Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 15, Verse 8
शरीरं यदवाप्नोति यच्चाप्युत्क्रामतीश्वरः।गृहीत्वैतानि संयाति वायुर्गन्धानिवाशयात्।।
śarīraṁ yad avāpnoti yac cāpy utkrāmatīśvaraḥ
gṛhītvaitāni sanyāti vāyur gandhān ivāśayāt
also searched as "shariram yad avapnoti yach chapy utkramatishvarah"
Translation
Whatever body its lord acquires and from whatever body it departs, it goes on its way, taking these senses as the wind carries scents from their places.
Vāṇi's rendering
When the soul takes a body or leaves one, it carries these along — as wind carries fragrance from flowers.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| शरीरम्śarīraṁ | a body |
| यत्yad | whichever, whatever |
| अवाप्नोतिavāpnoti | it takes on, comes to possess |
| यत्yac | whichever (from whatever body) |
| चca | and |
| अपिapi | also, likewise (sandhi: ca + api → cāpy) |
| उत्क्रामतिutkrāmati | departs, steps out of |
| ईश्वरःīśvaraḥ | the lord of the body, the self who owns it (sandhi: utkrāmati + īśvaraḥ) |
| गृहीत्वाgṛhītvā | having gathered up, taking hold of |
| एतानिetāni | these — the senses and the mind (sandhi: gṛhītvā + etāni) |
| संयातिsanyāti | goes on, travels away with them |
| वायुःvāyuḥ | the wind |
| गन्धान्gandhān | fragrances |
| इवiva | just as, in the manner of |
| आशयात्āśayāt | from where they rest — the flower, the source (sandhi: iva + āśayāt) |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15 Verse 8 mean?
It means the self does not travel empty. When it leaves one body and takes another, it carries the mind and the senses with it — the whole shape of how it has learned to perceive and desire. Krishna calls this self īśvaraḥ, the lord of the body: the owner moves, the house does not.
What is the meaning of shariram yad avapnoti in the Gita?
Śarīraṁ yad avāpnoti — whatever body it comes to occupy. The verse pairs it with utkrāmati, whatever body it steps out of. Two doors, one traveller. Krishna is not describing a soul that starts fresh each time, but one arriving already furnished with the habits it left with.
Why does Krishna compare the soul to wind carrying fragrance?
Because fragrance proves that something invisible can be carried intact. The wind takes nothing from the flower you could weigh, yet the scent arrives whole in another room. So with your tendencies. They cross the gap unseen, and they are recognisable when they land.
Does this verse say the mind survives death?
It says the mind and the senses go along — etāni, these, gathered up and taken. Not the physical eye or ear, but the capacity and the leaning behind them. What you have practised does not stay in the body you leave. This is why Krishna keeps returning to what you dwell on.
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Commentary
Something crosses the gap. Krishna has just called the self a portion of his own being; now he says what travels — not the body, which stays behind, but the senses and the mind, gathered up like luggage. The image is exact and strangely gentle. Wind moving over a flower bed carries nothing solid, yet arrives somewhere smelling of jasmine. What you have loved, feared, rehearsed ten thousand times — that is the fragrance. Arjuna is being told that death is not erasure but relocation. Which means the tendencies you are building today are not private to this one life. Be careful what scent you are becoming.