Shloka 21
Sankhya Yoga — Sankhya Yoga
वेदाविनाशिनं नित्यं य एनमजमव्ययम् । कथं स पुरुषः पार्थ कं घातयति हन्ति कम् ॥ २.२१ ॥
vedāvināśinaṃ nityaṃ ya enam ajam avyayam | kathaṃ sa puruṣaḥ pārtha kaṃ ghātayati hanti kam || 2.21 ||
One who knows It as indestructible, eternal, unborn, and immutable—how can that person, O Pārtha, cause anyone to be slain, or slay anyone?
He who knows this as indestructible, eternal, unborn and immutable—how can that person, O Pārtha, cause anyone to be harmed, or regard anyone as harmed?
One who knows it as indestructible, eternal, unborn, unchanging—how could that person, O Pārtha, make (someone) be struck down, or strike down whom?
Traditional translations often sharpen the ethical implication (‘how can he kill?’). A contextual-academic rendering can treat it as a rhetorical denial of ultimate agency with respect to the self, while acknowledging action occurs at the empirical level.
FAQs
It suggests that deep insight changes one’s relationship to action—reducing egoic ownership and reactive hostility.
If the self is truly immutable, then ultimate harm does not apply to it; the verse frames action as belonging to a different explanatory level.
Krishna presses the implication of prior claims: correct knowledge undercuts the premise of irreversible loss at the level of the self.
Encourages acting with responsibility while maintaining humility about control and avoiding absolutizing interpersonal conflicts.