Mahakavi Devkotas overarchical view on body is that the

human body is unreal because it perishable, subject to

decay, sickness and death. Hence, one should cultivate
detachment towards it and become established in the Self,
which is real, eternal, and indestructible. In Hinduism, from
a spiritual perspective, anything which is perishable and
changeable is projection of Nature and illusory. Whoever
craves for things that are impermanent is bound to suffer
from the duality of attraction and aversion. Like all other
objects, the human body is also a formation or
appearance. Hence, it is the Not-Self or not the real Self.
So are the mind, the senses and all other parts and
aspects of the human body. They constitute the physical
self or the outer Self. One should look beyond them to
experience oneness with the Self, or the divine entry
which is hidden in all.
The human body as a source of misery
The Bhagavadgita states clearly that one should not
develop attachment to the body, nor consider it their true
Self. Identifying with the body and accepting it as the real
self is a delusion caused by the impurities of the mind. The
delusion that the body is real and the Self is false is
universal. Even those who are deeply religious may not
wholeheartedly accept their spiritual identities. If you look
at the world around you, you will see how deeply the world
is obsessed with looks and forms. According to the
Bhagavadgita, accepting ones mind and body as real is
responsible for bondage and rebirth. People who identify
themselves with them and accept them as true remain
ignorant of their spiritual nature and suffer from fear and
anxiety about their Wellbeing and mortality.
Arjuna was filled with sorrow when he entered the
battlefield in the chariot driven by Krishna. When he saw
both the armies arrayed on two sides, his heart was
shaken and he was filled with an overwhelming sorrow at
the idea of the great destruction that was to follow from the
fighting. He knew that whoever might be the winner, a
great destruction on both sides was inevitable. The armies
consisted of great heroes of his time. Some were eager to
fight to settle old scores, while some had been filled with
remorse since they knew people on the other side of the
battlefield whose destruction they did not want to see or
cause. No one can predict the future, but no one willingly
wants to kill anything, unless one is extremely
psychopathic and filled with evil.
Arjuna was overwhelmed with sorrow in the battlefield
because he was looking at the names and forms. He was
not thinking beyond his physical identity or those of others.
He was certain that everyone was going to die, and he did
not want to cause. He did not consider himself a spiritual
being or the real Self, until Lord Krishna pointed it to him
and assured him that the Self was eternal and
indestructible. Unfortunately, the power of Maya is so
strong that even if you are told a hundred times that you
are an eternal Self, you may still not be able to get rid of
your body-centric thinking and the notion that you are the
mind and body and death is a mere interlude in the long
journey of the soul in the mortal world.
Symbolism of the body in the Bhagavadgita
According to the Bhagavadgita, the body is perishable,
destructible, subject to the process of aging, sickness and
disease. It is like a covering or a dress we wear. Hence,
the scripture affirms that just as a man discards his worn
out clothes and takes on new clothes, the soul discards
worn out bodies and takes on new ones (2.22). Just it
passes through in this body from childhood to youth and
later to old age, it passes from one body to another (2.11)
The wise men are therefore not deluded (2.13) and do not
grieve over the dead or the living (2.11).
The body is the city of nine gates (5.5), the seat of the
senses, and the field of Prakriti. It is made up of the five
mahabhutas (great elements namely the fire, the water,
the earth, the air and the ether), the ego, buddhi, the
invisible (self), the ten senses (the ears, the eyes, the skin,
the tongue, the nose, the hands, the feet, the mouth, the
anus and the sexual organ) and the five objects of the
senses (the sound, the taste, the touch, the smell and the
shape). Other constituents of the body are desires,
repulsion, happiness, sorrow, the aggregate, dynamic
awareness, decisiveness (13.5&6).
The body is the seat of illusion where Prakriti enacts its
play through the triple gunas or qualities namely, the
sattva, the rajas and the tamas. The interplay of these
gunas creates desires in the being through the activity of
the senses and through desires delusion of the mind and
bondage. Under the delusion caused by the gunas, man
becomes egoistic, thinking that he is the doer, and there
by becomes attached to the modes and actions (3.29).
The body as the source of liberation
The body which is the seat of illusion can also be a source
of true liberation. A karma yogi who engages the organs of
his body in desireless actions, keeping his body and mind
under control, detached mentally, offering the fruit of his
actions to God, living only to perform bodily functions,
becomes liberated from the bondage of birth and death
and is never reborn again (3.21-23).
The body can be a source of liberation at the time of
death, for the true yogi who has mastered his senses and
controlled his mind. This is possible because whatever a
person remembers at the time of his death, he attains that
only (8.5). Thus a person by remembering God at the time
of his death, full of devotion, through the strength of the
yoga, holding the life breath between the two eye brows,
can easily reach him (8.10).
By closing all the openings of the body, establishing the
mind in the heart and fixing life energy in the head, and
uttering the syllable "AUM," the yogi can easily attain the
Supreme Self (8.12&13). A man should, therefore, train
his mind through buddhi yoga and always think of God
only.
However, one should not subject the body to torture and
severe ascetic practices. The person who tries to restrain
the organs of work outwardly without inner control and
detachment from sense objects is a man of deluded
intellect and a hypocrite (3.6). Those are men of demoniac
resolve, who practice austerities and penance not
enjoined by the scriptures, under the influence of lust,
power and attachment, and there by torture the body and
God who dwells in the body (17.5&6).
The Yoga is not for one who is a voracious eater or a non-
eater. It is also not for him who sleeps too much or who
does not sleep at all (6.16). Moderation, regulated diet and
relaxation, restrained actions, discipline in sleeping and
waking, is the path to freedom from sorrow (6.17).
Thus according to the Gita, the body is a mere vessel,
which perishable and changeable. It is the creation of
Prakriti, an Adhibhuta, in which is housed the Adhiyagna,
the imperishable soul, dwelling as the inner witness (8.4).
Since the body is perishable, one should not identify
oneself with it and not grieve over anyones death.
By detaching oneself from the body consciousness, by
controlling the mind, by becoming wary of the play of the
gunas and the senses, by constantly fixing the mind on the
Higher Self, by performing the daily duties with a sense of
detachment, one can achieve true liberation and the
Highest Goal