Bhagavad Gita 2.23
Spoken by Krishna ☆ Key verse · Verse 23 of 72
नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः। न चैनं क्लेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः॥
nainaṃ chindanti śastrāṇi nainaṃ dahati pāvakaḥ / na cainaṃ kledayanti āpo na śoṣayati mārutaḥ
Every physical force is named and negated — none of them can reach what you truly are.
Word by word (4)
- na enam chindanti śastrāṇi
- — weapons do not cut this · The four classical elements each have their weapon: metal cuts, fire burns, water wets, wind dries. None of them reach the Atman. Every physical force is listed and negated.
- na enam dahati pāvakaḥ
- — fire does not burn this
- na ca enam kledayanti āpaḥ
- — water does not wet / moisten this
- na śoṣayati mārutaḥ
- — wind does not dry / parch this
'Weapons cannot cut it. Fire cannot burn it. Water cannot wet it. Wind cannot dry it.'
A modern analogy
Try to cut space with a knife. Burn consciousness with a torch. The instruments of physical destruction have no traction on what has no physical substance. The Atman is not located anywhere, has no surface to be cut, no substance to be burned, no moisture to be evaporated. The four classical elements — all of physical reality — are listed and found insufficient.
Take with you
- All four classical elements are negated: weapons (earth/metal), fire, water, air. The whole of the physical world cannot reach the Atman.
- This verse has been memorized as a mantra of reassurance across traditions — the self is beyond all harm.
- The negations are not abstract — they correspond to the actual weapons on a battlefield. On the very ground where Arjuna fears killing, nothing on that ground can reach the soul.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Weapons do not cut it, fire does not burn it, water does not wet it, wind does not dry it. [4]
Swords wound it not, fire burns it not, water wets it not, wind dries it not. [6]
Nay, but as when one layeth his worn-out robes away... The soul cannot be cut, nor burned, nor wetted, nor dried. [7]
Weapons do not cut it; fire does not burn it; water does not wet it; the wind does not parch it. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
The soul: uncut, unburned, unwet, undried — eternal, all-pervading, immovable, ancient.
Unborn. Undying. Ancient. Eternal. Not slain when the body is slain — this is what you are.
A blind king asks what happened on the battlefield — and the Gita begins.
You grieve for those who should not be grieved for — and call it wisdom.
That which pervades everything cannot be destroyed — nothing and no one has the power to end it.
The soul does not slay, and cannot be slain — both the slayer and the slain have mistaken the soul for the body.
Verse 23 of 72 · back to Chapter 2