Bhagavad Gita 2.18
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 18 of 72
अन्तवन्त इमे देहा नित्यस्योक्ताः शरीरिणः। अनाशिनोऽप्रमेयस्य तस्माद्युध्यस्व भारत॥
antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ / anāśino 'prameyasya tasmād yudhyasva bhārata
Bodies end — the soul does not. Therefore: fight.
Word by word (4)
- antavantaḥ ime dehāḥ
- — these bodies have an end / these bodies are finite · 'Antavantaḥ' — having an end, finite, perishable. The body ends; this is not disputed.
- nityasya uktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ
- — of the eternal embodied soul it is said
- anāśinaḥ aprameyasya
- — of the indestructible and immeasurable · 'Aprameyasya' — immeasurable, unknowable by the senses. The Atman cannot be measured or quantified — it is the measurer, not the measured.
- tasmāt yudhyasva bhārata
- — therefore fight, O Bharata · The first application of the teaching to action: therefore fight. The logic: bodies are finite, the soul is eternal — therefore the apparent death of a body does not actually destroy the soul. Therefore there is no eternal harm in battle. Therefore fight.
'These bodies have an end. But the embodied soul — eternal, indestructible, immeasurable — does not. Therefore, O Bharata — fight.'
A modern analogy
If what you feared harming is actually indestructible, the entire framework of your hesitation collapses. Arjuna is afraid of killing Bhishma and Drona. Krishna says: the part of them that is truly them cannot be killed. So the fear, while understandable, is based on a misidentification.
Take with you
- The first 'tasmāt' (therefore) connects philosophy to action — the Gita is not just metaphysics, it is practical.
- 'Anāśinaḥ aprameyasya' — indestructible and immeasurable. These two qualities together make the soul beyond all harm.
- The teaching uses the soul's immortality not to dismiss grief but to address its specific source: the fear of permanent harm.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
These bodies of the embodied soul, which is eternal, indestructible and immeasurable, are said to have an end. Therefore fight, O Arjuna. [4]
These bodies of the indestructible, immeasurable, and eternal soul are said to have an end. Therefore fight, O Arjuna. [6]
These finite bodies which ensheath the soul imperishable, immeasurable, and eternal — let them be fought for. [7]
These bodies of the embodied self, which is eternal, indestructible and indefinable, are finite. Therefore, O descendant of Bharata, fight. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
The soul does not slay, and cannot be slain — both the slayer and the slain have mistaken the soul for the body.
Surrender all action to Me, mind on the Self, free from hope and possessiveness — then fight, free from fever.
No being — neither on earth nor among the devas in heaven — is free from these three guṇas born of Prakṛti.
This most secret śāstra spoken — knowing it, one becomes truly wise and kṛta-kṛtya: all duties fulfilled.
One with no ego-doer-sense, whose buddhi is untainted — even while killing all these beings, kills not, is not bound.
By bhakti one truly knows what and who I am; then knowing Me truly, one enters into Me immediately.
Verse 18 of 72 · back to Chapter 2