Bhagavad Gita 2.23 · Nainam Chhindanti Shastraniनैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः।न चैनं क्लेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः ॥

Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.

• 2.11The Blessed Lord said, "You have grieved for those who should not be grieved for; yet, you…
• 2.12Nor, at any time, was I not, nor thou, nor these rulers of men; nor, verily, shall we ever…
• 2.13Just as the embodied soul passes through childhood, youth, and old age in this body, so…
• 2.14The contact of the senses with the objects, O son of Kunti, which causes heat and cold,…
• 2.15That firm man, whom surely these afflictions do not, O chief among men, to whom pleasure…
• 2.16The unreal has no being; there is no non-being of the real; the truth about both has been…
• 2.17Know that to be indestructible, by which all this is pervaded. No one can cause the…
• 2.18These bodies of the embodied Self, which are eternal, indestructible, and immeasurable,…
• 2.19He who takes the Self to be the slayer and he who thinks it is slain, neither of them…
• 2.20It is not born, nor does it ever die; after having been, it again does not cease to be;…
• 2.21Whoever knows it to be indestructible, eternal, unborn, and inexhaustible, how can that…
• 2.22Just as a man casts off worn-out clothes and puts on new ones, so too the embodied Self…

• 2.23Weapons cannot cut it, fire cannot burn it, water cannot wet it, wind cannot dry it.

• 2.24This Self cannot be cut, burned, wetted, nor dried up; it is eternal, all-pervasive,…
• 2.25This Self is said to be unmanifested, unthinkable, and unchangeable. Therefore, knowing…
• 2.26But even if thou thinkest of It as constantly being born and constantly dying, even then,…
• 2.27For the born, death is certain, and for the dead, birth is certain; therefore, you should…
• 2.28Beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their middle state, O Arjuna, and…
• 2.29One sees this (the Self) as a wonder; another speaks of it as a wonder; another hears of…
• 2.30This indweller in the body of everyone is ever indestructible, O Arjuna; therefore, you…

na

nor

cha

and

enam

this soul

dahati

burns

āpaḥ

water

chhindanti

shred

kledayanti

moisten

mārutaḥ

wind

pāvakaḥ

fire

śhastrāṇi

weapons

śhoṣhayati

dry