Childhood, youth, old age, and beyond

dehino’asminyathā dehe kaumāraṃ yauvanaṃ jarātathā dehāntaraprāptirdhīrastatra na muhyati

As the one in this body passes through childhood, youth and old age, so it passes to another body. The wise are not shaken.

What it means

Krishna begins with something we all know. Your body has changed completely since childhood, yet you are still you. The Gita calls the one who lives in the body the dehi, the embodied Self. It moves through every stage of life. Death, Krishna says, is one more change of the same kind.

The story

Arjuna is grieving for elders who will die. Krishna doesn't tell him they won't. He asks him to notice what has stayed constant through his own life. The child who learned archery from Drona is the same Self now standing in this chariot.

In your life

Picture an old man looking at his wedding photo, saying, I don't feel any older inside. That inner sameness is what Krishna points to. Next time you see an old photo, ask, what in me hasn't changed?