Verse 2.18

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.18:

अन्तवन्त इमे देहा नित्यस्योक्ताः शरीरिणः ।
अनाशिनोऽप्रमेयस्य तस्माद् युध्यस्व भारत ॥ १८ ॥

antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ |
anāśino'prameyasya tasmād yudhyasva bhārata || 18 ||

anta-vantaḥ–having an end, or being subject to destruction; ime–all of these; dehāḥ–material bodies; nityasya–perpetually (possessing an unchanging form); uktāḥ–are said; śarīriṇaḥ–of the embodied soul; anāśinaḥ–indestructible; aprameyasya–not subject to measurement (by microscope, for example); tasmāt–therefore; yudhyasva–fight; bhārata–O Arjuna.

The material bodies of the soul, who is eternal, indestructible and immeasurable, are known to be perishable. Therefore, O Arjuna, fight.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

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

To clarify the meaning of nāsato vidyate bhāvaḥ, Śrī Bhagavān speaks this verse beginning with antavantaḥ. The word śarīriṇaḥ has been used to describe the embodied jīva. Aprameyasya means that the jīvātmā is very difficult to understand, because he is extremely subtle. Tasmād yudhyasva means ‘therefore fight’. Based on these arguments, Kṛṣṇa concludes that it is completely improper to give up one’s prescribed religious duty.