Successive shlokas from Chapter 2 of Bhagavad Gita about Atma moving from one body to another on death and about Atma being indestructible, eternal and all-pervading

Last updated on 4th Aug. 2022

Three successive shlokas (verses) from Chapter 2 of Bhagavad Gita are about the 'dehi' (indwelling Atma in the body) moving from one body to another on death (reincarnation) and about the 'dehi' being indestructible, eternal and all-pervading.

Given below are extracts from https://shlokam.org/bhagavad-gita/2-22 and following pages giving these three shlokas:

Chapter 2, Verse 22

वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय

नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि ।

तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णा-

न्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ॥ २-२२॥

vāsāṃsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya

navāni gṛhṇāti naro’parāṇi

tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇā-

nyanyāni saṃyāti navāni dehī

Just as a man casts off his worn out clothes and puts on new ones, so also the embodied-Self casts off its worn out bodies and enters others which are new.

Chapter 2, Verse 23

नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः ।

न चैनं क्लेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः ॥ २-२३॥

nainaṃ chindanti śastrāṇi nainaṃ dahati pāvakaḥ

na cainaṃ kledayantyāpo na śoṣayati mārutaḥ

Weapons cleave It not, fire burns It not, water moistens It not, wind dries It not.

Chapter 2, Verse 24

अच्छेद्योऽयमदाह्योऽयमक्लेद्योऽशोष्य एव च ।

नित्यः सर्वगतः स्थाणुरचलोऽयं सनातनः ॥ २-२४॥

acchedyo’yamadāhyo’yamakledyo’śoṣya eva ca

nityaḥ sarvagataḥ sthāṇuracalo’yaṃ sanātanaḥ

This Self cannot be cut, nor burnt, nor moistened, nor dried up. It is eternal, all-pervading, stable immovable and ancient.

--- end extracts from shlokam.org ---

The above website has video links of Swami Chinmayananda who was a leading Hindu preacher during my young adult days in Mumbai, and whose darshan I have been fortunate to have had then. I offer my loving and respectful salutations to Swami Chinmayananda.

It is verses like the above from Hindu scripture that I think have driven home the key beliefs of recent generations of Hindus that their Atma (indwelling soul but the word soul has some other connotations too and so may not be a good translation of Atma) is indestructible and eternal and that it moves from one body to another on death (unless it merges with God in which case there is no rebirth).

I had acquired such beliefs even as a young adult perhaps from my readings of spiritual books/discourses, spiritual matters (columns, advertisement notices etc.) in mainstream media like the newspaper, discussions with family elders and Hindu friends and hearing spiritual leaders speak perhaps on TV or radio, or rarely in person. Note that this was well before I came to know of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

As a young adult I think I rarely thought much about whether these beliefs are shared by Christians and Muslims and what exactly are their beliefs in this regard. Now I know that their scripture has different teachings/revelations about this topic. There is no reincarnation and there is judgement after death where depending on the good or bad they have done, they would go to heaven or hell. Note that Hinduism too has scripture which talks of heaven (svarga) and hell (naraka) but it is verses like above Bhagavad Gita verses that took root in my heart, and I think that's the case with many Hindus who have read Hindu scripture like Bhagavad Gita. I don't know whether Hindu scripture specifies that the stay in heaven and hell are temporary after which the Atma takes on another body (or merges with God).

But I think the main belief of Hindus today with respect to judgement about good and bad actions done in life (a lifetime), is about Karma. Good and bad actions result in karmic reactions/fruit which have to be endured in this lifetime or a later lifetime, unless the (good) actions are dedicated to God or karmic reaction/fruit is cancelled out by divine grace.

What is good to know is that all three religions - Hinduism, Christianity and Islam - have teachings that doing good results in good reactions/fruits (on earth/heaven) and that doing bad results in bad reactions/fruits (on earth/hell). Thus these religions promote good behaviour among their followers. I have to add that in the past, and among some fanatical followers of some of these religions today, their behaviour towards people of other religions than theirs is not good, and they quote some parts of their scripture for that behaviour. But I think moderate interpretations of scripture of Hinduism, Christianity and Islam today, do not promote hatred towards people of other religions, with some interpretations promoting love and compassion towards all people including people of other religions. I fully support such moderate interpretations of scripture of various religions.

[I thank shlokam.org and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract(s) from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]

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Given below are some of my comments from my associated Facebook post:  https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/pfbid0iaMJJbdXjfEWrGpDQh8HB3C3GVCZVw3iVYA3AmMyUssbxNgghB3FUiFtcoGekiSGl :

In response to a comment, I wrote: There are so many mysteries about what happens in the world and why. Billionaires and poverty stricken, super-healthy and ailing ...

It is really hard to understand any rules by which worldly life happens even if Karma may be a partial explanation of some things.

And past centuries and millennia had horrendous suffering for many people, as compared to our standards today. Let me just mention one such horrendous thing - slavery! Slavery seems to have been common across many cultures and kingdoms in the world then. War was endemic with victors making slaves of at least some of the defeated people - and these wars were horrifying in their barbarism and cruelty. ... And then there was slave raiding & trading not only from European powers but also from some other powers like the Turks of Ottoman empire (Barbary pirates who used to raid parts of Europe for slaves to be sold in Ottoman empire).

I think only great mystics like Avatars can comprehend the mysteries of life on such a scale. It surely is way, way beyond a spiritual aspirant like me.

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