Text 42
idaṁ śarīraṁ puruṣasya mohajaṁ
yathā pṛthag bhautikam īyate gṛham
yathaudakaiḥ pārthiva-taijasair janaḥ
kālena jāto vikṛto vinaśyati
idam — this; śarīram — body; puruṣasya — of the conditioned soul; moha-jam — born of ignorance; yathā — just as; pṛthak — separate; bhautikam — material; īyate — is seen; gṛham — a house; yathā — just as; udakaiḥ — with water; pārthiva — with earth; taijasaiḥ — and with fire; janaḥ — the conditioned soul; kālena — in due course of time; jātaḥ — born; vikṛtaḥ — transformed; vinaśyati — is vanquished.
Just as a householder, although different from the identity of his house, thinks his house to be identical with him, so the conditioned soul, due to ignorance, accepts the body to be himself, although the body is actually different from the soul. This body is obtained through a combination of portions of earth, water and fire, and when the earth, water and fire are transformed in the course of time, the body is vanquished. The soul has nothing to do with this creation and dissolution of the body.
We transmigrate from one body to another in bodies that are products of our illusion, but as spirit souls we always exist separately from material, conditional life. The example given here is that a house or car is always different from its owner, but because of attachment the conditioned soul thinks it to be identical with him. A car or house is actually made of material elements; as long as the material elements combine together properly, the car or house exists, and when they are disassembled the house or the car is disassembled. The spirit soul, however, always remains as he is.