वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहायनवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि ।
तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णान्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ॥
तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णान्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ॥
Hindi · हिन्दी
मनुष्य जैसे पुराने कपड़ोंको छोड़कर दूसरे नये कपड़े धारण कर लेता है, ऐसे ही देही पुराने शरीरोंको छोड़कर दूसरे नये शरीरोंमें चला जाता है ॥
English
As a person discards worn-out clothes and puts on new ones, the embodied being discards worn-out bodies and enters new ones.
What this verse means
The true self passes from one body to another the way a person changes clothes.
Context & commentary
On Kurukshetra, Arjuna is frozen by grief and fear. Krishna has just said the true self is unborn and indestructible. Now he gives a simple image: bodies are like clothes, and the embodied one moves on.
Why this verse still matters
Standing beside a hospital bed, you watch a loved one weaken and feel helpless. This image does not erase grief, but it reminds you that change touches the body, not the deepest reality.
The takeaway
A fear of bodily loss softens when you see change as a transition, not an ending.
Word-by-word translation
वासांसि (clothes) / जीर्णानि (worn-out) / यथा (as) / विहाय (having discarded) / नवानि (new) / गृह्णाति (takes) / नरः (a person) / अपराणि (other) / तथा (so) / शरीराणि (bodies) / विहाय (having discarded) / जीर्णानि (worn-out) / अन्यानि (other) / संयाति (goes to) / नवानि (new) / देही (the embodied one)
This verse is part of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2: Sankhya Yoga — The Yoga of Knowledge, which contains 72 verses.