Verse 2.21

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.21:

वेदाविनाशिनं नित्यं य एनम् अजम् अव्ययम् ।
कथं स पुरुषः पार्थ कं घातयति हन्ति कम् ॥ २१ ॥

vedāvināśinaṃ nityaṃ ya enam ajam avyayam |
kathaṃ sa puruṣaḥ pārtha kaṃ ghātayati hanti kam || 21 ||

veda–knows; avināśinam–indestructible; nityam–eternally; yaḥ–who; enam–the soul; ajam–unborn; avyayam–immutable; katham–how?; saḥ–that; puruṣaḥ–person; pārtha–O Pārtha (Arjuna); kam–whom?; ghātayati–cause to kill; hanti–can he kill; kam–whom?

O Pārtha, how can a person who knows the soul to be eternally birthless, immutable and indestructible kill anyone or cause anyone to be killed?

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

Śrī Kṛṣṇa is answering Arjuna: “O Pārtha, after acquiring this knowledge, you will not be guilty of committing sin even after engaging in battle, and I, also, will not be guilty of inspiring you to fight.” To convey this, the present verse beginning with vedāvināśinam is being spoken. Here the word nityam is an adverb. The use of the words avināśi (indestructible), aja (unborn) and avyayam (immutable) refute the conception that the ātmā can be slightly diminished by any act of destruction. Śrī Bhagavān says, “When you have attained such knowledge, how can you think a person like Me could induce someone to kill anyone? In the same way, how can a person like you kill someone or cause someone to be killed?”