18
Beyond Birth and Death
“O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of heat and cold, happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.” (Bg. 2.14)
The gross material body is a result of the interaction of the modes of material nature, and it is doomed to destruction.
antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ sarīriṇaḥ anāśino 'prameyasya tasmād yudhyasva bhārata
“Only the material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity is subject to destruction; therefore, fight, O descendant of Bharata.” (Bg. 2.18)
Śrī Kṛṣṇa therefore encourages us to transcend the bodily conception of existence and attain to our actual spiritual life.
guṇān etān atītya trīn dehī deha-samudbhavān janma-mṛtyu-jarā-duḥkhair vimukto 'mṛtam aśnute
“When the embodied being is able to transcend these three modes (goodness, passion and ignorance), he can become free from birth, death, old age and their distresses and can enjoy nectar even in this life.” (Bg. 14.20)