Bhagavad-gītā 15.8

Explain simply

Speaker: Śrī Kṛṣṇa

शरीरं यदवाप्नोति यच्चाप्युत्क्रामतीश्वरः ।
गृहीत्वैतानि संयाति वायुर्गन्धानिवाशयात् ॥८॥

śarīraṁ yad avāpnoti
yac cāpy utkrāmatīśvaraḥ
gṛhītvaitāni saṁyāti
vāyur gandhān ivāśayāt

Word for word (synonyms)

śarīram
body
yat
as much as
avāpnoti
gets
yat
that which
ca
also
api
virtually
utkrāmati
gives up
īśvaraḥ
the lord of the body
gṛhītvā
taking
etāni
all these
saṁyāti
goes away
vāyuḥ
air
gandhān
smell
iva
like
āśayāt
from the flower

Translation

The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas.

Purport

Here the living entity is described as īśvara, the controller of his own body. If he likes, he can change his body to a higher grade, and if he likes he can move to a lower class. Minute independence is there. The change his body undergoes depends upon him. At the time of death, the consciousness he has created will carry him on to the next type of body. If he has made his consciousness like that of a cat or dog, he is sure to change to a cat's or dog's body. And, if he has fixed his consciousness on godly qualities, he will change into the form of a demigod. And, if he is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he will be transferred to Kṛṣṇaloka in the spiritual world and will associate with Kṛṣṇa. It is a false claim that after the annihilation of this body everything is finished. The individual soul is transmigrating from one body to another, and his present body and present activities are the background of his next body. One gets a different body according to karma, and he has to quit this body in due course. It is stated here that the subtle body, which carries the conception of the next body, develops another body in the next life. This process of transmigrating from one body to another and struggling while in the body is called karṣati or struggle for existence.

What this verse teaches

Change of the bodies

In thematic compilations 2

Soul and Transmigration

  • The soul in the material world carries one’s different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas. (15.8-9 śarīraṁ yad avāpnoti...)
  • State of consciousness throughout the life is carried to the next body (15.8 śarīraṁ yad avāpnoti...)

Self-control

  • Mind is the center of all sense activities and reservoir of all ideas for sense gratification (15.8-9 śarīraṁ yad avāpnoti...)
Articles on this verse 1

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.