the lord of its own body, does not perish when the body dies. At the moment of death it gathers up the senses and the mind — along with the subtle impressions and tendencies they carry — and travels onward to a new birth.
The comparison is exquisite: just as a breeze passing over flowers carries their fragrance away to another place, so the departing soul carries its accumulated mental and sensory dispositions from one life into the next. The body falls away like a faded blossom, but the perfume of our character, habits, and unfulfilled desires moves on.
This reveals why the inner work of purifying our desires matters so profoundly — the fragrance we cultivate now is exactly what we carry forward.
In daily life
Be careful what impressions you repeatedly create.
A person repeatedly feeding anger or devotion forms different inner fragrances.
Try this today
Create one pure impression today through prayer or service.
I create sacred impressions in my inner life.Reflect
What fragrance is my life carrying forward?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘गृहीत्वा एतानि’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on death, in other chapters
- Verse 2.22Death is the soul changing bodies, not the soul being destroyed — as natural as a person changing worn-out clothes.
- Verse 14.15The quality that rules you at the end pulls you toward more of the same — so steer your habitual state upward, not down.
- Verse 8.19Driven by past karma, beings are swept helplessly through endless cycles; true freedom means stepping beyond the wheel entirely.
- Verse 13.22What you cling to shapes where you go — attachment to nature's qualities keeps the wheel of rebirth turning.
Swipe left for 15.9 · Mind and senses shape experience.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 15.8
Who says Bhagavad Gita 15.8, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 15.8, in Chapter 15, Purushottama Yoga (Purushottama Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 15.8 mean?
When the lord of the body obtains a body and when he leaves it, he carries these senses and mind with him, like the wind carrying fragrances from their source. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 15.8 for daily life?
Be careful what impressions you repeatedly create. A person repeatedly feeding anger or devotion forms different inner fragrances.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 15.8 mean?
शरीरम् यत् अवाप्नोति — when it obtains a body; यत् च अपि उत्क्रामति — and when it departs; ईश्वरः — the lord (individual soul); गृहीत्वा एतानि — taking these (senses and mind); संयाति — goes away.
Where does verse 15.8 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 8 of 20 in Chapter 15, Purushottama Yoga. The next verse is 15.9.