Bhagavad-gita 2.22 Soul changes body like a person changes garments

vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya navani grhnati naro 'parani
tatha sarirani vihaya jirnany anyani samyati navani dehi ... BG 2.22
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.

Change of body by the atomic individual soul is an accepted fact. After old age, the soul is transferred to another body. Transference of the atomic soul to another body is made possible by the grace of the Supersoul.

There are two kinds of souls - namely the minute particle soul (jivatma or anu-atma - limited in quality) and the Supersoul (Paramatma or vibhu-atma - unlimited in quality). This is also confirmed in Katha Upanishad (1.2.20) that states that both the Supersoul and the atomic soul are situated on the same tree of the body within the same heart of the living being. The Supersoul fulfills the desire of the atomic soul as one friend fulfills the desire of another.

In Mundaka Upanisha (3.1.1 & 3.1.2) and Svetasvatara Upanishad (4.6 & 4.7), soul and Supersoul are compared to two friendly birds sitting on the same tree. Of these two birds, one is captivated by the fruits of the material tree while the other is simply witnessing the activities of His friend.

Although they are friends, one is the Master and the other the servant. Forgetfulness of this relationship by the atomic soul is the cause of one's changing his position from one tree to another or from one body to another. This makes the atomic soul struggle very hard engrossed with anxiety and moroseness as the enjoyer of the fruits of the tree or of the material body.

As soon as the atomic soul agrees to accept the other bird as the supreme spiritual master the subordinate bird understand the glories of the Supersoul and becomes free from material desires and lamentations.

Krsna is the fountainhead of the Supersoul and Arjuna is the atomic soul, forgetful of his real nature. Krsna is like the witnessing bird and Arjuna the eating bird. Therefore Arjuna required to be enlightened by Krsna. Since Arjuna had turned his face towards his eternal friend, Krsna, he was understanding the Bhagavad-gita from Him and becoming free from lamentation.

Bhagavad-gita 2.18 - 2.21 Soul is unborn, eternal and does not die unlike the body

Material body is sure to come to an end. It is perishable in nature. It may perish immediately or after many years. It cannot be protected permanently or maintained indefinitely.

Spirit soul is immeasurable (aprameyasya), indestructible (anasinah) and eternal (nitya). Its dimension is extremely small to be measured and cannot be seen. Lord states "ukta" since this knowledge is authorized in Vedic literatures and ascertained by authorities (acarya).

Soul cannot be killed. When an embodied living entity is hurt by fatal weapon, the living entity within the body is not killed. It is only the body that gets killed. Soul is not slain when the body is slain. na hanyate hanyamane sarire.

Killing of the human body or animal slaughter is not encouraged by Vedic injunction. Also, killing of body without authority is abominable and punishable by the law of the state and the law of the Lord. In Manu-samhita lawbook for mankind, a murderer is supposed to be condemned to death so that in his next life he will not suffer for the great sin he has committed.

Arjuna however was engaged in killing for the principle of religion and hence was advised to fight. For the administration of justice, violence committed in the act of fighting under instructions from Krsna is permitted. This is similar to a surgical operation meant to cure a patient and not kill him.

For the soul, there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being and will not come into being. He has no past, present or future. He is unborn (ajah), eternal (nitya), ever-existing (sasvatah), primeval (puranah) and immutable (avyayam).

The soul is called steady or kuta-stha. The changes in the body do not affect the soul. He does not grow nor does he deteriorate like a tree. He does not become old as the body does. The soul also has no by-product or off-shoots. Body on the other hand appears to have by-products or children. However, even a child has different individual soul and the body develops because of the presence of soul.

In Vedanta-sutra the living entity is qualified as light because he is part and parcel of the supreme light or Supreme Spirit. As sunlight maintains the entire universe, spirit soul maintains the material body. As soon as the spirit soul is out of the material body, the body begins to decompose. Therefore it is the spirit soul which maintains the body.

Bhagavad-gita 2.17 Soul is perceived through consciousness pervading the body

avinasi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idam tatam … BG 2.17 Consciousness is spread all over the body. Real nature of soul is perceived from this consciousness, which is the symptom of soul’s presence. sarvam means all over the body and tatam means pervaded. Consciousness pervades all over the body because of the soul.

