Bhagavad-gita As It Is - Macmillan 1972 Edition -- Prabhupada Books (17 page)

Bg 2.22

TEXT 22

TEXT

vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya

navāni gṛhṇāti naro 'parāṇi

tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāny

anyāni saṁyāti navāni dehī

SYNONYMS

vāsāṁsi-
garments;
jīrṇāni-
old and worn out;
yathā-
as it is;
vihāya-
giving up;
navāni-
new garments;
gṛhṇāti-
does accept;
naraḥ-
a man;
aparāṇi-
other;
tathā-
in the same way;
śarīrāṇi-
bodies;
vihāya-
giving up;
jīrṇāni-
old and useless;
anyāni-
different;
saṁyāti-
verily accepts;
navāni-
new sets;
dehī-
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
Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad,
as well as the
Śvetāśvatara 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 (Kṛṣṇa) 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. Kṛṣṇa 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
jīva
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 Kṛṣṇa for instruction-the subordinate bird immediately becomes free from all lamentations. Both the
Kaṭha Upaniṣad
and
Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad
confirm this:

samāne vṛkṣe puruṣo nimagno
'nīśayā śocati muhyamānaḥ
juṣṭaṁ yadā paśyaty anyam īśam asya
mahimānam iti vīta-śokaḥ

"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, Kṛṣṇa, and is understanding the
Bhagavad-gītā
from Him. And thus, hearing from Kṛṣṇa, 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.

Bg 2.23

TEXT 23

TEXT

nainaṁ chindanti śastrāṇi

nainaṁ dahati pāvakaḥ

na cainaṁ kledayanty āpo

na śoṣayati mārutaḥ

SYNONYMS

na-
never;
enam-
unto this soul;
chindanti-
can cut into pieces;
śastrāṇi -
all weapons;
na-
never;
enam-
unto this soul;
dahati-
burns;
pāvakaḥ-
fire;
na-
never;
ca-
also;
enam-
unto this soul;
kledayanti-
moistens;
āpaḥ
-water;
na-
never;
śoṣayati-
dries;
mārutaḥ-
wind.

TRANSLATION

The soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon, nor can he be burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.

PURPORT

All kinds of weapons, swords, flames, rains, tornadoes, etc., are unable to kill the spirit soul. It appears that there were many kinds of weapons made of earth, water, air, ether, etc., in addition to the modern weapons of fire. Even the nuclear weapons of the modern age are classified as fire weapons, but formerly there were other weapons made of all different types of material elements. Firearms were counteracted by water weapons, which are now unknown to modern science. Nor do modern scientists have knowledge of tornado weapons. Nonetheless, the soul can never be cut into pieces, nor annihilated by any number of weapons, regardless of scientific devices.

Nor was it ever possible to cut the individual souls from the original Soul. The Māyāvādī, however, cannot describe how the individual soul evolved from ignorance and consequently became covered by illusory energy. Because they are atomic individual souls
(sanātana)
eternally, they are prone to be covered by the illusory energy, and thus they become separated from the association of the Supreme Lord, just as the sparks of the fire, although one in quality with the fire, are prone to be extinguished when out of the fire. In the
Varāha Purāṇa,
the living entities are described as separated parts and parcels of the Supreme. They are eternally so, according to the
Bhagavad-gītā
also. So, even after being liberated from illusion, the living entity remains a separate identity, as is evident from the teachings of the Lord to Arjuna. Arjuna became liberated by the knowledge received from Kṛṣṇa, but he never became one with Kṛṣṇa.

Bg 2.24

TEXT 24

TEXT

acchedyo 'yam adāhyo 'yam

akledyo 'śoṣya eva ca

nityaḥ sarva-gataḥ sthāṇur

acalo 'yaṁ sanātanaḥ

SYNONYMS

acchedyaḥ-
unbreakable;
ayam-
this soul;
adāhyaḥ-
cannot be burned;
ayam-
this soul;
akledyaḥ-
insoluble;
aśoṣyaḥ-
cannot be dried;
eva-
certainly;
ca-
and;
nityaḥ-
everlasting;
sarva-gataḥ-
all-pervading;
sthāṇuḥ-
unchangeable;
acalaḥ-
immovable;
ayam-
this soul;
sanātanaḥ-
eternally the same.

TRANSLATION

This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, all-pervading, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same.

PURPORT

All these qualifications of the atomic soul definitely prove that the individual soul is eternally the atomic particle of the spirit whole, and he remains the same atom eternally, without change. The theory of monism is very difficult to apply in this case, because the individual soul is never expected to become one homogeneously. After liberation from material contamination, the atomic soul may prefer to remain as a spiritual spark in the effulgent rays of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the intelligent souls enter into the spiritual planets to associate with the Personality of Godhead.

