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Chapter 15 · The Yoga of the Supreme Person · 20 verses

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Soul & knowledgeChapter 15 · The Yoga of the Supreme Person

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 15.8

The jīva as Krishna’s eternal fragmental part

शरीरं यदवाप्‍नोति यच्च‍ाप्युत्क्रामतीश्वर: ।

गृहीत्वैतानि संयाति वायुर्गन्धानिवाशयात् ॥ ८ ॥

śarīraṁ yad avāpnoti

yac cāpy utkrāmatīśvaraḥ

gṛhītvaitāni saṁyāti

vāyur gandhān ivāśayāt

Translation

The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another, as the air carries aromas. Thus he takes one kind of body and again quits it to take another.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

Consciousness Shapes the Next Life

  1. 1The living entity carries his ideas of life from one body to another, as air carries aromas.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that the soul continues after death, taking another body according to his developed consciousness and karma.
  3. 3Develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness to reach Kṛṣṇaloka in the spiritual world and associate with Kṛṣṇa.

Where we are

In the story

Chapter 15, The Yoga of the Supreme Person: the jīva as krishna’s eternal fragmental part.

What it teaches

Theme summary

Discern the eternal self from the temporary.

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Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: ātmā, jñāna.

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 15.8 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to soul & knowledge?

Practice

Spend five minutes reflecting on what in you does not change.

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The story behind it

Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.

All stories for chapter 15 ›
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Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

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