Bhagavad Gita · Sankhya YogaChapter 2, Shloka 24 (2.24)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
अच्छेद्योऽयमदाह्योऽयमक्लेद्योऽशोष्य एव च
नित्यः सर्वगतः स्थाणुरचलोऽयं सनातनः
॥ 2.24 ॥
acchedyo'yamadāhyo'yamakledyo'śoṣya eva ca
nityaḥ sarvagataḥ sthāṇuracalo'yaṃ sanātanaḥ
Translation
"This (self) cannot be cut, cannot be burnt, cannot be wetted, and cannot be dried. It is eternal, all-pervading, stable, unmoving and everlasting."
Interpretation
Why the repetition? Shankaracharya raises a question: in 2.20 the eternity and changelessness of the self had already been stated — so why are these shlokas not a repetition? His answer: the self is so hard to grasp that the Lord states it again and again in different words, so that somehow this unmanifest reality may settle in the listener's understanding.
The sequence of the adjectives — Shankaracharya: The causes that destroy one another (weapons, fire and so on) cannot destroy it — so it is nitya (eternal); being eternal, it is sarvagata (all-pervading); being all-pervading, it is sthāṇu (stable like a pillar); being stable, it is acala (unmoving); and therefore sanātana — not newly produced from any cause, everlasting.
A teacher's way. Repeating a difficult point in different ways is the mark of a good teacher — a deep idea does not settle in the mind in one go.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.