The Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 2 · verse 2.22

As a person sheds worn-out clothes and puts on new ones, so does the embodied self shed worn-out bodies and take on new ones.

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि। तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णान्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही॥

Transliteration

vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya navāni gṛhṇāti naro 'parāṇi; tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāny anyāni saṁyāti navāni dehī

English translation

As a person sheds worn-out clothes and puts on new ones, so does the embodied self shed worn-out bodies and take on new ones.

Meaning — what the verse is actually saying

The body is closer to clothing than to identity. Death of the body is changing garments. The wearer continues.

Modern practice — what to do today because of this

Sit with this image without rushing it. The Gita is not making a metaphysical claim you must believe — it is offering a different framing of mortality. Try it on once a year. Most of the fear of death is fear of identity loss, and identity is the clothing.

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