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Vasansi Jirnani (Bhagavad Gita 2.22)

वासांसि जीर्णानि

🕉️ hindu·📿 1× repetitions·🕐 Daily; in times of grief or bereavement·🎵 Audio included·📜 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 22
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📜 Complete Lyrics📖 Word-by-Word Meaning✨ Benefits & How to Chant

Origin & Story

Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 22 · Veda Vyasa (Lord Krishna's teaching) · Itihasa (Mahabharata)

To free Arjuna from the fear and grief of death on the battlefield, Lord Krishna gave this luminous image: the soul changes bodies as a person changes worn-out clothes. With its companion verse 2.23, it is among the most quoted teachings of the Gita on the deathless soul and reincarnation.

✦ As told in scripture

In a single image this verse dissolves the fear of death: the body is but a garment, the soul the deathless wearer. Recited at the cremation ground, it turns grief into understanding and the dread of dying into the calm of one who knows he cannot die.

Listen & Chant Along

The Mantra

वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि । तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णान्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ॥

Vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya navani grihnati naroparani Tatha sharirani vihaya jirnanyanyani samyati navani dehi

Meaning:As a person casts off worn-out garments and puts on new ones, so the embodied soul casts off worn-out bodies and enters others that are new.

Word-by-Word Meaning

Click any word to hear its pronunciation

वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय🔊Vasamsi jirnani yatha vihayaAs a person casts off worn-out garments
नवानि गृह्णाति नरः अपराणि🔊Navani grihnati narah aparaniAnd takes on other, new ones
तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णानि🔊Tatha sharirani vihaya jirnaniSo, casting off worn-out bodies
अन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही🔊Anyani samyati navani dehiThe embodied soul (dehi) takes on other, new ones

Benefits of Chanting Vasansi Jirnani (Bhagavad Gita 2.22)

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From the Bhagavad Gita (2.22), Krishna's famous teaching on reincarnation — the soul changes bodies as one changes clothes.

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Recited for understanding death as a passage, not an end, and for peace and fearlessness in the face of mortality.

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Brings comfort in grief and bereavement, and dissolves attachment to the body as the final reality.

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A foundational verse of Vedanta on the journey of the eternal soul through bodies.

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Recited at funerals and contemplated by seekers of self-knowledge.

How to Chant Vasansi Jirnani (Bhagavad Gita 2.22)

Repetitions1times
Best TimeDaily; in times of grief or bereavement
FaceEast or facing Krishna

Recite slowly, reflecting that the body is a garment the eternal soul puts on and casts off. It brings peace with mortality and is recited for solace in loss and for steadiness of mind.

Frequently Asked Questions

From Bhagavad Gita 2.22: 'As a person casts off worn-out garments and puts on new ones, so the soul casts off worn-out bodies and takes on new ones.' It is Krishna's classic teaching on reincarnation and the immortality of the soul.
It is verse 22 of Chapter 2 (Sankhya Yoga) of the Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna compares the soul's passage from body to body with a person changing old clothes for new.
It teaches that death is not an end but a change of garments — the eternal soul (dehi) simply leaves a worn-out body and takes on a new one. This understanding removes the fear of death and the grief of loss, and is why the verse is recited at funerals.

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