Individual soul - Each and every living body is the embodiment of an individual soul. Everyone is conscious of the pains and pleasures of the body in part or as a whole. This spreading of consciousness is limited within one’s own body. The pains and pleasure of one body is unknown to another. Symptom of the soul’s presence is therefore perceived as individual consciousness.

Influence of the spirit soul is spread all over the body just as the active principle of some medicine spreads throughout the body. This influence is felt all over the body as consciousness. Therefore consciousness is the proof of the presence of the soul.

Size of soul is described in Svetasvatara Upanishad as one-ten-thousandth part of the upper portion of the hair point. When the upper point of a hair is divided into 100 parts and again each of such parts is further divided into 100 parts, each such part is the measurement of the dimension of the spirit soul. These individual particles of spirit soul are spiritual atoms. Such spiritual atoms are smaller than material atoms.

Innumerable - Spiritual atoms are innumerable in number. Soul is like very small spiritual spark emanating from fire. This is the basic principle of the material body. There are 84 Lakh different species in the material world having different bodily structure. Each body is embodied by individual spirit soul.

The atomic particles of the spirit whole are compared to the sunshine molecules. In the sunshine there are innumerable radiant molecules. Similarly, the fragmental parts of the Supreme Lord are atomic sparks or prabha of the rays of the Supreme Lord.

Location - As per Mundaka Upanishad, the atomic soul is floating in the five kinds of life air (prana, apana, vyana, samana and udana). It is situated within the heart and spreads its influence all over the body of the embodied living entities. When the soul is purified from the contamination of the five kinds of life air, its spiritual influence is exhibited. In hatha yoga, the five kinds of air encircling the soul are controlled by different kinds of postures. This liberates the minute soul from the entanglement of the material atmosphere.

Material scientists - Atomic soul can be perceived by perfect intelligence. Because the measurement of the atomic soul is beyond the power of appreciation of the material scientists, some of them assert that there is no soul. Medical science however admits that the heart is the seat of all energies of the body. They recognize the importance of red corpuscles of blood but they cannot ascertain that the source of the energy is the soul. The corpuscles which carry oxygen from the lungs to the cells of the body gather energy from the soul.

Example of SUN - Soul is full of knowledge or consciousness. Even if one does not find the soul within the heart, one can still understand the presence of the soul simply by the presence of consciousness. Sometimes we do not find the sun in the sky owing to clouds but the light of the sun is always there are we are convinced that it is daytime. As soon as there is little light early in the morning, we can understand that the sun is in the sky. Similarly, since there is consciousness in all bodies – whether human or animal – we can understand the presence of the soul.

Bhagavad-gita 2.16 Seers of truth know the difference between matter and spirit

Seers of truth have concluded that there is no endurance of the non-existent material body and there is no change of the eternal soul.

As per modern medical science, body is changing every moment by the actions and reactions of different cells and thus growth and old age are taking place in the body. Spirit soul exists permanently, remaining the same despite all changes of the body and mind.

jyotimsi visnur bhuvanaani visnuh … Visnu Purana (2.12.38)
Visnu and His abodes have self-illuminated spiritual existence. Hence spiritual world is existent unlike non-existent material world.

This is the beginning of the instruction of the Lord to the living entities who are bewildered by the influence of ignorance. Removal of ignorance involves thorough study of oneself, re-establishing the eternal relationship between oneself as worshipper and Supreme Personality of Godhead as worshipable and understanding the difference between part-and-parcel living entities and the Supreme whole. 

In the Vedanta-sutra as well as the Srimad Bhagavatam, the Supreme has been accepted as the origin of all emanations which are experienced by superior living entities and inferior natural sequences. The Supreme is accepted as energetic and material nature or energy is accepted as subordinate to the Supreme Lord. Hence He is the source of all knowledge. Lord Krishna therefore teaches the Bhagavad-gita for the enlightenment of all living entities for all times.

Bhagavad-gita 2.14 – 2.15 Seers discharge proper duty indifferent to happiness and distress

As per Vedic civilization, discharge of proper duty must follow prescribed rules and regulations of religious principles. Seers of truth who are best among men consistently discharge their duties properly. They rise to the platform of knowledge and become eligible to liberate themselves from the clutches of maya (illusion) and material bondage.

