FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Bhagavad-gītā 2.17

अविनाशि तु तद्विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम् । विनाशमव्ययस्यास्य न कश्चित्कर्तुमर्हति ॥ १७ ॥
avināśi tu tad viddhi
[avinaashi tu tad viddhi]
yena sarvam idaṁ tatam
[yena sarvam idam tatam]
vināśam avyayasyāsya
[vinaasham avyayasyaasya]
na kaścit kartum arhati
[na kashchit kartum arhati]
Word-for-word
avināśi — imperishable tu — but tat — that viddhi — know it yena — by whom sarvam — all of the body idam — this tatam — pervaded vināśam — destruction avyayasya — of the imperishable asya — of it na kaścit — no one kartum — to do arhati — is able .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
avināśi tu tad viddhi
avināśi
imperishable
tu
but
tat
that
viddhi
know it
yena sarvam idaṁ tatam
yena
by whom
sarvam
all of the body
idam
this
tatam
pervaded
vināśam avyayasyāsya
vināśam
destruction
avyayasya
of the imperishable
asya
of it
na kaścit kartum arhati
na kaścit
no one
kartum
to do
arhati
is able .
Important Words
  • avināśi — indestructible
    A + vināśin — not subject to destruction. The first time the soul is named with a privative; many more such privatives will follow (aja, avyaya, sthāṇu, sanātana). The soul is best described by what it lacks of mortality's properties.
  • tat — that
    The pronoun of the Upaniṣads — *tat tvam asi*. Kṛṣṇa points at *that* whose nature He is about to disclose. The deictic carries the weight of mystical reference.
  • yena — by which
    Instrumental — *by which* all this is pervaded. The soul is the pervader of the body; the body is its instrument, not its container. The relation is exactly inverted from how the unschooled think.
  • tatam — pervaded
    Past participle of √tan — to stretch, to spread. The soul stretches through the body the way space stretches through a vessel. Vyāpti — pervasion — is the soul's mode of presence.
  • avyayasya — of the imperishable
    A + vyaya — not subject to decay. Vyaya is expenditure, wasting. The soul is *not spent* by the body's wear. Even time, which spends everything, finds nothing to take here.
That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul.
Classical Sanskrit analysis शास्त्रीय विश्लेषण
How Sanskrit scholars read this verse — split, rearranged, grammar-tagged. For the plain English distilled meaning, jump to Plain meaning below.
Auto-generated study layers — original analysis of the public-domain śloka. Review against a published edition for academic work.
Plain meaning (तात्पर्य · Tātparya)
Kṛṣṇa points to the universally pervading principle. Whatever pervades everything cannot itself be destroyed by anything within it. The ātman is that omnipresent reality, beyond the reach of any agent of destruction.
Further notes (विवरण · Vivaraṇa)
The argument is precise: that which is the substrate of everything cannot be undone by anything that depends on it. Yena sarvam idaṁ tatam will be echoed in BG 8.22, 18.46. Avyaya (without diminution) is one of Kṛṣṇa's key terms — what cannot decline cannot end.
Prose order (अन्वय · Anvaya)
येन इदम् सर्वम् ततम्, तत् तु अविनाशि (इति) विद्धि । अस्य अव्ययस्य विनाशम् न कश्चित् कर्तुम् अर्हति ।
yena idam sarvam tatam, tat tu avināśi (iti) viddhi | asya avyayasya vināśam na kaścit kartum arhati |
Know That to be indestructible, by which all this is pervaded. No one is able to bring about the destruction of this Imperishable.
Word split (पदच्छेद · Padaccheda)
अविनाशि तु तत् विद्धि येन सर्वम् इदम् ततम् । विनाशम् अव्ययस्य अस्य न कश्चित् कर्तुम् अर्हति ॥
avināśi tu tat viddhi yena sarvam idam tatam | vināśam avyayasya asya na kaścit kartum arhati ||
Grammar (व्याकरण · Vyākaraṇa)
SanskritIASTGrammarMeaning
अविनाशि avināśi अ + विनाशिन् (adj.) acc.sg. (accusative singular)n., 'indestructible' indestructible
तु tu ind. (indeclinable), emphatic indeed
तत् tat तद् (pron. (pronoun)) acc.sg. (accusative singular)n. that
विद्धि viddhi √विद् impv. 2sg.par. (parasmaipada / active voice), 'know!' know
येन yena यद् (rel.) ins.sg. (instrumental singular)n. by which
सर्वम् sarvam सर्व (pron. (pronoun)/adj.) nom.sg. (nominative singular)n. all
इदम् idam इदम् (dem. (demonstrative)) nom.sg. (nominative singular)n. this
ततम् tatam √तन् p.p.p. (past passive participle) nom.sg. (nominative singular)n., 'spread out, pervaded' pervaded
विनाशम् vināśam विनाश (m.) acc.sg. (accusative singular) destruction
अव्ययस्य avyayasya अ + व्यय (adj.) gen.sg. (genitive singular)m./n., 'of the imperishable' of the imperishable
अस्य asya इदम् (dem. (demonstrative)) gen.sg. (genitive singular)m./n. of this
न कश्चित् na kaścit कश्चित् (pron. (pronoun)) nom.sg. (nominative singular)m. with न no one
कर्तुम् kartum √कृ inf. (infinitive) to do, to bring about
अर्हति arhati √अर्ह् pres. (present) 3sg.par. (parasmaipada / active voice) is able
Purport

