Bhagavad Gita · Sankhya YogaChapter 2, Shloka 13 (2.13)

An everyday example. Krishna gives an example everyone knows. The body of childhood is gone — do we grieve over it? Shankaracharya: when the first stage ends, the self does not end; when the next stage comes, the self is not born — remaining unchanging, the self passes through the stages. In the same way it attains a new body.

"Dehāntara-prāptiḥ" — rebirth. The shloka clearly speaks of rebirth (the attaining of another body). This is a basic belief of Indian philosophy. In this book we present it as a statement of the Gita — not as a scientific theory.

"Dhīra" — one of steady understanding. Dhīra — one who is steady in fortitude and understanding. Na muhyati — is not deluded. That is, this knowledge is not mere information; it gives steadiness.

Madhva's argument. Here Madhva gives an argument for the existence of the self: the one who experiences (īkṣitā) childhood and the rest cannot be the body — because a dead body has no experience; the experiencer is conscious.