Such elevated persons learn to tolerate non-permanent appearances of happiness and distress during proper discharge of duty. They are not disturbed by the onslaughts of happiness and distress and remain steady in their determination to attain advanced stage of spiritual realization.

The nonpermanent appearance and disappearance of happiness and distress are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.

According to Vedic injunction, one has to take bath early in the morning even during cold winter. A woman does not hesitate to cook in the kitchen even during hot summer. Therefore, one has to execute his duty in spite of climatic inconveniences.

As per varnasrama principle, one has to fight as a ksatriya even if the enemy is some friend or relative. Arjuna was therefore advised by Lord Sri Krishna to discharge his duties without disturbance. Arjuna’s heritage from both his parent’s sides made him responsible to not avoid fighting.

One who is serious about making his life perfect adopts the sannyasa order in spite of difficulties that arise from severing family relationships and from giving up connections with wife and children. Lord Caitanya took sannyasa at the age of 24 leaving his dependent wife and old mother showing the example of how to be steady in the discharge of higher duties.

Bhagavad-gita 2.13 Lord Krishna explains that Soul transmigrates while body changes

dehino ‘smin yatha dehe … Lord continued explaining about the embodied soul. As the soul continually passes, in the body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death.

The body continuously changes between birth and old age while the spirit soul remains unchanged. There are six stages of changes in body - birth, child, youth, adult, old age, death. The individual soul however does not transform and finally changes the body at death and transmigrates to another body. Since soul is certain to obtain another body, there was no reason to lament on account of an individual’s death.

A dhira or sober person has perfect knowledge of the individual soul and is not deluded by the change of bodies. He knows that the soul is a fragmental portion of the Supreme and remains the same fragmental throughout his conditioned life. Once liberated, he continues to be fragmental and lives an eternal life in knowledge and bliss with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

A dhira also knows that Supersoul or paramatma is present in each and every individual body along with the individual soul. The Supersoul is different from the individual living entity. When the sky is reflected in water, the reflections represent the sun or the moon and the stars as well. The stars can be compared to the living entities and the sun or moon to the Supreme Lord.

The individual fragmental spirit soul is represented by Arjuna and the Supreme Soul is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna.

Bhagavad-gita 2.12 Lord Krishna states that Soul remains Eternal for every Individual

Lord Sri Krishna said – Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor Arjuna, nor all the kings in the battlefield; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.

The Lord clearly stated that He Himself, His associate Arjuna and all the kings who were assembled on the battlefield were eternally individual beings. It is not that they did not exist as individuals in the past, and it is not that they will not remain eternal persons in future. Hence there was no cause for lamentation for anyone.

As confirmed by the Vedas, the Lord is eternally the maintainer of every individual living entities both in their conditioned as well as in their liberated situations. Hence this principle is applicable for every individual. Lord Krishna as the Supreme authority does not support the theory that after liberation the individual soul, separated by the covering of maya or illusion, merges into the impersonal Brahman and loses its individual existence.

Lord Krishna’s statement is authoritative because He is no ordinary personality. He is beyond the four common defects of human frailty – to commit mistakes, to be under illusion, propensity to cheat and be cheated and to have imperfect senses. The conclusion that soul is individual and eternal is confirmed by great acaryas like Sri Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya and others.

A devotee can understand the mysticism of Bhagavad-gita because he accepts Lord Krishna. A non-devotee envies the very existence of the Lord and his understanding of Gita is like licking a bottle of honey, without actually getting the taste of honey. Just like one can have a taste of honey once one opens the bottle, similarly one can understand Bhagavad-gita if one accepts Lord Krishna as Supreme and eternal and all souls as His fragmental parts and individually eternal.

Bhagavad-gita 2.10 – 2.11 Lord Sri Krishna begins rendering Bhagavad-gita

Lord Sri Krishna began rendering Bhagavad-gita to the grief-stricken Arjuna. As Hrsikesa, the controller of senses, the Lord began delivering the Absolute principles to wipe out the lamentation of His disciple. Arjuna had voluntarily become a student of his Friend and Lord Sri Krishna at once assumed the role of Spiritual Master. The talks were openly exchanged in the presence of both armies for the benefit of all.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead chastised the student calling him indirectly a fool. Arjuna was talking like a learned man but was indeed ignorant. Arjuna argued that religious principles should be given more importance than politics and sociology but he did not know that knowledge of matter, soul and the Supreme is even more important than religious formalities.