The word
sarva-gataḥ
(all-pervading) is significant because there is no doubt that living entities are all over God's creation. They live on the land, in the water, in the air, within the earth and even within fire. The belief that they are sterilized in fire is not acceptable, because it is clearly stated here that the soul cannot be burned by fire. Therefore, there is no doubt that there are living entities also in the sun planet with suitable bodies to live there. If the sun globe is uninhabited, then the word
sarva-gataḥ
-living everywhere-becomes meaningless.

Bg 2.25

TEXT 25

TEXT

avyakto 'yam acintyo 'yam

avikāryo 'yam ucyate

tasmād evaṁ viditvainaṁ

nānuśocitum arhasi

SYNONYMS

avyaktaḥ-
invisible;
ayam-
this soul;
acintyaḥ-
inconceivable;
ayam-
this soul;
avikāryaḥ-
unchangeable;
ayam-
this soul;
ucyate-
is said;
tasmāt-
therefore;
evam-
like this;
viditvā-
knowing it well;
enam-
this soul;
na-
do not;
anuśocitum-
may lament over;
arhasi-
you deserve.

TRANSLATION

It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable, immutable, and unchangeable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body.

PURPORT

As described previously, the magnitude of the soul is so small for our material calculation that he cannot be seen even by the most powerful microscope; therefore, he is invisible. As far as the soul's existence is concerned, no one can establish his existence experimentally beyond the proof of
śruti
or Vedic wisdom. We have to accept this truth, because there is no other source of understanding the existence of the soul, although it is a fact by perception. There are many things we have to accept solely on grounds of superior authority. No one can deny the existence of his father, based upon the authority of his mother. There is no other source of understanding the identity of the father except by the authority of the mother. Similarly, there is no other source of understanding the soul except by studying the
Vedas.
In other words, the soul is inconceivable by human experimental knowledge. The soul is consciousness and conscious-that also is the statement of the
Vedas,
and we have to accept that. Unlike the bodily changes, there is no change in the soul. As eternally unchangeable, the soul remains atomic in comparison to the infinite Supreme Soul. The Supreme Soul is infinite, and the atomic soul is infinitesimal. Therefore, the infinitesimal soul, being unchangeable, can never become equal to the infinite soul, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This concept is repeated in the
Vedas
in different ways just to confirm the stability of the conception of the soul. Repetition of something is necessary in order that we understand the matter thoroughly without error.

Bg 2.26

TEXT 26

TEXT

atha cainaṁ nitya-jātaṁ

nityaṁ vā manyase mṛtam

tathāpi tvaṁ mahā-bāho

nainaṁ śocitum arhasi

SYNONYMS

atha-
if, however;
ca-
also;
enam-
this soul;
nitya-jātam-
always born;
nityam-
forever;
vā-
either;
manyase-
so think;
mṛtam-
dead;
tathāpi-
still;
tvam-
you;
mahā-bāho-
O mighty-armed one;
na-
never;
enam-
about the soul;
śocitum-
to lament;
arhasi-
deserve.

TRANSLATION

If, however, you think that the soul is perpetually born and always dies, still you have no reason to lament, O mighty-armed.

PURPORT

There is always a class of philosophers, almost akin to the Buddhists, who do not believe in the separate existence of the soul beyond the body. When Lord Kṛṣṇa spoke the
Bhagavad-gītā,
it appears that such philosophers existed, and they were known as the
Lokāyatikas
and
Vaibhāṣikas.
These philosophers maintained that life symptoms, or soul, takes place at a certain mature condition of material combination. The modern material scientist and materialist philosophers also think similarly. According to them, the body is a combination of physical elements, and at a certain stage the life symptoms develop by interaction of the physical and chemical elements. The science of anthropology is based on this philosophy. Currently, many pseudo-religions-now becoming fashionable in America-are also adhering to this philosophy, as well as to the nihilistic nondevotional Buddhist sects.

Even if Arjuna did not believe in the existence of the soul-as in the
Vaibhāṣika
philosophy-there would still have been no cause for lamentation. No one laments the loss of a certain bulk of chemicals and stops discharging his prescribed duty. On the other hand, in modern science and scientific warfare, so many tons of chemicals are wasted for achieving victory over the enemy. According to the
Vaibhāṣika
philosophy, the so-called soul or
ātmā
vanishes along with the deterioration of the body. So, in any case, whether Arjuna accepted the Vedic conclusion that there is an atomic soul, or whether he did not believe in the existence of the soul, he had no reason to lament. According to this theory, since there are so many living entities generating out of matter every moment, and so many of them are being vanquished every moment, there is no need to grieve for such an incidence. However, since he was not risking rebirth of the soul, Arjuna had no reason to be afraid of being affected with sinful reactions due to his killing his grandfather and teacher. But at the same time, Kṛṣṇa sarcastically addressed Arjuna as
mahā-bāhu,
mighty-armed, because He, at least, did not accept the theory of the
Vaibhāṣikas,
which leaves aside the Vedic wisdom. As a
kṣatriya,
Arjuna belonged to the Vedic culture, and it behooved him to continue to follow its principles.