Just as the soul passes through childhood, youth, and old age in one body, it similarly passes into another body at death. This process is called reincarnation or transmigration, as explained in the Bhagavad-gita (2.13). The soul changes bodies like a person changes worn-out clothes for new ones (Bhagavad-gita 2.22). One's consciousness at death determines the next body (Bhagavad-gita 2.27), and the Bhagavad-gita (8.6) teaches that the soul attains the state of being it contemplates at the time of death.