Arjuna was lacking in knowledge and hence he was lamenting for something worthless. The body is born and gets destroyed ultimately; hence the body is temporary and not as important as the soul. Learned is one who knows the difference between body and soul and does not lament for the living or death of the body.

Lord revealed Sankhya philosophy on what is body and what is soul in verses 2.11 – 2.30 while explaining why Arjuna should not grieve for any living being. Principles of body and soul applied to even Bhismadeva and Dronacarya. There was no cause for lamentation regardless of the condition of their material body.

There are different stages of knowledge - pratyaksa, aparoksa, pratyaksa paroksa aparokṣa, adhoksaja, aprakṛta. In the gross bodily platform we demand pratyaksa-jnanam which means direct perception. So-called scientists believe in pratyaksa praman or experimental knowledge based on gross sense perception. Knowledge acquired in the bodily platform through direct perception is not real knowledge. God is not a subject matter that one can see with pratyakṣa direct perception. God's another name is anubhava and is realized in aparokṣa stage. Just like we do not see the sun directly in a room during daytime although we know that there is the sun. He can be estimated from His creation. Further consciousness about Lord Sri Krishna means adhokṣaja and aprakṛta that is beyond the senses. Anubhava can therefore be obtained through sruti or srota-pantha or hearing from vedic literature as rendered by bona-fide spiritual master. This process as exibited by Bhagavad-gita can dissipate ignorance.

Bhagavad-gita 2.4 – 2.9 Arjuna remains perplexed and surrenders to Lord Krishna for solution

Arjuna repeated his arguments for not fighting. Respectable superiors like Bhisma the grandfather and Dronacarya, the teacher are always worshipable. Even if they attack, they should not be counterattacked. It is general etiquette that superiors are not to be harshly treated even if they are sometimes harsh in behaviour.

Arjuna claimed that it would be better to live in this world by begging than to live at the cost of lives of great souls. Even though desiring worldly gain, they were superiors. If they were killed, the victory would be tainted with blood. He even did not care to live. Arjuna was pious in nature and did not yearn for unwnated victory.

Arjuna then accepted - kärpanya-dosopahata-svabhävah – “Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of miserly weakness. I am asking You to tell me for certain what is best for me.”

He understood that he had become “krpanah” or miserly. Such persons waste their time in being overly affectionate for family, society, country, etc., in the material conception of life. This is like “skin disease.” The krpanah thinks that he is able to protect his family members from death; or that his family or society can in turn save him from the verge of death. Such family attachment can be found even in animals.

Being intelligent, Arjuna could understand that his affection for family members and his wish to protect them from death were the causes of his perplexities. He understood that he could not discharge his duties on account of miserly weakness. He however realized that he could not solve his real problem on his own. No motivation like an unrivaled kingdom on earth or supremacy like that of the demigods in the heavenly planets could make him change his mind. He therefore needed a definite solution, a definite help to remove his lamentation.

sisyas te ‘ham sädhi mäm tväm prapannam - Arjuna therefore offers himself as a disciple to Lord Krishna, the supreme spiritual master. Before the war Arjuna knew Krishna as his friend, relative and age-mate. But now he wanted to stop friendly talks. Arjuna wanted to talk very seriously before the recognized spiritual master. He resolved - na yotsya iti govindam – “Govinda I shall not fight” and surrendered unto the Lord for true knowledge.

Bhagavad-gita 2.2-3 Lord Krishna chastised Arjuna because of his weak behaviour

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna said – kutas tva kasmalam idam - My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you? They are not at all befitting a man who knows the value of life.

In the presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Arjuna’s lamentation of his kinsmen is certainly unbecoming, and therefore Lord Krishna expressed His surprise at such non-Aryan like behaviour. An Aryan knows the value of life and follows varnasrama civilization based on spiritual realization. Arjuna was a ksatriya and was deviating from his prescribed duties by declining to fight. This act of cowardice is described as befitting the non-Aryans.

