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Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 2, Verse 22: Krishna to Arjuna — Sāṅkhya-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 2.22Chapter 2 · Sāṅkhya-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · upajāti
वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय नवानि गृह्णाति नरो ऽपराणि ।
तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णानि अन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ॥
vāsāṃsi← vāsasaccusative neuter plural noungarment, clothing (from √vas 'wear')attested in commentariesadvaitaवस्त्राणि जीर्णानि दुर्बलतां गतानि यथा लोके विहाय परित्यज्य नवानि अभिनवानि गृह्णाति उपादत्ते नरः पुरुषः अपराणि अन्यानिviśiṣṭādvaitaविहाय नवानि कल्याणानि वासांसि गृह्णताम् इव हर्षनिमित्तिम्śuddhādvaitaविहायापराणि नवानि गृह्णाति तथा देही जीव आत्मा जीर्णानि शरीराणि त्यक्त्वाऽन्यानि नवानि प्राप्नोति jīrṇāni← jīrṇa(2 verses)accusative neuter plural nounworn out, old (past-pple. of √jṝ)attested in commentariesadvaitaदुर्बलतां गतानि यथा लोके विहाय परित्यज्य नवानि अभिनवानि गृह्णाति उपादत्ते नरः पुरुषः अपराणि अन्यानि तथा तद्वदेव शरीराणिviśiṣṭādvaitaवासांसि विहाय नवानि कल्याणानि वासांसि गृह्णताम् इव हर्षनिमित्तिम्śuddhādvaitaवासांसि विहायापराणि नवानि गृह्णाति तथा देही जीव आत्मा जीर्णानि शरीराणि त्यक्त्वाऽन्यानि नवानि प्राप्नोतिadvaita-bhaktiविहाय वस्त्राणि नवानि गृह्णाति विक्रियाशून्य yathā← yathā(21 verses)as, in the manner that vihāya← vihā(3 verses)conv(vi- + hā: to abandon)attested in commentariesadvaitaपरित्यज्य नवानि अभिनवानि गृह्णाति उपादत्ते नरः पुरुषः अपराणि अन्यानि तथा तद्वदेव शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णानि अन्यानि संयातिviśiṣṭādvaitaनवानि कल्याणानि वासांसि गृह्णताम् इव हर्षनिमित्तिम्advaita-bhaktiवस्त्राणि नवानि गृह्णाति विक्रियाशून्य navāni← nava(2 verses)accusative neuter plural nounnew, fresh; nineattested in commentariesadvaitaअभिनवानि गृह्णाति उपादत्ते नरः पुरुषः अपराणि अन्यानि तथा तद्वदेव शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णानि अन्यानि संयाति संगच्छति नवानि दviśiṣṭādvaitaकल्याणानि वासांसि गृह्णताम् इव हर्षनिमित्तिम्śuddhādvaitaगृह्णाति तथा देही जीव आत्मा जीर्णानि शरीराणि त्यक्त्वाऽन्यानि नवानि प्राप्नोतिadvaita-bhaktiगृह्णाति विक्रियाशून्य gṛhṇāti← √grah(4 verses)present indicative 3rd person singular verbto seize, grasp, accept (verbal root)attested in commentariesadvaitaउपादत्ते नरः पुरुषः अपराणि अन्यानि तथा तद्वदेव शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णानि अन्यानि संयाति संगच्छति नवानि देही आत्मा पुरुषवत्śuddhādvaitaतथा देही जीव आत्मा जीर्णानि शरीराणि त्यक्त्वाऽन्यानि नवानि प्राप्नोतिadvaita-bhaktiविक्रियाशून्य naro 'parāṇi
tathā← tathā(47 verses)thus, in that manner; likewise śarīrāṇi← śarīra(12 verses)accusative neuter plural nounbodyattested in commentariesadvaitaविहाय जीर्णानि अन्यानि संयाति संगच्छति नवानि देही आत्मा पुरुषवत् अविक्रिय एवेत्यर्थःśuddhādvaitaत्यक्त्वाऽन्यानि नवानि प्राप्नोति vihāya← vihā(3 verses)conv(vi- + hā: to abandon)attested in commentariesadvaitaपरित्यज्य नवानि अभिनवानि गृह्णाति उपादत्ते नरः पुरुषः अपराणि अन्यानि तथा तद्वदेव शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णानि अन्यानि संयातिviśiṣṭādvaitaनवानि कल्याणानि वासांसि गृह्णताम् इव हर्षनिमित्तिम्advaita-bhaktiवस्त्राणि नवानि गृह्णाति विक्रियाशून्य jīrṇāni← jīrṇa(2 verses)accusative neuter plural nounworn out, old (past-pple. of √jṝ)attested in commentariesadvaitaदुर्बलतां गतानि यथा लोके विहाय परित्यज्य नवानि अभिनवानि गृह्णाति उपादत्ते नरः पुरुषः अपराणि अन्यानि तथा तद्वदेव शरीराणिviśiṣṭādvaitaवासांसि विहाय नवानि कल्याणानि वासांसि गृह्णताम् इव हर्षनिमित्तिम्śuddhādvaitaवासांसि विहायापराणि नवानि गृह्णाति तथा देही जीव आत्मा जीर्णानि शरीराणि त्यक्त्वाऽन्यानि नवानि प्राप्नोतिadvaita-bhaktiविहाय वस्त्राणि नवानि गृह्णाति विक्रियाशून्य anyāni← anya(37 verses)accusative neuter plural nounother, differentattested in commentariesadvaitaतथा तद्वदेव शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णानि अन्यानि संयाति संगच्छति नवानि देही आत्मा पुरुषवत् अविक्रिय एवेत्यर्थःadvaita-bhaktiदेवादिशरीराणि सर्वोत्कृष्टानि चिरोपार्जितधर्मफलभोगाय संयाति सम्यक् गर्भवासादिक्लेशव्यतिरेकेण प्राप्नोति saṃyāti← saṃ-√yā(2 verses)present indicative 3rd person singular verbto go with, depart (sam- + √yā 'go')attested in commentariesadvaitaसंगच्छति नवानि देही आत्मा पुरुषवत् अविक्रिय एवेत्यर्थःadvaita-bhaktiसम्यक् गर्भवासादिक्लेशव्यतिरेकेण प्राप्नोति navāni← nava(2 verses)accusative neuter plural nounnew, fresh; nineattested in commentariesadvaitaअभिनवानि गृह्णाति उपादत्ते नरः पुरुषः अपराणि अन्यानि तथा तद्वदेव शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णानि अन्यानि संयाति संगच्छति नवानि दviśiṣṭādvaitaकल्याणानि वासांसि गृह्णताम् इव हर्षनिमित्तिम्śuddhādvaitaगृह्णाति तथा देही जीव आत्मा जीर्णानि शरीराणि त्यक्त्वाऽन्यानि नवानि प्राप्नोतिadvaita-bhaktiगृह्णाति विक्रियाशून्य dehī← dehin(10 verses)nominative masculine singular nounembodied being; the soul in a bodyattested in commentariesadvaitaआत्मा पुरुषवत् अविक्रिय एवेत्यर्थःśuddhādvaitaजीव आत्मा जीर्णानि शरीराणि त्यक्त्वाऽन्यानि नवानि प्राप्नोतिadvaita-bhaktiप्रकृष्टधर्मानुष्ठातृदेहवान्भीष्मादिरित्यर्थः
spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip
meaning

