17. avinasi tu tad viddhi
yenta sarvam idam tatam
vinasam avyayasya
'sya na kascit t kartum arhati
(17) Know thou that that by which all this is pervaded is indestructible. Of this immutable being, no one can bring about the destruction.tatam. pervaded. See also VIII, 22, 46; IX, 4; XI, 38 and M.B., XII, 240, 20. S. uses "vyaptam."
Not even Isvara, the Supreme Lord, can bring about the destruction of the Self.[1] Its reality is self-established, svatasszddha It is not unknown to anybody.[2] The scriptures serve to remove the adhyãropaia or superposition of attributes alien to the Self and not to reveal what is altogether unknown. R. means by atmatattva the qualitative unity and equality in the midst of numerical plurality
18. antavanta ime deha
nityasyo 'ktah saririnah
anasino 'prameyasya
tasmed yudhyasva bharata
(18) It is said that these bodies of the eternal embodied (soul) which is indestructible and incomprehensible come to an end Therefore fight, 0 Bharata (Arjuna).ariri here refers to the true self of the individual as in the phrase sariraka mimamsa[3] which is an enquiry into the nature of the individual self. It is incomprehensible because it is not known by the ordinary means of knowledge.
19. ya enam vetti hantaram
yas cai 'nam manyate hatam
ubhau tau na vijanito
na 'yam hand na hanyate
(19) He who thinks that this slays and he who thinks that this is slain; both of them fail to perceive the truth; this one neither slays nor is slain The author is discriminating between the self and the not-self, purusa and prakrti of the Samkhya[4]
20. na jayate mriyate vii kadacin
na 'yam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah
ajo nityah Sasvato 'yam purano
nay hanyate hanyamane sarire
(20) He is never born, nor does he die at any time, nor having (once) come to be will he again cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, permanent and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.See Katha Up., II, 18. Cp. na vadhenasya manyate. ChandogyaUPS., VIII, 1, 5. The soul is here spoken of as "having come to be." It is everlasting as a Divine form and derives its existence from God.splits up the phrase into bhutva-abhavita.