Lord Krishna did not approve of the so-called compassion or false magnanimity of Arjuna for his kinsmen. People do not know where compassion should be applied. Material compassion, lamentation and tears are all signs of ignorance of the real self. Compassion for the eternal soul is self-realization.

For example, compassion for the dress of the drowning man is senseless. Outward dress is compared to the gross material body. A man fallen in the ocean of nescience cannot be saved simply by rescuing his outward dress or the gross material body. One who does not know this and laments for the outward dress is called a sudra or one who laments unnecessarily. Such a person does not attain opulences but only infamy.

Lord Krishna further chastises Arjuna - klaibyam mä sma gamah pärtha - do not yield to this degrading impotence. Only a Friend can call His friend impotent. Arjuna was being guided by the Lord Himself to overcome his weakness and to reveal the knowledge of liberation from material bondage.

Six Opulences of Sri Bhagavan or Supreme Personality of Godhead

The Sankskrit word Bhagavan is explained by the great authority Parasara Muni, the father of Vyasadeva.

aiswarasya samägrasya viryasya yasasah sriyah
jnäna vairägyayos caiva sannam bhaga itingana … Visnu Purana 6.5.47

The Supreme Personality who possesses all aiswarya or riches, all virya or strength, all yasa or fame, all sri or beauty, all jnana or knowledge and all vairagya or renunciation is called Bhagavan.

There are many persons who are very rich, very powerful, very beautiful, very famous, very learned and very much detached, but no one can claim that he possesses all riches, all strength etc. entirely. Only Lord Krishna can claim this because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. No living entity, including Brahma, Lord Shiva or Narayana, can possess all opulences as fully as Krishna.

It is concluded in the Brahma-samhita by Lord Brahma himself that Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. No one is equal to or above Him. He is the primeval Lord, or Bhagavan, known as Govinda, and He is the supreme cause of all causes.

In the Srimad Bhagavatam also there is a list of many incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but Lord Krishna is described as the original Personality of Godhead, from whom many, many incarnations and Personalities of Godhead expand.

Acaryas including Adi Sankaracarya, Ramanujacarya, Madhavacarya and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself have accepted Lord Krishna or Govinda as the Supreme Personality of Godhead or Bhagavan.

Bhagavad-gita Chapter-2 Lord Sri Krishna begins speaking Bhagavad-gita

Bhagavad-gita Chapter-2 is a summary of the gita itself. After presenting the condition of living beings - both good and bad - in Chapter-1, Lord Sri Krishna reveals the essence of Bhagavad-gita in Chapter-2.

uväca madhusudanah - Lord Madhusudana or Lord Krishna begins speaking Bhagavad-gita … BG 2.1
sri-bhagavän uväca – The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna said … BG 2.2

Lord Krishna and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are identical. Therefore Lord Krishna is referred to as Bhagavan throughout the Gita. Bhagavan is the ultimate in the Absolute Truth. Absolute Truth is realized in three phases of understanding as explained by Srimad Bhagavatam, namely - Brahman or the impersonal all pervasive spirit, Paramatma or the localized aspect of the Supreme within the heart of all living entities, and Bhagavan or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna.

The three divine aspects of Sri Bhagavan can be explained by the example of the sun, which also has three different aspects, namely - the sunshine, the sun’s surface and the sun planet itself.

One who studies the sunshine only is the preliminary student. Ordinary students who are satisfied by simply understanding the sunshine – its universal pervasiveness and the glaring effulgence of its impersonal nature – may be compared to those who realize only the Brahman feature of the Absolute Truth. This is the realization of brahmajyoti or effulgence emanating from the Lord.

One who understands the sun’s surface is further advanced. The student who has advanced still further can know the sun disc, which is compared to knowledge of the Paramatma feature of the Absolute Truth. This is the realization of Supersoul in the heart and the all-pervasiveness of the Lord in all living and non-living entities.

One who can enter into the sun planet is the highest. Such student who can enter into the heart of the sun planet is compared to those who realize the personal features of the Supreme Absolute Truth. This is the realization of the relationship with the Lord as His servant, friend, parent or paramour.

The sunshine, the sun disc and the inner affairs of the sun planet cannot be separated from one another, and yet the students of the three different phases are not in the same category. Therefore, the bhakta or the transcendentalist who has realized the Bhagavan feature of the Absolute Truth is the topmost.