Bhagavad Gita · Sankhya YogaChapter 2, Shloka 17 (2.17)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
अविनाशि तु तद् विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम्
विनाशमव्ययस्यास्य न कश्चित् कर्तुमर्हति
॥ 2.17 ॥
avināśi tu tad viddhi yena sarvamidaṃ tatam
vināśamavyayasyāsya na kaścit kartumarhati
Translation
"Know that to be imperishable by which all this is pervaded. No one can bring about the destruction of this immutable (never-diminishing) one."
Interpretation
"Yena sarvam idaṃ tatam" — by which all this is pervaded. The imperishable reality pervades everything. Shankaracharya: sad-ākhyena brahmaṇā — by Brahman, called "sat", just as space pervades pots and the like.
"Avyaya" — never diminishing. Shankaracharya: this reality neither diminishes in its own form (because it has no parts — niravayava), nor by losing anything of its own (because it has nothing separate that is "its own") — just as Devadatta "diminishes" by losing his wealth, it does not diminish in that way.
"Na kaścit kartum arhati" — no one can do it. Shankaracharya makes a sharp point (the Advaita reading; in the Vishishtadvaita reading): even Ishvara cannot destroy it — because the self is Brahman, and acting upon oneself is a contradiction.
For Arjuna. Arjuna feared that his arrows would "destroy" Bhishma and Drona. Krishna says: what they truly are, no one can destroy — not even you.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.