Bhagavad Gita 2.24अच्छेद्योऽयमदाह्योऽयमक्लेद्योऽशोष्य एव च।नित्यः सर्वगतः स्थाणुरचलोऽयं सनातनः ॥
achchhedyo ’yam adāhyo ’yam akledyo ’śhoṣhya eva
cha nityaḥ sarva-gataḥ sthāṇur achalo ’yaṁ sanātanaḥ
Sanskrit recitation
You are more than this body · 2.11–2.30 · Teaching
Translation
This Self cannot be cut, burned, wetted, nor dried up; it is eternal, all-pervasive, stable, immovable, and ancient.
Hindi translation
यह शरीरी काटा नहीं जा सकता, यह जलाया नहीं जा सकता, यह गीला नहीं किया जा सकता और यह सुखाया भी नहीं जा सकता। कारण कि यह नित्य रहनेवाला सबमें परिपूर्ण, अचल, स्थिर स्वभाववाला और अनादि है।
Meaning
The Self is very subtle. It is beyond the reach of speech and mind. It is very difficult to understand this subtle Self. So Lord Krishna explains the nature of the immortal Self in a variety of ways with various illustrations and examples, so that It can be grasped by the people.Sword cannot cut this Self. It is eternal. Because It is eternal, It is allpervading. Because It is allpervading, It is stable like a stature. Because It is stable, It is immovable. It is everlasting. Therefore, It is not produced out of any cause. It is not new. It is ancient.
After Swami Sivananda
You are more than this body· 2.11–2.30→
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…
Word-by-word→
- cha
- and
- eva
- indeed
- ayam
- this soul
- nityaḥ
- everlasting
- achalaḥ
- immutable
- adāhyaḥ
- incombustible
- akledyaḥ
- cannot be dampened
- sanātanaḥ
- primordial
- sthāṇuḥ
- unalterable
- achchhedyaḥ
- unbreakable
- sarva-gataḥ
- all-pervading
- aśhoṣhyaḥ
- cannot be dried
Read this when you feel
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- 12.4Having restrained all the senses, being even-minded everywhere, and intent on the welfare…
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