Body

Vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya navani grhnati naro 'parani, tatha sharirani vihaya jirnany anyani samyati navani dehi

As a person sheds worn-out garments and wears new ones, likewise, at the time of death, the soul casts off its worn-out body and enters a new one.

Nirasir yata-cittatma tyakta-sarva-parigrahah, shariram kevalam karma kurvan napnoti kilbisham

Without hope or possessiveness, with the mind and self under control, abandoning all acquisitiveness, performing action through the body alone — such a person incurs no sin.

Tat kshetram yac ca yadrik cha yad-vikari yatash cha yat, sa cha yo yat-prabhavash cha tat samasena me shrinu

Hear from Me briefly what the field is, its nature, its modifications, from where it comes, who the knower of the field is, and what His powers are. Understanding this framework is the foundation for all higher knowledge.

Upadrashtanumanta cha bharta bhokta maheshvarah, paramatmeti chapy ukto dehe 'smin purushah parah

The Supreme Purusha in this body is the overseer, the permitter, the supporter, the experiencer, the great Lord, and is also called the Paramatma (Supersoul). This verse reveals the presence of God within every being as the inner witness and support.

Yatha prakaśayaty ekah kritsnam lokam imam ravih, kshetram kshetri tatha kritsnam prakasayati bharata

Just as the one sun illuminates the entire world, so does the one soul illuminate the entire field (body). As one sun lights the whole world, a single consciousness illumines the entire body — this analogy concludes the teaching on field and knower.

Aham vaishvanaro bhutva praninam deham ashritah, pranapana-samayuktah pacamy annam catur-vidham

I am the fire of digestion in every living body, and I am the air of life — outgoing and incoming — by which I digest the four kinds of food. Krishna reveals that even the biological process of digestion is sustained by His divine presence as the digestive fire within all beings, connecting the mundane act of eating to the sacred.

Dvav imau purushau loke kshara chaksharা eva cha, ksharah sarvani bhutani kuta-stho 'kshara ucyate

There are two kinds of beings in this world: the perishable and the imperishable. All beings are perishable; the unchanging soul is called imperishable.

karsayantah sarira-stham bhuta-gramam acetasah, mam caivantah sarira-stham tan viddhy asura-niscayan

Those who torture the elements of the body and the divine presence within — know them to be of demoniac resolve. Such extreme self-mortification harms both the body and the indwelling soul.

Deva-dwija-guru-prājña-pūjanaṁ śhaucham ārjavam, brahmacharyam ahinsā cha śhārīraṁ tapa uchyate

Worship of the deities, the twice-born, teachers, and the wise; purity, straightforwardness, celibacy, and non-violence—these are said to be austerity of the body.

adhisthanam tatha karta karanam ca prithag-vidham vividhas ca prithak cesta daivam caivatra pancamam

The five causes are: the body as the seat of action, the individual doer, the various instruments of sense and action, the different kinds of effort, and divine providence as the fifth factor. All actions arise from the interplay of these five.