15.8 Carried like scent on wind Krishna speaks
शरीरं यदवाप्नोति यच्चाप्युत्क्रामतीश्वरः
गृहीत्वैतानि संयाति वायुर्गन्धानिवाशयात्
śharīraṁ yad avāpnoti yach chāpy utkrāmatīśhvaraḥ
gṛihītvaitāni sanyāti vāyur gandhān ivāśhayāt
When the lord of the body takes a body, and when he leaves it, he carries these with him — as the wind carries scents from their places.
Explanation
Carried the way wind carries scent.
The image is the argument. Taking up a body and leaving it, the lord of the body brings the senses and the mind along — not as luggage but the way a smell is carried, picked up from where it was and moved on.
It is a strikingly unmechanical picture of continuity. Nothing is transported; something diffuses.
Word by word
- śharīram
- the body
- yat
- as
- avāpnoti
- carries
- yat
- as
- cha api
- also
- utkrāmati
- leaves
- īśhvaraḥ
- the Lord of the material body, the embodied soul
- gṛihītvā
- taking
- etāni
- these
- sanyāti
- goes away
- vāyuḥ
- the air
- gandhān
- fragrance
- iva
- like
- āśhayāt
- from seats
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