Bhagavad Gita · Sankhya YogaChapter 2, Shloka 30 (2.30)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
देही नित्यमवध्योऽयं देहे सर्वस्य भारत
तस्मात् सर्वाणि भूतानि न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि
॥ 2.30 ॥
dehī nityamavadhyo'yaṃ dehe sarvasya bhārata
tasmāt sarvāṇi bhūtāni na tvaṃ śocitumarhasi
Translation
"O Bharata! This embodied one (the self) dwelling in the body of everyone can never be slain. Therefore you should not grieve for any being."
Interpretation
The essence of the section. From 2.11 to 2.30 Krishna has said one thing in many ways: the self is eternal, imperishable, beyond birth and death; weapons, fire, water and wind do not touch it. Here it is all in one sentence: dehī nityam avadhyo 'yam — "the self can never be slain".
"Sarvasya" — in the body of everyone. Shankaracharya: because it pervades everything, though it dwells in the bodies of all beings, including the immobile, this embodied one is not slain when the body is slain. So grief is not fitting for any being, Bhishma and all the rest.
The final dismissal of grief — and the way ahead. Shankaracharya says: here it has been said that, from the standpoint of the highest truth, grief or delusion is not possible. But not only from the standpoint of the highest truth… — and in the next shloka the same conclusion is reached from the standpoint of svadharma too. That is, Krishna now opens a second level of argument.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.