Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan

So what is the karṣati that is explained in next verse.

Bg 15.8

śarīraṁ yad avāpnoti
yac cāpy utkrāmatīśvaaraḥ
gṛhītvaitāni saṁyāti
vāyur gandhān ivāśayāt

Synonyms: 

śarīram — the body; yat — as; avāpnoti — gets; yat — as; ca api — also; utkrāmati — gives up; īśvaraḥ — the lord of the body; gṛhītvā — taking; etāni — all these; saṁyāti — goes away; vāyuḥ — the air; gandhān — smells; iva — like; āśayāt — from their source.

Translation: 

The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another, as the air carries aromas. Thus he takes one kind of body and again quits it to take another.

 

śarīraṁ yad avāpnoti, one gets the Sarira, what kind of Sarira, that will depends on one’s Karma,

yac cāpy utkrāmatīśvaraḥ, utkrāmatī, means one gives up departs from the body, so it is Iswarah, the soul is the Ishwarah why the soul is considered Ishwarah?

 gṛhītvaitāni saṁyāti
vāyur gandhān ivāśayāt

gṛhītva, to take off,

saṁyāti, is to give up

vāyur gandhān ivāśayāt,

vāyur gandhān, vāyur is wind fragrance or aroma or smell,

ivāśayāt, is the source 

 

so the example given is when the wind is blowing. So when the wind blows through a fragrant garden, then the wind will carry the fragrance, similarly the soul acquires different conceptions of what is life, how is life meant to be enjoyed.  Some people are sadist means they enjoy more if they see others or cause others pain, Mrigari was sadist, 

In goodness, we wanted to be happy and we want others to be happy,

In transcendence we wanted to give up our happiness for the sake of others that is actually love.

In passion, I wanted to be happy others doesn’t matter other can also enjoy if they wanted to enjoy,

In ignorance I want to be happy and other’s should be miserable.

So it is very horrible, so different people will have different conceptions of what makes them happy.

So soul is responsible we may not be able to choose the external situations which we go through but we can choose our actions. E.g. I have to go through a crowded local but while in that situation we can think of something else out of the worldly situation, so that is how we can go beyond our experiences. E.g. a person who was abused in childhood can become a person who abuses others or he can become a rehabilitator of those who are abused. So we have free will and we can choose how to respond. So the emphasis of this verse is generally the soul is affected by the circumstances by which the soul goes through so if we expose ourselves to certain situations repeatedly then we become habituated to those circumstances, this makes us accept that kind of situation normal and we act accordingly. E.g. generally Indian doesn’t know anything about baseball but a student who goes to study in America if he becomes infatuated with baseball that is like vāyur gandhān ivāśayāt, we acquire a particular conceptions of how we are going to enjoy, so we all are shaped by our experiences but we are not determined by our experiences, we can respond in different ways. So as we are shaped by our circumstances so we should choose our circumstances as much as possible. 

So Karsati is the cycle of birth and death through which soul goes in the hope of material enjoyment. 

Sarira Avidhya Jal

Jad Indriya Tahe Kal

So body is a trap of ignorance Avidhya Jal, it not only covers us but it traps us in its covering, and the senses are pathway to destruction. 

The word Ishwarah indicate the point that the soul can choose its destination by choosing to do right things., so although vāyur gandhān ivāśayāt is there but still a soul can choose it can direct its journey of transmigration, transmigration will happen but where we will go that choice we have, so the soul gives up one body and takes up another body, that depends upon the kind of conceptions the soul will acquire. That we can choose.

End of transcription.