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Chapter 2. Contents of
the Gita Summarized
TEXT 13 dehino 'smin yatha dehe
SYNONYMS  dehinah--of
the embodied; asmin--in this; yatha--as; dehe--in
the body; kaumaram--boyhood; yauvanam--youth; jara--old
age; tatha--similarly; deha-antara--transference of the body;
praptih--achievement;
dhirah--the sober; tatra--thereupon;
na--never; muhyati--deluded.
TRANSLATION As the embodied
soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age,
the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A self-realized soul
is not bewildered by such a change.
PURPORT Since every
living entity is an individual soul, each is changing his body every moment,
manifesting sometimes as a child, sometimes as a youth, and sometimes as
an old man. Yet the same spirit soul is there and does not undergo any
change. This individual soul finally changes the body at death and transmigrates
to another body; and since it is sure to have another body in the next
birth--either material or spiritual--there was no cause for lamentation
by Arjuna on account of death, neither for Bhisma nor for Drona, for whom
he was so much concerned. Rather, he should rejoice for their changing
bodies from old to new ones, thereby rejuvenating their energy. Such changes
of body account for varieties of enjoyment or suffering, according to one's
work in life. So Bhisma and Drona, being noble souls, were surely going
to have either spiritual bodies in the next life, or at least life in heavenly
bodies for superior enjoyment of material existence. So, in either case,
there was no cause of lamentation.
Any man
who has perfect knowledge of the constitution of the individual soul, the
Supersoul, and nature--both material and spiritual--is called a dhira
or a most sober man. Such a man is never deluded by the change of bodies.
The Mayavadi theory of oneness of the spirit soul cannot be entertained
on the ground that the spirit soul cannot be cut into pieces as a fragmental
portion. Such cutting into different individual souls would make the Supreme
cleavable or changeable, against the principle of the Supreme Soul being
unchangeable.
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