B.G 2.22

वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि। तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णान्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ॥ २-२२॥

vāsāṃsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya navāni gṛhṇāti naro'parāṇi। tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇānyanyāni saṃyāti navāni dehī ॥ 2-22॥

[वासांसि (vāsāṃsi) - garments; जीर्णानि (jīrṇāni) - worn-out; यथा (yathā) - just as; विहाय (vihāya) - discarding; नवानि (navāni) - new; गृह्णाति (gṛhṇāti) - accepts; नरः (naraḥ) - a man; अपराणि (aparāṇi) - other; तथा (tathā) - so; शरीराणि (śarīrāṇi) - bodies; विहाय (vihāya) - discarding; जीर्णानि (jīrṇāni) - worn-out; अन्यानि (anyāni) - other; संयाति (saṃyāti) - enters; नवानि (navāni) - new; देही (dehī) - the embodied soul;]

(Just as a person changes old clothes for new ones, the soul changes old bodies for new ones.)

Just as a person casts off worn-out clothes and puts on new ones, similarly the being gives up worn-out bodies and takes up other bodies that are new.

Gīta Bhāshya 2.22

Discriminative knowledge between the body and the soul and its experiential knowledge is imparted.

देहात्मविवेकानुभवार्थं दृष्टान्तमाह– 'वासांसि' इति ॥ २२ ॥

dehātmavivekānubhavārthaṃ dṛṣṭāntamāha– 'vāsāṃsi' iti ॥ 22 ॥

[देह (deha) - body; आत्म (ātma) - self; विवेक (viveka) - discrimination; अनुभव (anubhava) - experience; अर्थं (arthaṃ) - for the purpose of; दृष्टान्तम् (dṛṣṭāntam) - example; आह (āha) - said; वासांसि (vāsāṃsi) - garments; इति (iti) - thus;]

(To illustrate the experience of distinguishing between the body and the self, an example is given: 'garments' thus.)

To impart discriminative and experiential knowledge of the body and the soul, a metaphor is provided in the above 'vāsāṁsi' verse.

Gīta Tātparya 2.22

Union and separation of the body from the soul is birth and death, respectively. There is no need to grieve for the same.

जीवस्यापि शरीरसंयोगवियोगावेव जनिमृती यतः ततो न दुःखकारणमित्याह। वासांसीति ॥ २२ ॥

jīvasyāpi śarīrasaṁyogaviyogāveva janimṛtī yataḥ tato na duḥkhakāraṇamityāha। vāsāṁsīti ॥ 22 ॥

[जीवस्य (jīvasya) - of the living being; अपि (api) - also; शरीर (śarīra) - body; संयोग (saṁyoga) - union; वियोग (viyoga) - separation; एव (eva) - indeed; जनि (jani) - birth; मृती (mṛtī) - death; यतः (yataḥ) - because; ततः (tataḥ) - therefore; न (na) - not; दुःख (duḥkha) - sorrow; कारणम् (kāraṇam) - cause; इति (iti) - thus; आह (āha) - said; वासांसि (vāsāṁsi) - garments; इति (iti) - thus;]

(The union and separation of the body for a living being are essentially birth and death, and therefore, they are not the cause of sorrow, as stated. "Garments," thus.)

Even jīva has union and separation with the body in the form of birth and death. The verse 'vāsāṁsīti' clarifies that it should not be the reason to grieve.