The Way of Chanting and Knowing Krsna 25
the soul—according to the work of the living entities.
At the present moment we may think that this mate-
rial body is our actual body, but it is like a dress. In
reality we do have an actual body, a spiritual body.
This material body is superficial compared to the
real spiritual body of the living entity. When this
material body becomes old and worn out, or when
it is rendered useless by some accident, we put it
aside as we might put aside a soiled or ruined suit and
take up another material body.

vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya
navani grhnati naro *parani
tatha Sarirani vihaya jirnany
anyani samyati navani dehi
“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old
ones, similarly, the soul accepts new material bodies,
giving up the old and useless ones.” (Bg. 2.22)

In the beginning the body is the size of a pea.
Then it grows to become a baby, then a child, a
young boy, a youth, a grown man and an old man,
and finally, when it becomes useless, the living en-
tity changes into another body. The body is there-
fore always changing, and death is simply the ultimate
change of the present body. -

dehino ’smin yatha dehe
kaumaram yauvanam jara
tatha dehantara-praptir
dhiras tatra na muhyati
“As the embodied soul continually passes, in this
body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul
