Bhagavad Gita 15.8
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 8 of 20
शरीरं यद् अवाप्नोति यच् चाप्य् उत्क्रामतेश्वरः । गृहीत्वैतानि संयाति वायुर् गन्धान् इवाशयात् ॥
śarīraṃ yad avāpnoti yac cāpy utkrāmateśvaraḥ | gṛhītvaitāni saṃyāti vāyur gandhān ivāśayāt ||
Like wind carrying fragrance, the jīva takes its 6-sense apparatus from body to body through each birth and death.
Word by word (3)
- śarīraṃ yad avāpnoti yac cāpy utkrāmateśvaraḥ
- — whenever the lord/ruler (īśvara — here = jīvātmā as ruler of the body) obtains (avāpnoti) a body OR departs from it (utkrāmate) — birth and death described
- gṛhītvaitāni saṃyāti
- — taking these (etāni — the 6-sense apparatus from V7) along (gṛhītvā), he goes (saṃyāti) — the jīva carries the subtle sense-instrument through births
- vāyur gandhān ivāśayāt
- — as the wind (vāyu) carries fragrances (gandhān) from their source/seat (āśayāt) — the simile: invisible carrier, real cargo
When the lord (the individual soul) obtains a body and when it departs from that body, it travels carrying these senses — just as the wind carries fragrances away from flowers.
A modern analogy
When you move houses, the house itself doesn't travel — but you carry your furniture, memories, and habits with you. Similarly, the physical body is left behind at death, but the 'furniture' of the subtle body — the conditioned senses and mind-impressions — travels with the jīva to the next birth.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
When the Lord acquires a body, and when He leaves it, He takes these and goes, as the wind takes scents from their seats. [1]
When the Lord obtains a body and when He leaves it, He takes these and goes, as the wind takes the scents from their seats (the flowers). [4]
Whenever the ruler (of the bodily frame) obtains or quits a body, he goes taking these (with him) as the wind (takes) perfumes from their seats. [9]
Whenever the ruler (of the bodily frame) obtains or quits a body, he goes taking these (with him) as the wind (takes) perfumes from their seats. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
You have always existed. You will always exist. There was no time before you, and there will be no time without you.
The trouble of those whose minds cling to the Unmanifest is GREATER — that viewless path is very hard for the embodied!
Ever-content, ever-yoked, self-controlled, firm in resolve, mind-intellect offered to Me — he is My dear devotee!
From all wombs all bodies arise — but the great Brahman is the womb and Krishna the seed-giving Father.
The jīva is an eternal fragment of Me — drawing the 6-sense apparatus (5 senses + mind) toward itself in Prakṛti.
Self-complacent, stubborn, wealth-proud — they perform name-only sacrifices, ostentatiously ignoring śāstric ordinance.
Verse 8 of 20 · back to Chapter 15