Chapter 15 · Verse 8 · Purushottama Yoga
Bhagavad Gita 15.8
Sanskrit
शरीरं यदवाप्नोति यच्चाप्युत्क्रामतीश्वरः।गृहीत्वैतानि संयाति वायुर्गन्धानिवाशयात्।।15.8।।
Transliteration
śharīraṁ yad avāpnoti yach chāpy utkrāmatīśhvaraḥ gṛihītvaitāni sanyāti vāyur gandhān ivāśhayāt
In plain words
You are terrified that loss means annihilation—that when someone leaves, or when your body fails, or when everything changes, you disappear with it. Krishna says: the essence of who you are is not your marriage, your health, your circumstances, or even your flesh. You move through life like wind moves through a garden, touching everything and carrying nothing. What you truly are cannot be harmed, cannot be lost, and cannot be left behind.
Word by Word
The atman enters and departs the body like wind carrying fragrance from flower to flower—never bound, never soiled, eternally free. Just as air takes scent but remains itself, the embodied soul takes on a body but its essential nature remains untouched by the material form.
This verse invites us to recognize that what we truly are cannot be captured by flesh, so we need not cling to it or fear its change.
Listen
Bhagavad Gita 15.8 — BG 15.8
Your Mantra Prescription
This mantra is prescribed for clarity and purpose. Is that what you're going through?
2.2M people trust Mahakatha