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Chapter 02, Verse 13
देहिनोऽस्मिन्यथा देहे कौमारं यौवनं जरा।
तथा देहान्तरा परं यत्त्वा देहि: तदाऽऽन्तरम्॥13॥
dehino smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara।
tatha dehantaram param yatva dehi tadantaram॥13॥
Word-by-Word Analysis
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
|
श्रीभगवानुवाच (sri-bhagavan uvaca) |
The Supreme Lord said: This marks Krishna’s first direct speech in the Bhagavad Gita, where he begins guiding Arjuna. |
|
देहिन: (dehinah) |
The embodied Soul (the one who resides in the body) |
|
अस्मिन (asmin) |
In this (body) |
|
यथा (yatha) |
Just as |
|
देहे (dehe) |
In the body |
|
कौमारं (kaumaram) |
Childhood |
|
यौवनं (yauvanam) |
Youth |
|
जरा (jara) |
Old age |
|
तथा (tatha) |
Similarly |
|
देहान्तरे (dehantare) |
In another body (next body) |
|
परं (param) |
Higher, superior |
|
यत्वा (yathva) |
Having passed (having reached) |
|
देही (dehi) |
The embodied Soul (the eternal soul) |
|
तदा (tada) |
Then |
|
आन्तरम् (antaram) |
The change or transformation |
Translation
“As the boyhood, youth and old age come to the embodied Soul (dehi) in this body, in the same manner, death is certain for the Soul. The wise man does not get deceived at that.”
Context of the Verse
Both of these verses come from Chapter 2, which is the Sankhya Yoga, referring to the Yoga of Knowledge and is the Dialogue between Lord Krishna and Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, the great battle of Dharma. Arjuna is confused and grieves for he does not wish to fight and kill kin. In reply, Lord Krishna gives profound spiritual knowledge.
In this verse Lord Krishna explains that the soul is imperishable. Heights the example of the shape of a human body childhood, youth, old age to explain that as the body takes through all these transitions naturally, likewise when the body perishes, atman leaves it and takes another body again. When the body changes, it does not mean that the soul is lost, it is eternal and unbreakable. The verse is meant to encourage Arjuna not to be afraid of death or destruction, because the soul is beyond physical decay.
This verse sets the tone that life is a journey and that our soul is on a journey going through the different stages in its life, with death being just another stage on a journey from one stage to another. They were all framed to educate the immortality of one’s sole self and to make Arjuna understand that to die is to stop living as one has; the end is merely a passage to another state of existence.
Explanation
The Path of the Soul: The Soul’s Journey through the Body As an individual traverses sequentially the journeys of childhood, youth, and old age over a single lifetime, so too is death just another passage.
Death Krishna explains: The body is in constant flux, while our sense of “I” continues. For example, we do not grieve the loss of our lorikeet child body. We view growth as natural, as just part of the process. Death, after all, is the passage of the soul from one body to the next; we must also accept it. Thus, death is not an end; it is a gateway to more life. The Soul (Atman) Never Dies. The Bhagavad Gita repeatedly emphasizes the difference between the body and the soul. The body gets decayed and eventually perishes with time, but the soul is eternal as it is immortal and imperishable.
In Verse 20 and later in the chapter, Krishna will repeat; the soul is not born and does not die. It is timeless, incorruptible, and immutable. That is the body is born, develops, gets sick, and dies. Yet, the individual soul (Atman) but retains its essence through all transformations. Those who understand this truth (dhirah) are not disturbed by death. Why Shouldn’t We Fear Death? Krishna tells Arjuna (and the rest of us) that we must release the physical body. And death should not be mourned, as the soul is always with us; the soul is, in fact, the immortal abiding agency that simply moves to fill one form and then another. Similarly, when the body becomes unfit, the soul takes a new body. Just as we don’t mourn clearing out old clothes, an enlightened person does not grieve over death.
Modern Science Sanctifies Krishna’s Teaching The body re-generates itself several times in a lifetime. The only major exception are our brain cells, the majority of which come along for the ride throughout our life; almost every cell in our body gets renewed every 7 years. But even with the changes we undergo, we are still the same person. This is in line with what Krishna teaches: The body is in motion, but the soul does not move.
Reincarnation, Near-Death Experiences (NDEs): Numerous documented cases of people recalling past lives, as well as near-death experiences (NDEs), suggest consciousness endures after the physical body dies. The reincarnation researcher Dr. Ian Stevenson found that some people he studied whose past lives they remember had corroborated along those lines. Which statement is a confirmation of Krishna’s statement that the soul takes birth after death.
The Application of this Verse in Real Life
The Wisdom on Death: Fear of Death after incorporating this verse is gone. Life does end with death, the death of the physical body; but that is not the end of life.
