Bhagavad Gita · Sankhya YogaChapter 2, Shloka 19 (2.19)

Two false beliefs. Krishna speaks of two kinds of people: (1) those who think "I am the slayer", and (2) those who think "I / this one has been slain". Shankaracharya: both, because the body is killed, take the self to be the slayer or the slain — this is ignorance of the nature of the self.

"Nāyaṃ hanti na hanyate" — neither slays nor is slain. The self is neither the agent (of slaying) nor the object (of being slain).

An important difference between the traditions:

• Shankaracharya: The self is avikriya (actionless) — so it is neither the agent nor the object of the act of slaying. Shankara takes this section (2.19–2.21) towards the renunciation of all action for the one who knows — that is, the giving up of all actions for the knower of the self (see 2.21).
• Ramanuja: The self is eternal, so it is not destroyed. Ramanuja makes a subtle point: the verb root "hanti" here means causing separation from the body. So a scriptural statement like "na hiṃsyāt sarvā bhūtāni" ("do not harm any living being") means — do not cause separation from the body in a way not sanctioned by scripture. That is, according to Ramanuja the prohibition of violence does not end; it is just that the destruction of the self is impossible.

The danger of taking it out of context. "Na hanti na hanyate" has often been misquoted in history — as if it were licence to call any violence "really nothing". Ramanuja's reading clearly shows that this is not so even in traditional interpretation.