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Chapter 2. Contents of the Gita Summarized TEXT 22 vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya
SYNONYMS  vasamsi--garments;
jirnani--old
and worn out; yatha--as it is; vihaya--giving up; navani--new
garments; grhnati--does accept; narah--a man; aparani--other;
tatha--in the same way; sarirani--bodies;
vihaya--giving
up; jirnani--old and useless; anyani--different;
samyati--verily
accepts; navani--new sets; dehi--the embodied.
TRANSLATION As a person
puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the soul accepts new
material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.
PURPORT Change of body
by the atomic individual soul is an accepted fact. Even some of the modern
scientists who do not believe in the existence of the soul, but at the
same time cannot explain the source of energy from the heart, have to accept
continuous changes of body which appear from childhood to boyhood and from
boyhood to youth and again from youth to old age. From old age, the change
is transferred to another body. This has already been explained in the
previous verse.
Transference
of the atomic individual soul to another body is made possible by the grace
of the Supersoul. The Supersoul fulfills the desire of the atomic soul
as one friend fulfills the desire of another. The Vedas, like the
Mundaka
Upanisad, as well as the Svetasvatara Upanisad, compare the
soul and the Supersoul to two friendly birds sitting on the same tree.
One of the birds (the individual atomic soul) is eating the fruit of the
tree, and the other bird (Krsna) is simply watching His friend. Of these
two birds--although they are the same in quality--one is captivated by
the fruits of the material tree, while the other is simply witnessing the
activities of His friend. Krsna is the witnessing bird, and Arjuna is the
eating bird. Although they are friends, one is still the master and the
other is 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. The jiva soul is struggling very hard
on the tree of the material body, but as soon as he agrees to accept the
other bird as the supreme spiritual master--as Arjuna agreed to do by voluntary
surrender unto Krsna for instruction--the subordinate bird immediately
becomes free from all lamentations. Both the Katha Upanisad and
Svetasvatara
Upanisad confirm this:
samane vrkse puruso nimagno
"Although the
two birds are in the same tree, the eating bird is fully engrossed with
anxiety and moroseness as the enjoyer of the fruits of the tree. But if
in some way or other he turns his face to his friend who is the Lord and
knows His glories--at once the suffering bird becomes free from all anxieties."
Arjuna has now turned his face towards his eternal friend, Krsna, and is
understanding the Bhagavad-gita from Him. And thus, hearing from
Krsna, he can understand the supreme glories of the Lord and be free from
lamentation.
Arjuna is
advised herewith by the Lord not to lament for the bodily change of his
old grandfather and his teacher. He should rather be happy to kill their
bodies in the righteous fight so that they may be cleansed at once of all
reactions from various bodily activities. One who lays down his life on
the sacrificial altar, or in the proper battlefield, is at once cleansed
of bodily reactions and promoted to a higher status of life. So there was
no cause for Arjuna's lamentation.
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