This verse more clearly explains the real nature of the soul, which is spread all over the body. Anyone can understand what is spread all over the body: it is consciousness. Everyone is conscious of the pains and pleasures of the body in part or as a whole. This spreading of consciousness is limited within one’s own body. The pains and pleasures of one body are unknown to another. Therefore, each and every body is the embodiment of an individual soul, and the symptom of the soul’s presence is perceived as individual consciousness. This soul is described as one ten-thousandth part of the upper portion of the hair point in size. The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (5.9) confirms this: bālāgra-śata-bhāgasya śatadhā kalpitasya ca bhāgo jīvaḥ sa vijñeyaḥ sa cānantyāya kalpate “When the upper point of a hair is divided into one hundred parts and again each of such parts is further divided into one hundred parts, each such part is the measurement of the dimension of the spirit soul.” Similarly the same version is stated: keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya śatāṁśaḥ sādṛśātmakaḥ jīvaḥ sūkṣma-svarūpo ’yaṁ saṅkhyātīto hi cit-kaṇaḥ “There are innumerable particles of spiritual atoms, which are measured as one ten-thousandth of the upper portion of the hair.” Therefore, the individual particle of spirit soul is a spiritual atom smaller than the material atoms, and such atoms are innumerable. This very small spiritual spark is the basic principle of the material body, and the influence of such a spiritual spark is spread all over the body as the influence of the active principle of some medicine spreads throughout the body. This current of the spirit soul is felt all over the body as consciousness, and that is the proof of the presence of the soul. Any layman can understand that the material body minus consciousness is a dead body, and this consciousness cannot be revived in the body by any means of material administration. Therefore, consciousness is not due to any amount of material combination, but to the spirit soul. In the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (3.1.9) the measurement of the atomic spirit soul is further explained: eṣo ’ṇur ātmā cetasā veditavyo yasmin prāṇaḥ pañcadhā saṁviveśa prāṇaiś cittaṁ sarvam otaṁ prajānāṁ yasmin viśuddhe vibhavaty eṣa ātmā “The soul is atomic in size and can be perceived by perfect intelligence. This atomic soul is floating in the five kinds of air ( prāṇa, apāna, vyāna, samāna and udāna ), is situated within the heart, and spreads its influence all over the body of the embodied living entities. When the soul is purified from the contamination of the five kinds of material air, its spiritual influence is exhibited.” The haṭha-yoga system is meant for controlling the five kinds of air encircling the pure soul by different kinds of sitting postures – not for any material profit, but for liberation of the minute soul from the entanglement of the material atmosphere. So the constitution of the atomic soul is admitted in all Vedic literatures, and it is also actually felt in the practical experience of any sane man. Only the insane man can think of this atomic soul as all-pervading viṣṇu-tattva. The influence of the atomic soul can be spread all over a particular body. According to the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, this atomic soul is situated in the heart of every living entity, and because the measurement of the atomic soul is beyond the power of appreciation of the material scientists, some of them assert foolishly that there is no soul. The individual atomic soul is definitely there in the heart along with the Supersoul, and thus all the energies of bodily movement are emanating from this part of the body. The corpuscles which carry the oxygen from the lungs gather energy from the soul. When the soul passes away from this position, the activity of the blood, generating fusion, ceases. Medical science accepts the importance of the red corpuscles, but it cannot ascertain that the source of the energy is the soul. Medical science, however, does admit that the heart is the seat of all energies of the body. Such atomic particles of the spirit whole are compared to the sunshine molecules. In the sunshine there are innumerable radiant molecules. Similarly, the fragmental parts of the Supreme Lord are atomic sparks of the rays of the Supreme Lord, called by the name prabhā, or superior energy. So whether one follows Vedic knowledge or modern science, one cannot deny the existence of the spirit soul in the body, and the science of the soul is explicitly described in the Bhagavad-gītā by the Personality of Godhead Himself.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
17. Know that the soul by which the body is pervaded is indestructible. No one can destroy that which indestructible.
Commentary

This verse clarifies the meaning of the previous verse. “Know this jīva (tat) which is spread throughout the body (sarvam idam tatam) is indestructible.” “But, being spread throughout the body by its consciousness, this soul would be impermanent because it is of medium size only (being the size of the body). [Note: In Nyāya philosophy there are three sizes: minute (paramāṇu or atoms), medium size (combination of atoms), and all pervading. A medium size object, being made of the combination of atoms, is subject to destruction and therefore cannot be eternal.]” This is not so, for the Lord says, sūkṣmānām apy ahaṁ jīvaḥ: of small things I am the jīva”. (SB 11.16.11) As well, śruti says: eṣo ’ṇur ātmā cetasā veditavyo yasmin prāṇaḥ pañcadhā saṁviveśa One should know by the pure consciousness the small ātmā near which the five life airs rest. Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 3.1.9 bālāgra-śata-bhāgasya śatadhā kalpitasya ca bhāgo jīvaḥ sa vijñeyaḥ One should know that the jīva is the size of one ten thousandth of the tip of the hair. Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 5.9 ārāgra-mātro hy aparo ’pi dṛṣṭaḥ The inferior soul is seen to be the size of the tip of a spoke. Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 5.8 By these statements of śruti we understand that the jīva is very small. It has the power to spread itself throughout the whole body, just as pulverized gems or herbs when applied to the head have the power to spread their nourishing influence throughout the whole body. There is nothing contradictory in being small and pervading the body. Because of its dependence on upādhis (mistaken identity), the soul goes to various bodies in heaven and hell. In this way the soul is sarva-gataḥ, going everywhere (pervading everywhere). [Note: This is another meaning of sarvam idaṁ tatam. The jīvas are spread throughout the universe in different bodies.] Dattātreya (in the form of the avadhūta brāḥmana) says how the jīva, taking shelter of the mahat-tattva at the beginning of creation, goes to different bodies: tām āhus tri-guṇa-vyaktiṁ sṛjantīṁ viśvato-mukham yasmin protam idaṁ viśvaṁ yena saṁsarate pumān According to great sages, that which is the basis of the three modes of material nature and which manifests the variegated universe is called the sūtra or mahat-tattva. Indeed, this universe is resting within that mahat-tattva, and due to its potency the living entity undergoes material existence. SB 11.9.20 Thus the soul’s pervasion of the body (and still being minute) is not contrary to its eternal nature stated in the previous verse. Therefore the word avyayasya is used in this verse also. It refers to the soul being eternal or nitya. No one can destroy the eternal soul. As the śruti says: nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān The Lord is the chief eternal among all eternals (souls). He is the chief conscious entity among all conscious entities. He is the one person who fulfills the needs of all others. Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.13 Or the meaning of the verse can be as follows. The body, the jīva and the Paramātmā are all seen everywhere in all forms such as human and animal. The first two, the body and jīva, were mentioned in the previous verse. The third, Paramātmā is mentioned in this verse. It is indestructible and spread everywhere in the universe (idam) [Note: In the first interpretation idam referred to the body. Here it refers to the universe.]. The word tu serves to distinguish Paramātmā from the body and jīva. The Paramātmā is by its very nature different from matter and the jīva.

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
17. Know that it is indestructible. By it the body is pervaded. No one can destroy that which indestructible.
Commentary

The Lord further explains the nature of the body and jīvātmā just discussed, in two more verses. Know that the substance known as jīvātmā is eternal (avināśi). This whole body (idam sarvam) is pervaded by this soul: the body is pervaded by the ātmā’s consciousness, its capacity to know objects beyond itself (dharma bhūta jñāna) [Note: This is a term used by Rāmānuja, indicating that the jīva has the ability to know objects other than itself as well as having self-knowledge. Impersonalists argue that Brahman is pure consciousness without knowledge of itself or anything else.] (including the body). No gross object, and not even the body of a living entity, can destroy (vināśam) that jīva which is indestructible (avyayasya), because it has very small size. It is not accepted that the jīva is the same size as the material body. [Note: This is the Jain theory.] That it is very small is understood from śruti statements such as the following: eṣo’ṇur ātmā cetasā veditavyo yasmin prāṇaḥ pañcadhā saṁviveśa This small ātmā, on which five prāṇas rest, is to be known by the consciousness. Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 3.1.9 However, the infinitesimal jīva’s spreads throughout the body through its capacity to know objects other than itself (dharma bhūta jñāna). Thus the Lord, as the author of Vedānta Sūtras, says: guṇād vālokavad: the soul is pervasive like light. (Vedānta Sūtra 2.3.26) In the Gīta also the Lord says yathā prakāśayaty ekaḥ: just as one sun lights up the whole world, this ātmā illumines the whole body, O descendent of Bharata. (BG 13.33)

Bhūrijana Dāsa Gauḍīya
Commentary

And then to explain the point that the material body is temporary and doesn't factually exists, Krsna explains:

Study Notes — Gauranga Priya Dāsa
Gauranga Priya Dāsa Study
Bhakti-śāstrī Notes, ISKCON Chowpatty (2009)
Theme

COMMON THEME: The soul cannot be killed and the body cannot be saved from death. Therefore Arjuna

should not refrain from the necessity of war

This implies that the Kauravas cannot escape death even if Arjuna does not kill
Focus of Learning

(a) Essence of purport – This verse more clearly explains “the nature of the soul”

(b) Symptom of the soul – “Individual consciousness”

This consciousness is spread all over the body e.g. one can experience the pain and pleasures of the body
Each and everybody is the embodiment of an individual soul, one cannot perceive the pains and pleasures of another’s body

(c) Size of the soul – Ref. Svetasvatara Upanisad

It is one ten-thousandth (1/10,000th) of the tip of the hair
This is a spiritual atom smaller than the material atom
This spark is the basic principle of the material body

(d) Ref. Mundaka Upanisad 3.1.9 – Explains the measurement of the atomic spirit soul

Size – The soul is atomic in size and can be perceived by perfect intelligence
Life airs – Atomic soul is floating in five kinds of airs (prana, apana, vyana, samana, udana)
Position – The soul is situated within the heart and spreads its influence all over the body
Opinion of scientists – Because the measurement of the atomic soul is beyond their power of appreciation, they foolishly assert that there is no soul
Purification of soul – When the soul is purified from the contamination of the five kinds of material airs, it’s spiritual influence is exhibited

(e) Influence of soul all over the body

Material body minus consciousness equals a dead body
Two analogies to explain this:
Active principle of medicine spreads all over the body, similarly the current of the spirit soul is felt all over the body as consciousness
Like the sun pervades the entire universe and maintains it, similarly the light of soul maintains the material body
Conclusion – Consciousness is not due to any amount of material combination and cannot be revived by any material administration

(f) ‘Vedic science’ vs ‘Modern science’ on the soul – The heart is the seat of all energies of the body

Vedic science
Individual soul is present in the heart along with the Supersoul, and therefore all energies of the body are emanating from the heart
Modern science
It accepts the important of red corpuscles and the heart as the seat of all energies
But it cannot ascertain that the source of energy is the soul

(g) Never mistake atomic soul to be all-pervading Vishnu-tattva

Constitution of atomic soul is admitted in all Vedic literatures and is also felt in the practical experience of any sane man
Only an insane man can think of the atomic soul as all-pervading Vishnu-tattva
Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
2.17 Tu, but this word is used for distinguishing (reality) from unreality; tat viddhi, know That; to be avinasi, indestructible, by nature not subject to destruction; what? (that) yena, by which, by which Brahman called Reality; sarvam, all; idam, this, the Universe together with space; is tatam, pervaded, as pot etc. are pervaded by space. Na kascit, none; arhati, can; kartum, bring about; vinasam, the destruction, disappearance, nonexistence; asya, of this avyayasya, of the Immutable, that which does not undergo growth and depletion. By Its very nature this Brahman called Reality does not suffer mutation, because, unlike bodies etc., It has no limbs; nor (does It suffer mutation) by (loss of something) belonging to It, because It has nothing that is Its own. Brahman surely does not suffer loss like Devadatta suffering from loss of wealth. Therefore no one can bring about the destruction of this immutable Brahman. No one, not even God Himself, can destroy his own Self, because the Self is Brahman. Besides, action with regard to one's Self is self-contradictory. Which, again, is that 'unreal' that is said to change its own nature? This is being answered:
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
2.17 Know that the self in its essential nature is imperishable. The whole of insentient matter, which is different (from the self), is pervaded by the self. Because of pervasiveness and extreme subtlety, the self cannot be destroyed; for every entity other than the self is capable of being pervaded by the self, and hence they are grosser than It. Destructive agents like weapons, water, wind, fire etc., pervade the substances to be destroyed and disintegrate them. Even hammers and such other instruments rouse wind through violent contact with the objects and thery destroy their objects. So, the essential nature of the self being subtler than anything else, It is imperishable. (The Lord) now says that the bodies are perishable:
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
2.17 Avinasi etc [Here] tu is in the sense of ca 'and'. So, 'and' the Soul is not of perishing nature.
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
2.17 Know that to be indestructible, by Which all this is pervaded. None can cause the destruction of That, the Imperishable.
Commentary

English Commentary By Swami Sivananda2.17 अविनाशि indestructible? तु indeed? तत् That? विद्धि know (thou)? येन by which? सर्वम् all? इदम् this? ततम् is pervaded? विनाशम् destruction? अव्ययस्य अस्य of this Imperishable? न not? कश्चित् anyone? कर्तुम् to do? अर्हति is able.Commentary -- Brahman or Atman pervades all the objects like ether. Even if the pot is broken? the ether that is within and without the pot cannot be destroyed. Even so? if the bodies and all other objects perish? Brahman or the Self that pervades them cannot perish. It is the living Truth? Sat.Brahman has no parts. There cannot be either increase or diminution in Brahman. People are ruined by loss of wealth. But Brahman does not suffer any loss in that way. It is inexhaustible. Therefore? none can bring about the disappearance or destruction of the Self. It always exists. It is always allfull and selfcontained. It is Existence Absolute. It is immutable.

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
2.17 But know That to be indestructible by which all this is pervaded. None can bring about the destruction of this Immutable.
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
2.17 The Spirit, which pervades all that we see, is imperishable. Nothing can destroy the Spirit.
Related values & verses
Related values
Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Ahimsa (Non-violence / Compassion)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)Abhaya (Fearlessness)
Related verses
BG 2.18 BG 2.24 BG 13.33 SB 2.2.35 SB 3.26.36 SB 11.13.24 CC Ādi 2.96 CC Madhya 20.108 CC Madhya 22.30 Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.12Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.7
Concepts
Dharma
Sciences essays referencing this verse
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
The soul that pervades the body cannot be destroyed; no one can annihilate that imperishable essence.
Practical Applications
  • Spend two minutes daily contemplating that your real self cannot be harmed.
  • When fear of bodily harm arises, remember that the fear, not the soul, is the actual problem.
  • Treat others' bodies as temples of an indestructible self.
Reflection Questions
  • What fears would dissolve if I really felt the indestructibility of the soul?
  • How would I treat my body differently if I knew the resident is eternal?
Analogy

Space pervades the room and the pot equally; break the pot and space is undiminished. So the soul pervades the body and is untouched by the body's destruction. The pervader is not what is pervaded — and the destroyer of bodies cannot reach what bodies merely contain.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

← Read full Chapter 2