Shloka 22

कर्मयोग–ज्ञानयज्ञ–अवतारोपदेश

Karma-Yoga, Jñāna-Yajña, and Avatāra Instruction

Devanagari script

सम्बन्ध-- यहाँ यह शंका होती है कि आत्माका जो एक शरीरसे सम्बन्ध छूटकर दूसरे शरीरसे सम्बन्ध होता है, उसमें उसे अत्यन्त कष्ट होता है; अतः उसके लिये शोक करना कैसे अनुचित है? इसपर कहते हैं-- वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय नवानि गृह्नाति नरो5पराणि । तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णा- न्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही,जैसे मनुष्य पुराने वस्त्रोंको त्यागकर दूसरे नये वस्त्रोंको ग्रहण करता है, वैसे ही जीवात्मा पुराने शरीरोंको त्यागकर दूसरे नये शरीरोंको प्राप्त होता है

Transliteration

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

Translation

جس طرح انسان پرانے کپڑے چھوڑ کر دوسرے نئے کپڑے پہن لیتا ہے، اسی طرح دہی (جیواتما) پرانے جسموں کو ترک کر کے دوسرے نئے جسم اختیار کرتا ہے۔

Word by Word

वासांसिgarments

जीर्णानिworn-out, old

यथाjust as

विहायhaving abandoned

नवानिnew

गृह्णातिtakes, accepts

नरःa man

अपराणिother (ones)

तथाso, in the same way

शरीराणिbodies

विहायhaving abandoned

जीर्णानिworn-out, old

अन्यानिother

संयातिgoes to, attains

नवानिnew

देहीthe embodied (self)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

dehī (the embodied self)

vāsāṁsi (garments)

śarīrāṇi (bodies)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The self (dehī) is not destroyed when the body perishes; it merely leaves an old body and takes a new one, like changing clothes. Hence sorrow centered on bodily loss is ethically and philosophically misguided.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the midst of the Kurukṣetra crisis, the teaching addresses the fear and grief tied to death. The speaker uses a simple everyday analogy—changing garments—to reframe death as a transition of embodiment rather than the end of the self, supporting steadiness in one’s duty.