Gita 02.23 – The utter indestructibility of the soul underlies the path of difficult duty

Bhagavad Gita 2.23 nainam chindanti shastrani nainam dakti palkaha jainam kledayam tyapo ushoshayati maanthaha nainam chindanti shastrani na enam this not chindanti chastrani this soul subject is the soul chastrani, it cannot be pierced by weapons nainam dakti palkaha it cannot be burned by fire jainam kledayam tyapo it will not be withered away by water ushoshayati maanthaha it will not be dissolved by water and it will not be withered away by the vishoshayati maanthaha so now earth, water fire, air are the gross material elements ether although it's classed as one of the gross elements it's almost like a subtle element, it's the subtlest of the gross elements and it is largely unperceivable by the senses somewhat similar to the way the mind intelligence and ego are not perceived by the senses so of course the ether is the medium whose presence enables sound to be transmitted so in that sense the ether's existence is inferable but the point is that ether being subtle is not talked about here the four gross elements as weapons are talked about and the emphasis that is made is that now whatever items we make whatever weapons anyone makes, they will basically be a combination of these so even if we have something like an atom bomb or a chemical bomb ultimately they are made using earth, water, fire, air now the Bhagavad Gita uses the elemental theory of matter analyzing matter into elements modern science largely uses the molecular theory of matter or we could say atomic theory of matter wherein matter is divided into fundamental particles but either way the point is that it is a combination of everything that exists in the material world is ultimately a combination of the material elements and Krishna very categorically states that none of the material elements can destroy the soul and the implication is that none of the combinations of the material elements can also destroy the soul so Arjuna can if you have some residual anxiety that or some of the Divyasatras ordinary weapons may not destroy but what about Divyasatras so even Divyasatras in the divine or celestial weapons will also not be able to destroy the soul so this is a further we could say somewhat illustrated example of the point of the soul being a Vinashi that what are the things that could do Vinash so the things none of them can do Vinash of the soul and if we see these are the four things that can do this Vinash of lot of material things weapons that pierces the heart of a knife or arrow pierces the heart or any other vital organ the person can die similarly we have fire when a house catches fire especially in a crowded locality it can become a devastating loss for not just that particular house and its residents but for many others also people can get permanently scarred if they at all survive fires can be devastating so now water may not seem very threatening in fact water actually we need to live we need to drink and to wash and to cook and for so many or to bathe and so many other ways to garden, to plough, to harvest the crops we definitely need water but in the same water can be the cause of destruction when we don't realize that it is if it comes in dangerous proportions when there are floods, when there are tsunamis similarly that wind, if it comes as a tornado or as a hurricane or as a cyclone horrendous devastation but none of that can affect the soul so therefore through very clear, tangible measure or terms, Krishna is underscoring the indestructibility of the soul and so how is this verse related to the previous verse the previous verse was talking about how the body may well change for the better at death far from being of comically destruction death may well be a welcome transition once we understand that the body is just like a dress for the soul the question may come but sometimes while handling the dress the person may also get damaged somebody very roughly pulls out the dress that may hurt the body so is there some way while destroying the body will the soul get hurt so Krishna assured no even if you use the fiercest weapons to attack and to defeat so here Krishna by giving multiple examples is demonstrating explicating the absolute indestructibility of the soul now the its talked about in the negatives nainam nainam nainam nainam why is that talked about this is another example of the naiti naiti method for explaining the nature of the soul and its difference from matter is illustrated by the repeated usage of the naiti so this way whatever conception that Arjuna may have had about the soul which are actually extrapolated on the spirit from matter an extrapolation that is unwarranted because nature of spirit is drastically almost antipodally antipodally means almost entirely opposite to that of matter so to counter such extrapolations Krishna tells Arjuna here that nainam nainam nainam four times in each line nainam is coming so of course nainam nainam comes in the first two lines but the na comes in the next two lines also na nainam nainam nainam nainam nainam so essentially na na is coming again and again so often if we do not understand properly the difference between the body and the soul then we drag bodily conceptions on to the soul or material conceptions on to spirit and therefore we do not, we are not able to make tangible advancement in spiritual life we don't take spiritual life as a serious pursuit because material conceptions cling on to us and we are unable to take the take the adventurous leap of faith necessary to attain the world of spirit so the Bhagavad Gita setting of a war where a spiritualist or a spiritual leader, a spiritual warrior has to kill in order to do spiritual duty, social duty is also spiritual duty that illustrates in a most dramatic way how spiritual way of looking at things can be quite different from the material way of looking at things and it is not that it is materially incomprehensible but really also if one thinks deeply why the Kauravas need to be killed can be understood but Krishna is not arguing here based on the material morality of the situation although that argument can also be made but he is arguing based on the spiritual reality of the situation and by using such a dramatic setting, the Gita forces us to confront the conflict between the material conception and the spiritual conception head on and thereby help us to make the difficult choice of choosing the spiritual over the material on those occasions when the spiritual material come in conflict. In general the spiritual material can be harmonized and that is the expertise of the spiritual master, that is the expertise of the Vedic spiritual culture, Vedic culture in general and they will work harmoniously if we do carefully, sensitively under guidance but there are times when the material conception and spiritual conception may conflict and the Bhagavad Gita by using this dramatic example of having to kill one's relatives and then emphasizing the indestructibility of the soul drives on forcefully that when the spiritual reality calls for a particular course of action one should not let material sentimentality hold one back from that principled and enlightened course of action.

Thank you.