16.23

ghare aila prabhu bahu lana dhana-jana

tattva-jnane kaila sacira duhkha vimocana

SYNONYMS

ghare—home; aila—returned; prabhu—the Lord; bahu—much; lana—bringing; dhana—riches; jana—followers; tattva-jnane—by transcendental knowledge; kaila—did; sacira—of Sacimata; duhkha—the unhappiness; vimocana—relieving.

When the Lord returned home, bringing with Him great wealth and many followers, He spoke to Sacidevi about transcendental knowledge to relieve her of the grief she was suffering.

PURPORT

It is stated in the Bhagavad-gita (2.13):

dehino ’smin yatha dehe

kaumaram yauvanam jara

tatha dehantara-praptir

dhiras tatra na muhyati “As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death.

The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” Such verses from the Bhagavad-gita or any other Vedic literature give valuable instructions on the occasion of someone’s passing away.

By discussing such instructions from the Bhagavad-gita or Srimad-Bhagavatam, a sober man can certainly understand that the soul never dies but rather passes from one body to another.

This is called transmigration of the soul.

A soul comes into this material world and creates bodily relationships with a father, a mother, sisters, brothers, a wife and children, but all these relationships pertain to the body, not the soul.

Therefore, as described in the Bhagavad-gita, dhiras tatra na muhyati: one who is sober is not disturbed by such phenomenal changes within this material world.

Such instructions are called tattva-katha, or real truth.