वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि । तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णा न्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ॥ २२ ॥
vāsānsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya navāni gṛihṇāti naro ’parāṇi tathā śharīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇānya nyāni sanyāti navāni dehī
Translation
Just as a person casts off worn-out garments and puts on new ones, so the soul casts off worn-out bodies and enters new ones.
Hindi Meaning (हिंदी अर्थ)
जैसे मनुष्य पुराने वस्त्र त्यागकर नए धारण करता है, वैसे ही आत्मा पुराने शरीरों को त्यागकर नए शरीर धारण करती है।
Commentary
Following directly from the previous verse's assertion that the soul is eternal, this is the Gita's most quoted image for reincarnation. The comparison is deliberately mundane — changing clothes is such an unremarkable act that we never mourn the discarded garment. Krishna's implication is that death, seen correctly, is closer to that than to an ending: the wearer (the soul) continues; only the covering (the body) changes.