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Chapter 2 · Contents of the Gītā Summarized · 72 verses

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Soul & knowledgeChapter 2 · Contents of the Gītā Summarized

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 2.21

The eternal soul beyond bodily death

वेदाविनाशिनं नित्यं य एनमजमव्ययम् ।

कथं स पुरुषः पार्थ कं घातयति हन्ति कम् ॥ २१ ॥

vedāvināśinaṁ nityaṁ

ya enam ajam avyayam

kathaṁ sa puruṣaḥ pārtha

kaṁ ghātayati hanti kam

Translation

O Pārtha, how can a person who knows that the soul is indestructible, eternal, unborn and immutable kill anyone or cause anyone to kill?

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

1The verse asks how someone who knows the soul is indestructible, eternal, unborn and unchanging can kill or cause killing.
2Prabhupāda explains that violence has a proper use in administering justice, just as surgery is meant to cure.
3Kṛṣṇa’s order to fight serves supreme justice. By fighting under His instruction with full knowledge, Arjuna incurs no sinful reaction.

In the story

Chapter 2, Contents of the Gītā Summarized: the eternal soul beyond bodily death.

Theme summary

Discern the eternal self from the temporary.

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: ātmā, jñāna.

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

What does BG 2.21 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to soul & knowledge?

Spend five minutes reflecting on what in you does not change.

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

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