Just as a person sheds worn clothes and puts on new ones, the soul leaves worn-out bodies and takes up others.

Bhāṣyakāra purports

  • Śaṅkaraadvaita

    As a person (nara) discards worn garments (jīrṇāni vāsāṃsi) and takes up others that are new, so the ātman — itself entirely without modification (avikriya) — moves into other bodies. Śaṅkara's gloss is unsparing: the body-change no more alters the ātman than a traveller's change of clothes alters the traveller; the compound 'dehi' (the embodied one) names the witness, never the garment. The entire drama of birth and death is therefore a drama of appearances, not a drama of the real (sat), and grief over the fallen body is grief over the discarded coat.

  • Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

    Those who fall in dharma-yuddha (righteous battle) obtain bodies of greater auspiciousness (adhikatara-kalyāṇa-śarīra) — Rāmānuja's commentary reads the exchange not as mere neutrality but as harṣa-nimitta, a ground for joy. Just as a person exchanges worn garments for fresh, beautiful ones with gladness, the jīva — which is Bhagavān's body (śarīra) and therefore dear to Him — ascends to a more fit instrument for further kainkaryam (service). The prior verse's 'avināśi' (imperishable) is here confirmed as pointing toward the jīva's positive onward trajectory within Bhagavān.

  • Madhvadvaita

    Madhva's terse annotation labels the verse a dṛṣṭānta (illustrative analogy) offered to generate in the listener the direct experience of the distinction between the body and the ātman (dehātma-viveka-anubhava). The jīva is eternally, categorically distinct from both the body and from Hari; it depends entirely on Hari's independent will (svatantra-icchā) for each successive embodiment. The garment is the body; the person (nara) is the bound jīva; Hari, the wearer's custodian, is not mentioned in the verse but is the unstated premise who alone decides which 'garment' is next fitted.

  • Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

    Vallabha responds to the objection that even if the ātman is imperishable, one may grieve over the bodies that are the instruments of the ātman's experience (bhoga-sādhana-deha). His reply via this verse: karma itself (karma-nibandhanāni) makes the arising of new bodies unavoidable; a worn body's fall therefore carries no legitimate grief-occasion (śoka-avakāśa). Bodies are Kṛṣṇa's prasāda, instruments of His līlā; their renewal is itself Kṛṣṇa's creative act. Just as the jīva does not mourn old garments when fresh ones arrive, the devotee who rests in Kṛṣṇa's will finds in every body-change only the continuity of divine abundance.

  • Śrīdharabhakti

    Śrīdhara frames the verse as a direct answer to the objection: 'even if the ātman is imperishable, I grieve over the destruction of its associated body.' His philological response is compact — karma-nibandha (karma-bound obligation) makes new bodies unavoidable, so there is simply no foothold (avakāśa) for grief at an old body's end. The garment image is devotionally transparent: the same self that wears these temporary forms remains the beloved of Bhagavān, constant through each exchange, and the devotee's relationship with that self — and with its Lord — is not severed by any change of bodily dress.

  • Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

    Madhusūdana performs the most elaborate reading in the panel. The qualifier 'aparāṇi' (others, distinct) in the verse is not redundant — it signals superior garments, not merely different ones. Bhīṣma and the other mahārathis, worn down by lifelong dharmic effort (dharma-anuṣṭhāna-kleśa), are unable in their present bodies to enjoy the fruits of their accumulated merit; by dying in yuddha-dharma they shed those worn forms and ascend to deva-bodies (divya-deha) that are fit to receive those fruits, citing Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad ('anyat navataram kalyāṇataraṃ rūpaṃ kurute'). Arjuna's act is thus supreme welfare (atyantam upakāra) for the very men he fears to destroy. Jñāna and bhakti converge: the non-dual ātman's immutability (avikriyatva) is established by the analogy, while the personal Lord's purpose — orchestrating superior rebirth for great souls — gives the analogy its emotional warmth.

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