15th Chapter of Gita-- 8th sloka

Hare Krishna,

We have seen the earlier sloka , lord Krishna talking about jeeva. The jeeva being associated with the sense organs and the mind .The superimposition of the jeeva over the atman or brahman. In this sloka Lord Krishna explains birth and death of the jeeva.

15.8 – shariram yat avapnoti cha api utkramati ishwarah
Grahitva etani samyati vayuh gandhan vasayaat

Meaning of words:
Shariram – body
Yat – when
Avapnoti – takes another body
cha api --even when
Utkramati – leaves the body
Ishwarah --- the controller of the body
Grahitva --- takes with him
Etani – the sense organs and mind as mentioned in earlier sloka
Samyati --- leaves the body
Vayuh – the wind
Gandhan – the smell
Vasayaat – from the flowers


Meaning of sloka
When the ishwara who is the controller of the body leaves the body and takes another form of body , he carries with him the 5 sense organs and the mind, like the wind carries the fragrance of the flowers.

Lord Krishna explains the cycle of birth and death here. He speaks about the continuity of life. Here Ishwara is the controller of the body. When the jeeva dies, the subtle body which constitutes the 5 sense organs and the mind are carried to the next body , where the jeeva takes birth. As per patanjali the actions, the fruits of actions and the vasanas are carried to the next birth. Thus till the jeeva is associated with the vasanas , he cannot have liberation , or moksha and he is tied up in this chain of birth and death. When he detaches himself from these vasanas , he has no vasanas , then there is no birth and death for the jeeva . He is a realized self, with no vasanas , without mind or sense organs. This doesn’t mean that he will not have mind or sense organs , but he is beyond them . He is eternal self and hence has no birth and death.
Lord Krishna here compares the vasanas carried over to the next birth like the wind which carries the fragrance of the flowers. As the wind carries with it both good and bad odours so also the fruits of action , the vasanas are carried over to the next birth.



Hare Krishna

Thanks,
Aparna