What no weapon can touch

Where we are

Sañjaya is still reporting to the blind king Dhṛtarāṣṭra. In the previous reading Krishna said that sensations come and go, and that what is real never stops being. Here he names that real thing: the self that lives in every body. Arjuna's dread is that fighting would destroy his teachers and kin at their core. Krishna answers that fear directly.

The verses

1. 2.17

   Understand that what runs through this whole world cannot be destroyed. Nobody has the power to bring an end to something that never wears down or runs out.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.17

   अविनाशि तु तद्विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ।
   विनाशमव्ययस्यास्य न कश्चित्कर्तुमर्हति ॥ १७ ॥

   Hear it

   avināśi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idaṃ tatam
   vināśam avyayasyāsya na kaś cit kartum arhati

   Say it

   uh-vi-naa-shi too tud vid-dhi yay-nuh sur-vum i-dum tuh-tum
   vi-naa-shum uh-vyuh-yuh-syaa-syuh nuh kush-chit kur-toom ur-huh-ti

   Word by word

   avināśi

   indestructible

   tu tat viddhi

   know that, indeed

   yena

   by which

   sarvam idam tatam

   all this is pervaded, spread through

   vināśam

   destruction

   avyayasya asya

   of this unchanging, undiminishing one

   na kaścit

   no one at all

   kartum arhati

   is able to bring about

2. 2.18

   Bodies have an end. The one who lives in them is called eternal, imperishable and beyond measure. So, Arjuna, take up your duty and fight.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.18

   अन्तवन्त इमे देहा नित्यस्योक्ताः शरीरिणः ।
   अनाशिनोऽप्रमेयस्य तस्माद्युध्यस्व भारत ॥ १८ ॥

   Hear it

   antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ
   anāśino 'prameyasya tasmād yudhyasva bhārata

   Say it

   un-tuh-vun-tuh i-may day-haa ni-tyuh-syok-taah shuh-ree-ri-nuh-h
   uh-naa-shi-no 'pruh-may-yuh-syuh tus-maad yoo-dhyuh-svuh bhaa-ruh-tuh

   Word by word

   antavantaḥ

   having an end, perishable

   ime dehāḥ

   these bodies

   nityasya

   of the eternal one

   uktāḥ

   are said to be

   śarīriṇaḥ

   of the embodied self, the one who has a body

   anāśinaḥ

   of the imperishable

   aprameyasya

   of the immeasurable, beyond measuring

   tasmāt yudhyasva bhārata

   therefore fight, O descendant of Bharata

3. 2.19

   Whoever sees the self as a killer, and whoever sees it as killed, has misunderstood. The self does neither.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.19

   य एनं वेत्ति हन्तारं यश्चैनं मन्यते हतम् ।
   उभौ तौ न विजानीतो नायं हन्ति न हन्यते ॥ १९ ॥

   Hear it

   ya enaṃ vetti hantāraṃ yaś cainaṃ manyate hatam
   ubhau tau na vijānīto nāyaṃ hanti na hanyate

   Say it

   yuh ay-num vayt-ti hun-taa-rum yush-chai-num mun-yuh-tay huh-tum
   oo-bhow tow nuh vi-jaa-nee-to naa-yum hun-ti nuh hun-yuh-tay

   Word by word

   yaḥ enam vetti hantāram

   whoever thinks this (self) is a killer

   yaḥ ca enam manyate hatam

   and whoever thinks it is killed

   ubhau tau

   both of them

   na vijānītaḥ

   do not understand

   na ayam hanti

   this one does not kill

   na hanyate

   nor is it killed

4. 2.20

   The self is never born and never dies. It did not begin at some point, and it will not stop. Unborn, eternal, lasting and ancient, it is not killed when the body is killed.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.20

   न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्
   नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः ।
   अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो
   न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥ २० ॥

   Hear it

   na jāyate mriyate vā kadā cin / nāyaṃ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ
   ajo nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṃ purāṇo / na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre

   Say it

   nuh jaa-yuh-tay mri-yuh-tay vaa kuh-daa-chin
   naa-yum bhoo-tvaa bhuh-vi-taa vaa nuh bhoo-yuh-h
   uh-jo ni-tyuh-h shaash-vuh-to 'yum poo-raa-no
   nuh hun-yuh-tay hun-yuh-maa-nay shuh-ree-ray

   Word by word

   na jāyate mriyate vā

   is not born, nor does it die

   kadācit

   at any time

   na ayam bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ

   having come to be, it does not cease to be again (it never comes into being or goes out of it)

   ajaḥ

   unborn

   nityaḥ

   eternal

   śāśvataḥ

   everlasting

   ayam purāṇaḥ

   this ancient one

   na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre

   is not killed when the body is killed

Context and commentary

Verse 2.20 switches to the longer triṣṭubh metre, four lines of eleven syllables, which is why it looks different. A close relative of 2.19–20 appears in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, where Death himself teaches the boy Naciketas, so Krishna is drawing on old teaching. Aprameya, “beyond measure”, means the self can't be weighed like an object; it is the one who knows. Interpretation: “therefore fight” does not mean killing is unimportant. It answers Arjuna's stated reason for refusing; duty comes next. Śaṅkara sees one changeless awareness behind all action, Rāmānuja an eternal individual self, and Gandhi read the battle as an inner struggle.