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Chapter 2
Link:-In the next three verses, there is the description that the soul is super-mundane.
nainam chindanti nainani nainam dahati pavakah
na cainam kledayantyapo na sosayati marutah
Weapons cannot out the soul, nor can fire burn it, water cannot drench it, nor can wind make it dry. 23
Comment:-
Nainam chindanti sastrani:-Weapons cannot cut the soul because they are made of the earth-element which cannot even reach the soul. So how can they hurt the soul?
Nainam dahati pavakah:-Fire cannot burn the soul, because the soul is beyond the reach of fire. It means that fire can never bring any change ever in it.
Na cainam kledayantyspah:-Water cannot drench the soul because water cannot wet it. Water can never bring any change in it.
Na sosayati maratah:-Wind cannot dry the soul because it is beyond the reach of wind. It can never bring any change in the least in it.
Thus out of the five gross elements four cannot hurt the soul. Now, the question arises—why has Lord Krsna not mentioned the fifth element—ether? The answer is, that Akasa (ether) is actionless. Earth, water, fire, wind are born of ether and these are incapable of acting on ether. Therefore, when they cannot even hurt ether, how can they hurt the soul, which is beyond the reach of even Matter or nature (prakrti)? These elements with attributes cannot reach the soul, which is without any attributes (Gita 13/31).
The soul is eternal. All the four elements such as the earth etc., are activated by the power of the soul. So, how can they impair the soul, the source of their power? The soul is all-pervading, while the four elements, such as the earth etc., are the pervaded ones. How can the pervaded ones, hurt the all-pervading one?
Here, the context is of war. Arjuna is grieved at the thought of the imminent death, of his kinsmen. Therefore, Lord Krsna explains to Arjuna that the soul cannot be hurt by any weapons. A weapon can cut the body, not the soul, a fire-emitting missile can burn the body, but not the soul, the Neptune noose (Varuna weapon), can drench a body but not the soul, and the wind-missile can dry the body but not the soul. It means that the soul is not hurt hy any weapons and missiles, it remains the same, while it is the body alone which decays and dies. So, it is sheer ignorance to lament for it.
Appendix:-We say, 'This is a body'—there is a change in the body, but in 'Is' (Sariri-) there is no change. Similarly when we say, 'There is wood or timber', then there is variation in wood, not in 'Is'. Wood is cut, 'Is' is not cut. Wood bums, 'Is' does not bum. Wood becomes wet, 'Is' doesn't get wet. Wood dries, 'Is' does not get dry. Wood never remains uniform while 'Is' never becomes multiform.
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