Topic

Soul

15 verses from the Bhagavad Gita on soul. Explore teachings across 3 chapters.

All Verses

Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, tatha dehantara-praptir dhiras tatra na muhyati

As the embodied soul continuously passes through childhood, youth, and old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.

  • The soul is eternal and unchanging
  • Physical changes don't affect the soul
  • Death is merely a transition
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.

  • The soul is eternal, bodies are temporary
  • Death is merely a transition
  • Fear of death stems from ignorance
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.

  • The soul is eternal, bodies are temporary
  • Death is merely a transition
  • Fear of death stems from ignorance
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.

  • The soul is eternal, bodies are temporary
  • Reincarnation explained through metaphor
  • Death is transformation, not destruction
Acchedyo 'yam adahyo 'yam akledyo 'shoshya eva ca, nityah sarva-gatah sthanur acalo 'yam sanatanah

This soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can neither be burned nor dried. It is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same.

  • The eternal nature of consciousness
  • Soul is omnipresent and unchanging
  • The permanent amid impermanence
Indriyani parany ahur indriyebhyah param manah, manasas tu para buddhir yo buddheh paratas tu sah

The senses are superior to the gross body, the mind is superior to the senses, the intellect is superior to the mind, and the soul is superior to the intellect.

  • Hierarchy of human faculties
  • The soul transcends all material faculties
  • Use higher faculties to control lower ones
Indriyani parany ahur indriyebhyah param manah, manasas tu para buddhir yo buddheh paratas tu sah

The senses are superior to the gross body, the mind is superior to the senses, the intellect is superior to the mind, and the soul is superior to the intellect.

  • Hierarchy of human faculties
  • The soul transcends all material faculties
  • Use higher faculties to control lower ones
Indriyani parany ahur indriyebhyah param manah, manasas tu para buddhir yo buddheh paratas tu sah

The senses are said to be superior to the gross body, and superior to the senses is the mind. Beyond the mind is the intellect, and even beyond the intellect is the soul.

  • Hierarchy of consciousness explained
  • Soul transcends mind and intellect
  • Understanding your deepest identity
Evam buddheh param buddhva samstabhyatmanam atmana, jahi shatrum maha-baho kama-rupam durasadam

Thus knowing the soul to be superior to the material intellect, O mighty-armed Arjuna, subdue the self by the self, and conquer this formidable enemy called lust.

  • Use higher self to control lower self
  • Conquer desire through wisdom
  • Self-mastery is possible
Mamaivamsho jiva-loke jiva-bhutah sanatanah, manah-shashthanindriyani prakrti-sthani karshati

The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.

  • All souls are divine sparks
  • We are eternally connected to the source
  • The material struggle is temporary