COMMENTARY
What is changing must always be unreal. What is constant or
permanent must always be real. The Atman or the eternal, all-pervading Self ever exists. It is the
only Reality. This phenomenal world of names and forms is ever changing. Names and forms are
subject to decay and death. Hence they are unreal or impermanent.
Avinaashi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idam tatam;
Vinaasham avyayasyaasya na kashchit kartum arhati.
17. Know That to be indestructible, by whom all this is pervaded. None can cause the
destruction of That, the Imperishable.
COMMENTARY
The Self pervades all objects like ether. Even if the pot is broken, the
ether that is within and without it cannot be destroyed. Similarly, if the bodies and all other objects
perish, the eternal Self that pervades them cannot be destroyed; It is the living Truth.
