Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2, Verse 21

English Translation

O Partha, he who knows this One as indestructible, eternal, birthless and undecaying, how and whom does that person kill, or whom does he cause to be killed! [This is not a estion but only an emphatic denial.-Tr.]

Detailed Commentary

**।।2.21।। Explanation:** This *shariri* (embodied soul) is never destroyed. It undergoes no change, is not born, and suffers no diminution. One who truly comprehends this (truth), how can such a person slay anyone or cause anyone to be slain? That is, the inclination to kill or cause to kill others cannot arise within him. He can be neither the *karta* (doer) nor the *karayita* (one who causes to do) of any action. Here, by referring to the *shariri* as *Avinashi* (indestructible), *Nitya* (eternal), *Aja* (unborn), and *Avyaya* (immutable), Bhagavan has negated the six transformations (*vikaras*) that occur in it. By calling it *Avinashi*, the transformation of death is denied. By calling it *Nitya*, the transformations of change of state and growth are denied. By calling it *Aja*, the transformations of birth and subsequent existence (status quo) are denied. And by calling it *Avyaya*, the transformation of decay/diminution is denied. The *shariri* undergoes no transformation due to any action. If Bhagavan had intended only to prohibit the *shariri* from becoming the *karta* (doer) and *karma* (object) in "na hanyate hanyamāne sharire" (it is not slain when the body is slain) and "kaṃ ghātayati hanti kam" (whom does he cause to slay, whom does he slay), why then did He speak of killing and being killed, rather than speaking of doing and not doing? The answer is that due to the context of war (battle), it was necessary to state here that the *shariri* does not become a killer in war because it lacks *kartāpan* (doership). When the *shariri* cannot be the killer, i.e., the *karta*, then how can it be the one being killed, i.e., the *karma*? The essence is that this *shariri* does not become the *karta* or *karma* of any action. Therefore, one should not grieve over killing or being killed, but rather perform one's *kartavya-karma* (prescribed duty) as commanded by the scriptures. **Connection:** The immutability (*nirvikāratā*) of the *dehi* (embodied soul) that has been described in the previous verses, will be further elaborated in the following verse through an illustrative example.