The Gita's Spiritual Message through Body-Clothe Simile: Poem

"In the Bhagavad Gita, the simile of clothing is used to illustrate the concept of the soul (Atman) and its relationship with the body. Just as a person discards old clothes and puts on new ones, the soul also casts off an old body and enters a new one after death. This simile highlights the impermanence of the physical body and the eternal nature of the soul," informs a Google AI Overview on 'The Self and Clothing Simile in the Gita.'

Here is a poem that illustrates the meaning hidden in the simile

As one removes a clothe, grown old and thin,

And draws another, fresh and clean, anew,

So does the spirit, housed within the flesh,

Relinquish forms that time has worn away.

It sheds the aging frame, a used-up shell,

And takes a new one, vibrant, to begin.

This endless turning of the cosmic wheel,

Of coming forth and fading into dust,

Of birth and death, a cycle that proceeds

Until the knowing of the self arrives.

The ancient wisdom, sacred and profound,

As spoken in the Gita, tells this truth:

The body’s form is transient, ever changing,

A passing garment, not our true being.

The soul within, it never can be slain;

It journeys on, from one home to the next,

Seeking its truest nature to reveal.

To awaken to the soul’s own lasting light,

To see its essence, constant and serene,

Then find pious union with the supreme Self,

The changeless core of all that truly is.

This deep awareness is life’s noble aim.

For only soul and Supreme Soul endure,

Unborn, undying, permanent and real,

The solid ground on which our purpose stands.

This world we see, its pleasures and its pain,

The body's acts, the senses' quick delight,

The mind's perceptions, shifting like the clouds,

Are but illusions, fleeting and not true.

Our quest is for the truth that ever stays.