Soul and body

[Aupmanyav]

Prabhupada's synonyms are useful. Many a times I write down the synonyms without Prabhupada's additions (Replace The Supreme Personality of Godhead simply by Krishna) and then make a prose of the verse. One ambiguous word is 'Atma' or 'Atmaa', as you know it can represent 'Self' or 'Soul', but the two things have different connotations. Unless otherwise specified I take 'Atma' to mean 'Self'. As you would see here, there is no mention of 'soul' in the synonyms:

"dehino ’smin yathā dehe, kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā;
tathā dehāntara-prāptir, dhīras tatra na muhyati."

Synonyms
dehinaḥ — of the embodied; asmin — in this; yathā — as; dehe — in the body; kaumāram — boyhood; yauvanam — youth; jarā — old age; tathā — similarly; deha-antara — of transference of the body; prāptiḥ — achievement; dhīraḥ — the sober; tatra — thereupon; na — never; muhyati — is deluded.

Translation
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. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change. BG 2.13

If we remove the word 'soul', then it becomes a correct literal translation.

 

[Hawkins]

I see. But why is so necessary to have this you? Why the trial? Why not just body? It is useless, in my opinion.

You missed the whole point of Christianity.

An analogy is, you built a huge mansion and to invite all your friends and relatives to live in for free. They thus need to follow your rules, say they shouldn't shout at night or train your kids up to be criminals or drug dealers.

Similarly, God's ultimate plan is to build an eternity Heaven. He thus sets rules (Law and covenants) for angels and humans to follow in their respective living environments. The Final Judgment is to determine who can set foot in God's final "mansion".