Verse 2.20

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.20:

न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन् नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः ।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥ २० ॥

na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin nāyaṃ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ |
ajo nityaḥ śāśvato'yaṃ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre || 20 ||

na jāyate–does not take birth; mriyate–die; vā–or; kadācit–at any time; na–nor; ayam–this (soul); bhūtvā–has come into being; bhavitā–will come into being; vā–nor; na–not; bhūyaḥ–repeatedly (accept material bodies); ajaḥ–unborn; nityaḥ–eternal; śāśvataḥ–ever-existing; ayam–he; purāṇaḥ–primeval; na hanyate–he is not killed; hanyamāne–is destroyed; śarīre–when the body.

The soul neither takes birth nor does he die, nor is he affected by the repeated growth and dwindling of the body. He is unborn, eternal and ever-existing. Though primeval, he remains ever-youthful. When the body is destroyed, the soul is not annihilated.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

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

To establish the eternality of the soul, Śrī Bhagavān is speaking this verse beginning with the words na jāyate mriyate, in which it is proven that there is never a time when the soul is born or dies. That there was no birth or death for the soul in the past nor will there be in the future is proven by the words nāyaṃ bhūtvā bhavitā. Śrī Bhagavān is further explaining by the use of the word ajaḥ (unborn) that the soul does not take birth in the past, present or future. Thus He establishes that the jīva also existed in the past. The word śāśvataḥ means ‘that which is ever-existing and not destroyed in the past, present or future’. Therefore, the jīvātmā is eternal. If one still raises a doubt that because the soul exists for a long time, he may be over-powered by old age, Śrī Bhagavān says in response, “No, that is not true, because he is purāṇaḥ. This means that although he is primeval, he is ever-fresh and free from the six types of transformations, including birth and death.” If someone then raises the question, “Will the soul not die, even figuratively, at the death of the body?” Śrī Kṛṣṇa answers, “No, the soul has no relationship at all with the body.”

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

The eternal nature of the soul has been established in this verse. He is beyond birth and death, and he is eternal and ever-existing. He is not destroyed when the body is destroyed. Consequently, the soul is devoid of the six types of transformations of the material body: birth, duration of existence, growth, procreation, diminution and death.

In the Kaṭha Upaniṣad (1.2.18) a similar conclusion is given:

na jāyate mriyate vā vipaścin nāyaṃ kutaścin na vibhūva kaścit
ajo nityaḥ śāśvato’yaṃ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre

[The meaning of this verse is the same as Gītā 2.20, but here, the word vipaścit is used, which means ‘one who knows the self’.]

Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad (4.4.25) also verifies this conclusion: sa vā eṣa mahān aja ātmājaro’maro’mṛto’bhayaḥ. “The ātmā is indisputably great, unborn, deathless, free from old age, immortal and fearless.”