Shloka 21
वेदाविनाशिन नित्यं य एनमजमव्ययम् । कथं स पुरुष: पार्थ कं घातयति हन्ति कम्,हे पृथापुत्र अर्जुन! जो पुरुष इस आत्माको नाशरहित, नित्य, अजन्मा और अव्यय जानता है, वह पुरुष कैसे किसको मरवाता है और कैसे किसको मारता है?
vedāvināśinaṁ nityaṁ ya enam ajam avyayam | kathaṁ sa puruṣaḥ pārtha kaṁ ghātayati hanti kam ||
O Pārtha, Sohn der Pṛthā! Wer dieses Selbst (Ātman) als unzerstörbar, ewig, ungeboren und unveränderlich erkennt—wie könnte der jemanden töten lassen oder selbst jemanden töten?
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
If the Self (ātman) is truly indestructible, eternal, unborn, and unchanging, then in the deepest sense it is not an object of killing. Real knowledge dissolves the notion of being a literal slayer of the Self; ethical action must be guided by dharma and clarity, not by grief and delusion about what truly perishes.
In the midst of the Kurukṣetra crisis, instruction is directed to Arjuna (addressed as Pārtha). The verse challenges his fear of ‘killing’ by asserting the metaphysical distinction between the perishable body and the imperishable Self, preparing him to act according to duty without hatred or despair.