Shloka 20
Sankhya Yoga — Sankhya Yoga
न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचि- न्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः । अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥ २.२० ॥
na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin nāyaṃ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ | ajo nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṃ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre || 2.20 ||
ഇത് ഒരിക്കലും ജനിക്കുന്നില്ല; ഒരിക്കലും മരിക്കുന്നുമില്ല. ഉണ്ടായിട്ട് പിന്നെയും ‘ഉണ്ടാകുന്നു’ എന്ന നിലയിലേക്കു വീണ്ടും വരുന്നതുമല്ല. അജൻ, നിത്യൻ, ശാശ്വതൻ, പുരാതനൻ—ശരീരം നശിക്കുമ്പോഴും ഇത് നശിക്കപ്പെടുന്നില്ല.
It is not born, nor does it die; having been, it does not again come to be. Unborn, eternal, everlasting, ancient, it is not affected when the body is affected.
It is never born, nor does it ever die; it does not come into being again after having been. Unborn, eternal, enduring, ancient—it is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.
The provided input was truncated, but the standard received text concludes with ‘hanyamāne śarīre.’ Interpretively, ‘purāṇa’ (‘ancient’) emphasizes timelessness rather than historical age.
FAQs
It addresses existential fear by locating identity in something not defined by life-stage transitions or bodily vulnerability.
A strong statement of the self’s non-origination and non-destruction, foundational for later Indian debates on permanence and liberation.
Krishna continues a sustained argument meant to dissolve grief by clarifying what, in his view, truly changes and what does not.
As a meditative teaching, it can support equanimity in the face of aging, illness, and major life changes.