Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2, Verse 13 (BG 2.13) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

# BG 2.13 — The Continuity of the Self This is the law of memory: the experiencer and the one who remembers must be the same person for any recollection to be possible. I cannot remember your experiences, nor can you remember mine; yet each of us can remember our own experiences. In old age, we recall our childhood and youth. When childhood ends, youth arrives; and after youth comes old age. It is clear that in old age, a person does not possess the body of childhood or youth, and yet he remembers the experiences gained in those states. By the law of memory, this proves that there exists something within the person that remains unchanging through all three stages of life—something that experienced those events through the child's and youth's bodies and continues to remember them. When we observe this way, we understand that the death of childhood is the birth of youth, and the death of youth is the birth of old age. Yet these constant transformations do not cause us sorrow. Rather, as we pass through these stages, we gather countless experiences and remain joyful. Sri Krishna uses this personal experience common to every person in the world as an illustration to help Arjuna understand this truth: the wise person does not grieve when the soul leaves one body and enters another. This verse further strengthens the profound truth hidden within the principle of rebirth. Thus, for the wise person, there remains no fear of death. We do not grieve at the death of childhood because we know our existence continues and we progress from a lower state to a higher one. Similarly, when the soul abandons one particular body, it takes on another body according to its previous desires and tendencies. The steadfast person is not deluded about this matter.