Bhagavad Gita — Sankhya Yoga, Shloka 17
Sankhya Yoga
अविनाशि तु तद्विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम् । विनाशमव्ययस्यास्य न कश्चित्कर्तुमर्हति ॥ २.१७ ॥
avināśi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idaṃ tatam | vināśam avyayasyāsya na kaścit kartum arhati || 2.17 ||
Know That to be imperishable by which all this is pervaded. No one can bring about the destruction of this immutable principle.
Know That to be imperishable by which all this is pervaded. No one can bring about the destruction of this immutable (principle).
Know that as imperishable by which this whole is pervaded; no one is capable of effecting the destruction of this unchanging one.
Traditional commentators identify the pervading ‘that’ with ātman/brahman (or consciousness). A more literal academic gloss can leave it as an ‘imperishable pervader’ without specifying whether the pervasion is metaphysical, epistemic, or cosmological.
FAQs
The claim of an unchanging core can function as a stabilizing self-conception, reducing fear driven by loss and uncertainty.
It asserts an immutable reality underlying experience, not subject to decay; later verses clarify this as the self distinct from the body.
Krishna builds a rationale for non-despair by grounding identity in what cannot be harmed or diminished.
As a contemplative principle: attend to what remains constant (awareness, values) amid changing roles and conditions.