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Chapter 15

Bhagavad-gītā 15.8

Read once with your eyes. Read again aloud.

शरीरं यदवाप्नोति यच्चाप्युत्क्रामतीश्वरः।गृहीत्वैतानि संयाति वायुर्गन्धानिवाशयात्।।15.8।।

śharīraṁ yad avāpnoti yach chāpy utkrāmatīśhvaraḥ gṛihītvaitāni sanyāti vāyur gandhān ivāśhayāt

Verse translation

When the Lord obtains a body and when He leaves it, He takes these and goes, as the wind takes the scents from their seats (the flowers).

English rendering by Swami Swarupananda. Public domain first edition, 1909.

The self through change for Bhagavad-gītā 15.8The changing body around the enduring self. This composition is unique to Bhagavad-gītā 15.8 and uses the verse's key terms.1śharīram2gṛihītvā3āśhayātBhagavad-gītā 15.8
The self through changeThe changing body around the enduring self
Word by word

Build the sentence from its parts

Read across once, then cover the meanings and recover them from the Sanskrit forms.

14word links
Sanskrit formMeaning here
śharīramthe body
yatas
avāpnoticarries
yatas
cha apialso
utkrāmatileaves
īśhvaraḥthe Lord of the material body, the embodied soul
gṛihītvātaking
etānithese
sanyātigoes away
vāyuḥthe air
gandhānfragrance
ivalike
āśhayātfrom seats
Explanation and elucidation

Keep the verse in view while connecting śharīram (the body), gṛihītvā (taking), and āśhayāt (from seats). Ask what changes between the first and last term, and how that movement contributes to the world tree and the person beyond it. State the connection in your own words, then check it against Bhagavad-gita 15.8.

Original school explanation. Written independently from the Sanskrit word map. It is not a quotation, translation, or summary of a named modern commentary. Chapter lens: Follow the inverted tree image, the distinction of persons, the embodied journey, divine support and Puruṣottama.

Gaudiya study and reading shelf

Five careful reading routes

Rights-aware references

The cards below are reading references, not claims about what an acharya says in this verse. Modern wording stays inside authorized editions. Classical commentary will appear only after an independent translation has passed scholarly and rights review.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Bhagavad-gita As It Is
Modern protected edition

For Bhagavad-gita 15.8, consult the authorized BBT edition. No purport, translation, or author-attributed summary is reproduced here.

Find the authorized edition

Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Rasika-ranjana
Classical original-language work

A verified independent rendering for Bhagavad-gita 15.8 has not yet passed scholarly and rights review. Modern translations are not copied here.

Independent rendering pending review

Baladeva Vidyabhushana

Gita-bhushana-bhashya
Public-domain Sanskrit original

The original work is classical. A newly commissioned or independently prepared translation for Bhagavad-gita 15.8 must be verified before publication.

Independent translation pending review

Vishvanatha Cakravarti Thakura

Sarartha-varshini-tika
Public-domain Sanskrit original

The original work is classical. A newly commissioned or independently prepared translation for Bhagavad-gita 15.8 must be verified before publication.

Independent translation pending review

Other Gaudiya acharyas

Authorized Gaudiya editions
Mixed rights status

For Bhagavad-gita 15.8, later teachers remain a further-reading route. Their wording and distinctive teaching structures require permission or a separate rights review.

Use an authorized edition
Diagram

Meaning map

Flow chart

Follow the thought

  1. 1

    When the Lord obtains a body and when He leaves it, He takes these and goes, as the wind takes the scents from their seats (the flowers)

  2. 2

    śharīram: the body

  3. 3

    gṛihītvā: taking

The self through change for Bhagavad-gītā 15.8The changing body around the enduring self. This composition is unique to Bhagavad-gītā 15.8 and uses the verse's key terms.1śharīram2gṛihītvā3āśhayātBhagavad-gītā 15.8
The self through changeThe changing body around the enduring self
Easy way to remember

Look, link, cover, teach

1

Look

Picture the inverted tree.

2

Link

Use the line starts: śharīraṁ yad / gṛihītvaitāni sanyāti.

3

Cover

Hide the verse and rebuild one line at a time.

4

Teach

Explain the flow to another person without looking.

Keep what you learned

Turn this reading into a study record

Save it, return from memory, and write one idea in your own words. Your record stays in this browser unless you export it.

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A simple learning rhythm

Do more than reread

  1. 1ReadTake in one small piece.
  2. 2RememberClose it and bring it back.
  3. 3UseConnect it to a real choice.
  4. 4ExplainSay it clearly in your own words.
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