Ride the Cycle: Realizing that we are not a physical entity but we are the soul. The sensations of physical pain, aging, and loss are transient.
Life is a Journey of the Soul, Spirituality: Knowledge, virtue, and devotion are the three things at present.
According to the words of Krishna in Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 13, death is only another state of man in their journey of the soul, the same way childhood is the state of youth. This absolutely incredible teaching is working to free us from fear and attachment and to guide us toward finding and experiencing something beyond the material world. The Dhirah that the body is subject to decay and death but the soul is eternal and indestructible. So, do not grieve death, rather aim for that in spiritual life.
This verse is followed by Krishna’s discussions on Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, and Bhakti Yoga; subtle nudgings towards wisdom and self-realization on the part of Arjuna.
Chapter 02, Verse 14
मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः।
आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत॥14॥
matra-sparsas tu kaunteya shitoshna-sukha-duhkha-dah।
agamapayino nityas tams titikshasva bharata॥14॥
Word-by-Word Analysis
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
|
मात्रा-स्पर्शाः (matra-sparsah) |
Contact of the senses (with objects) |
|
तु (tu) |
But |
|
कौन्तेय (kaunteya) |
O son of Kunti (Arjuna) |
|
शीत (sita) |
Cold |
|
उष्ण (usna) |
Heat |
|
सुख (sukha) |
Pleasure |
|
दुःखदाः (duhkha-dah) |
Givers of pain |
|
आगम (agama) |
Arise |
|
अपायिनः (apayinah) |
Disappear |
|
अनित्याः (anityah) |
Temporary (impermanent) |
|
तान् (tan) |
Those |
|
तितिक्षस्व (titikshasva) |
Endure |
|
भारत (Bharata) |
O descendant of Bharata (Arjuna) |
Translation
O son of Kunti, the senses with their objects coming into contact afflict the soul; thereby, you feel the experience of heat and cold, pleasure and pain. These are ephemeral, waxing and waning like the seasons. So endure with fortitude these O Arjuna.
Context of the Verse
The above verse is part of the flow of the dialogue from Krishna to Arjuna in Chapter 2 when Krishna gives a proper perspective on the real nature of the eternal soul (atman) and the temporary and contextual nature of bodily experiences.
Krishna says that sensations like heat, cold, pleasure and pain arise from the contact of the sense organs with the outside objects. They’re not in concrete and will evolve in time. All sensations, like seasons, rise and fade. They are transient and should therefore not trouble the mind. Krishna teaches Arjuna to cultivate titiksa (forbearance) and remain unaffected with a balanced mind in these ephemeral changes. You are an observer from a distance which sounds like a cliché in spiritual practice but is a lesson, too! in both the way to master hard feelings and how not to overidentify with contingent phenomena.
This shloka is the foundation of vairagya (detachment) and of samatvam (mental equilibrium), a critical tenet of Bhagavad Gita’s philosophy.
Explanation
So, yes, although intellectually we may understand, I am not the body, still we feel the pangs of the body. It is most difficult to have practical realization, which requires the high progress of spiritual life. However, there is a step that, like when a person wakes up from a dream, does not affect the disasters of the dream. He knows that I am not the body of dream. Such a state of wakefulness. Self-realization can also happen but that is a very most advanced stage. All those days’ a soul has to here ‘Tance tity, shaper Bharata’ as instructed by Lord Krishna.
Since the material authorities are unable to assist and provide timely solutions, so the material side of an individual ends up dealing with the spiritual aspect which is now the spiritual professionals’ arena. Ask “What is your material desire?” And I will fulfil it. I will heals your disease, your toothache and these are spirituality. Arjuna was in distress, and Krishna didn’t tell Arjuna. OK, Arjun, no problem. You sit I’ll fight for you dignity. Or pop this rash-fuelled pill and hurl it at an enemy. Enemy will get destroyed. No Krishna told. Such is the nature of the material world. Action and reactions continue as long as there exists someone in the body like you feel heat and cold summer and winter season. They come and go. Just like pleasure and pain is characteristic of this material. We believe that if I make a few changes in my life, everything will be fine in my life and I will be happy which is not true.
As long as one is not overly advanced, there in practical experience one can truly understand that I am not the body which one has to endure. ‘Transiti, Shasha Bharata’, to tolerate for what? For spiritual life we do our spiritual obligations. Then as per the duties, just as it is mentioned in the Vedas, one must get up early, wash and take bath in the cold water. Now such bath must be taken even in winter season.
So this is what that sort of call looks like. They say that you will bring a fast on some certain days of the month. If you fast then hunger will break you at 5 o’clock. But one has to tolerate. That is called tapasya. Thus, this is why, one has to learn the art to cope with such material dualities as one goes through the performing of the spiritual duties.