Text 22] Hiraṇyakaśipu, King of the Demons
83
dhatte 'sāv ātmano liṅgaṁ māyayā visṛjan guṇān
nityaḥ—eternal; ātmā—spirit soul; avyayaḥ—inexhaustible; śud- dhaḥ—with no material tinge; sarva-gaḥ—qualified to go anywhere in the material or spiritual worlds; sarva-vit—full of knowledge; paraḥ— transcendental to material conditions; dhatte—accepts; asau—that ātmā, or living being; ātmanaḥ—of the self; liṅgam—a body; māyayā—by the material energy; visṛjan—creating; guṇān—various material qualities.
TRANSLATION
The spirit soul, the living entity, has no death, for he is eternal and inexhaustible. Being free from material contamination, he can go anywhere in the material or spiritual worlds. He is fully aware and completely different from the material body, but because of being misled by misuse of his slight independence, he is obliged to accept subtle and gross bodies created by the material energy and thus be subjected to so-called material happiness and distress. Therefore, no one should lament for the passing of the spirit soul from the body.
PURPORT
Hiraṇyakaśipu very intelligently described the position of the soul. The soul is never the body, but is always completely different from the body. Being eternal and inexhaustible, the soul has no death, but when the same pure soul desires to enjoy the material world independently, he is placed under the conditions of material nature and must therefore accept a certain type of body and suffer the pains and pleasures thereof. This is also described by Kṛṣṇa in  Bhagavad-gūtā  (13.22).  Kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu:  the living entity is born in different families or species of life because of being infected by the modes of material nature. When conditioned by material nature, the living entity must accept a certain type of body, which is offered by nature under the direction of the Supreme Lord.
iśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati