Gita : Ch-2. Slo-21.

Srimad Bhagavad-Gita :


Chapter-2. ( Samkya-yogam )


Slokam-21.  (  O Partha, how can a person who knows that the soul is indestructible, unborn, eternal and immutable, kill anyone or cause anyone to kill? )




vedavinasinam    nityam    ya    enamajamavyayam,



katham    sa    purushah    partha    kam    ghatayati    hanti    kam.




 partha   ya   enam   =   hey  arjuna!   who   him   (  Atma );

ajam   nityam   =   unborn,   and   ever   present;

avyayam   =   immutable   (  who   has   no  ups  and   down );

avinasinam   veda   =   indestrictible, imperishable,   (  knows   him  );

sah   purushah   =   he,   this   person;

kah   katham    ghatayati   =   how   can   persuade   to  kill   anyone;

kam   hanti   =   kills  whom.
   



Everything has its proper utility, and a man who is situated in complete knowledge knows how and where to apply a thing for its proper utility. Similarly, violence also has its utility, and how to apply violence rests with the person in knowledge. Although the justice of the peace awards capital punishment to a person condemned for murder, the justice of the peace cannot be blamed because he orders violence to another person according to the codes of justice. In Manu-saṁhitā, the lawbook for mankind, it is supported that a murderer should be condemned to death so that in his next life he will not have to suffer for the great sin he has committed. Therefore, the king's punishment of hanging a murderer is actually beneficial. Similarly, when Krishna orders fighting, it must be concluded that violence is for supreme justice, and, as such, Arjuna should follow the instruction, knowing well that such violence, committed in the act of fighting for Krishna, is not violence at all because, at any rate, the man, or rather the soul, cannot be killed; so for the administration of justice, so-called violence is permitted. A surgical operation is not meant to kill the patient, but to cure him. Therefore the fighting to be executed by Arjuna at the instruction of Kṛṣṇa is with full knowledge, so there is no possibility of sinful reaction.

As to remove any doubts concerning the Vedic injunction against the killing of cows and the killing of a brahmana such as Drona, the perpetrators of these heinious crimes go directly to hell to suffer at the termination of their material existence. To mitigate this Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that one who knows the soul to be indestructible and thus eternal as well as unborn and unmodifiable although uniquely different within every body knows that no one in anyway can cause the destruction of the soul. Who is the doer in the action of killing? Whom can one cause to be killed? Can one be the agent in the death of the soul? The answer is no to all and it is indicated that there should be no doubt about the veracity of the Vedic scriptures regarding the sin incurred either when one causes another to be killed or when one is directed to kill another. By this the Vedic injunctions prohibiting cow slaughter and the slaying of brahmanas and the great sin attached thereof must be accepted as fact even though one is in knowledge about the factual nature of the eternal reality of the souls immortality.

The denial of any possibility in the slaying of any living entity has been established, for all living entities continually maintain their existence through the agency of the immortal soul. Who can that person slay and how? When knowing its eternality which is free from modification, its immutability which is free from decay, unborn being free from birth and indestructible being free from death. For it is impossible to destroy the immortal soul by any means. So who then can factually claim to be the cause of another perishing? There is none who can claim this or by any means achieve this. So the Supreme Lord by clarifying this point is also informing Arjuna to that He is not directing him to slay anyone because the soul is factually never slain.

One who understands that the eternal soul is incapable of being destroyed who can be slain and how? The word avinasinam means indestructible, nityam means eternal and therefore by its own inherent nature the immortal soul is imperishable without any defects because what is eternal is never in a state of modification. The word defect is commonly used for that which is not of perfection. The physical body of the living entities is not perfect it is defective, thus the word destruction is applicable to the physical body but never to the eternal soul.

The word avinasinam is indicative of one whose body is indestructible. Eternal in form only applies to the Supreme Lord. Unlimited activity is the attribute of being independent, total independence is found only in the case of the Supreme Lord, who being immutable is without any support outside of Himself.


So possessing spiritual intelligence, knowing the soul to be eternal, understanding it to be birthless and deathless being of an inexhaustible nature how is it possible for anyone to commit any act of destruction against the immortal soul which dwells in trillions of various and diverse living entities among the 8 million 400 thousand species of life throughout the billions of material universes. Whom can anyone destroy? How can anyone destroy anyone? Who can cause anyone to be destroyed? No one can! Thus it can be seen that ignorance of the eternal nature of the soul is the cause of all grief by not understanding that the soul is immortal and thinking that the eternal soul perishes when the physical body perishes. Comprehending that what happens to the immortal soul when the physical body ceases to function is factually the withdrawal from an old physical body to enter into a new physical body. So it can be understood that those who have deep regret for the loss of the physical body, serving as it does as the facility for securing and enjoying material pleasures; these living entities should reflect on the futility and temporal nature of material existence rather than trying to eternally exploit their senses. This will be further expounded in the next slokam.

To be continued  ...