The great warrior Arjuna looks out at the field of battle and the assembled multitude of warriors and kinsmen, ready to fight and to perish. He questions his friend Shri Krishna, the Supreme Person, on the meaning of life and duty. Lord Krishna describes the glory and eternal nature of the soul.
English Translation
(Bhagavad-gita As It Is, by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada)
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said:
| na tv evāhaṁ jātu nāsaṁ na tvaṁ neme janādhipāḥ na caiva na bhaviṣyāmaḥ sarve vayam ataḥ param |
2:12 Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be. |
| na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ ajo nityaḥ śāśvato ‘yaṁ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre |
2:20 For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain. |
| dehino ‘smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati |
2:13 As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change. |
| avināśi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idaṁ tatam vināśam avyayasyāsya na kaścit kartum arhati |
2:17 That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul. |
| nainaṁ chindanti śastrāṇi nainaṁ dahati pāvakaḥ na cainaṁ kledayanty āpo na śoṣayati mārutaḥ |
2:23 The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind. |
INEVITABLE TIME 