The soul eternally changes bodies like garments; true freedom comes through desiring Krishna's service alone.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Bhagavad-gītā 2.21–22 — August 26, 1973, London 730826BG-LONDON [33:03 Minutes] Bg-02.21–22_730826BG-LONDON Pradyumna: [leads chanting of verses] [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] vedāvināśinaṁ nityaṁ ya enam ajam avyayam kathaṁ sa puruṣaḥ pārtha kaṁ ghātayati hanti kam [Bg. 2.21] vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya navāni gṛhṇāti naro 'parāṇi tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāny anyāni saṁyāti navāni dehī [Bg. 2.22] [break] [leads chanting of synonyms to Bg 2.21] veda—in knowledge; avināśinam—indestructible; nityam—always; yaḥ—one who; enam—this (soul); ajam—unborn; avyayam—immutable; katham—how; saḥ—he; puruṣaḥ—person; pārtha—O Pārtha (Arjuna); kam—whom; ghātayati—hurts; hanti—kills; kam—whom. [03:23] Translation: "O Pārtha, how can a person who knows that the soul is indestructible, unborn, eternal and immutable kill anyone or cause anyone to kill?" [leads chanting of synonyms to Bg 2.22] vāsāṁsi—garments; jīrṇāni—old and worn out; yathā—as it is; vihāya—giving up; navāni—new garments; gṛhṇāti—does accept; naraḥ—a man; aparāṇi—other; tathā—in the same way; śarīrāṇi—bodies; vihāya—giving up; jīrṇāni—old and useless; anyāni—different; saṁyāti—verily accepts; navāni—new sets; dehī—the embodied. [04:37] Translation: "As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the soul accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones." Prabhupāda: So this is another way of convincing that... Very simple thing. Anyone can understand.
Vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya. As our garment, coats and shirts, when they are old, rotten, no more usable, so we throw it away and get a new garment, shirt, coat, similarly, the soul is changing garment from childhood, from babyhood. Just like a baby has got a shoe, but when he gets the child's body, the shoe does not fit; you have to take another shoe. Similarly, when the same child grows or changes body, he requires another shoe.
Similarly, the soul is changing his body exactly as we change our garments, vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni. Jīrṇāni means when it is old enough, not fit for use, yathā vihāya, as we give it up... Vihāya means give it up. Navāni, new garment.
Naraḥ aparāṇi gṛhṇāti. Now the body has been compared herein as the garment, just like coat and shirt. The tailor cuts the coat according to the body. Similarly, this material body, if it is shirt and coat, then this is cut according to the spiritual body. The spiritual body is not nirākāra, without form.
If it is without form, then how the garment, the coat and shirt, has got hands and legs? It is common sense. The coat has got hand or the pant has got legs because the person who is using the coat, he has got hands and legs. So this proves that the spiritual body is not impersonal. It is not a zero; it is..., it has got form.
But the form is so minute, aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān [Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.20]: one form is lesser than the atom. Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān. Two forms are there, spiritual. One is the Supreme Lord's form, virāḍ-rūpa, mahato mahīyān, and our form, aṇor aṇīyān, lesser than the atom.
That is stated in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad. Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān ātmāsya jantor nihito guhāyām. Nihito guhāyām. Guhāyām means in the heart.