2.22
वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि | तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णान्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ||२२||
vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya navāni gṛhṇāti naro'parāṇi tathā śharīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāny anyāni saṁyāti navāni dehī
Translation
Just as a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the soul accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.
Interpretation
The most famous metaphor in the Gita for the soul and reincarnation: the soul changes bodies like a person changes clothes. The old body wears out; the soul takes a new one. There is no loss, no tragedy — only transition. This analogy is intellectually accessible and experientially resonant: we all know what it is to put on fresh clothes.