I Am Growing. Who Am I?

1. Arjuna looked at his relatives and teachers and feared losing them. Krishna began with an important answer: the body changes, but the living “I” continues to exist.
2. Every adult was once a tiny baby. The body was very small, but it was still the same person.
3. Then the baby grew, learned to sit, walk, and talk. The body became different, but the “I” remained.
4. The baby became a child. Arms and legs grew stronger, many new skills appeared, and even more discoveries lay ahead.
5. A child becomes a young man or a young woman. Height, voice, and activities change, but inside the person knows, “It is still me.”
6. An adult learns, works, and cares for others. The body has grown, but the person has not become a completely different living being.
7. With time, hair may turn gray and steps may become slower. But the soul does not grow old with the body.
8. A baby, a child, an adult, and an old person look different. Yet the same soul passes through every change.
9. While the soul is within the body, a person feels, thinks, and desires. Consciousness helps us understand that a living “I” is present in the body.
10. The soul is very small and spiritual. We do not draw its true size: the bright spark in the pictures is only a sign that helps us understand.
11. My hands are mine. My eyes are mine. But the one who says “mine” is me, the soul.
12. Clothes help the body, but they do not become us. We can take off a shirt and still remain ourselves.
13. A child grows, and old clothes become too small. The child puts on other clothes that fit.
14. Krishna compared the body to clothing. Just as a person changes old clothes, the soul receives another body.
15. When one body can no longer serve the soul, its journey does not end. The soul continues life in another body.
16. The soul’s passage from one body to another is called reincarnation, or transmigration of the soul.
17. The kind of body the soul receives next is connected with its desires and actions. We will learn more about this in the book about karma.
18. The soul never began to exist and will never stop existing. It always remains an individual living person.
19. Fire cannot burn the soul, water cannot wet it, wind cannot dry it, and weapons cannot cut it. The soul is spiritual and cannot be destroyed.
20. A soul is present in every living being: a person, a cow, a bird, a fish, a tree, and a tiny ant. That is why we should treat life with care.
21. We do not turn into one nameless soul. Krishna, Arjuna, and each one of us always remain individual persons.
22. Understanding the soul does not make the heart hard. We may miss one another and care for one another while remembering that the soul has not disappeared.
23. Arjuna began to understand that Bhishma and Drona were more than their bodies. Their eternal souls would continue to exist.
24. Now Arjuna knew that the soul is eternal. But he still needed to understand how to act wisely and fulfill his duty. Krishna continued His teaching.

Authoritative sources

• Bhaktivedanta Vedabase
• Bhaktivedanta Vedabase
• Bhaktivedanta Vedabase
• Bhaktivedanta Vedabase
• Bhaktivedanta Vedabase
• Bhaktivedanta Vedabase
• Bhaktivedanta Vedabase
• Bhaktivedanta Vedabase