BG 2.18
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Devanagari
अन्तवन्त इमे देहा नित्यस्योक्ताः शरीरिणः ।
अनाशिनोऽप्रमेयस्य तस्माद्युध्यस्व भारत ॥ १८ ॥
Verse text
antavanta ime dehā
nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ
anāśino ’prameyasya
tasmād yudhyasva bhārata
Synonyms
anta-vantaḥ
—
perishable
;
ime
—
all these
;
dehāḥ
—
material bodies
;
nityasya
—
eternal in existence
;
uktāḥ
—
are said
;
śarīriṇaḥ
—
of the embodied soul
;
anāśinaḥ
—
never to be destroyed
;
aprameyasya
—
immeasurable
;
tasmāt
—
therefore
;
yudhyasva
—
fight
;
bhārata
—
O descendant of Bharata.
Translation
The material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity is sure to come to an end; therefore, fight, O descendant of Bharata.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
18. The bodies belonging to the eternal, indestructible, small soul are said to be temporary. Therefore, fight, O Bhārata.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
18. The bodies belonging to the eternal soul, which is indestructible and very small, are said to be temporary. Therefore, fight, O Bhārata.
Purport
The material body is perishable by nature. It may perish immediately, or it may do so after a hundred years. It is a question of time only. There is no chance of maintaining it indefinitely. But the spirit soul is so minute that it cannot even be seen by an enemy, to say nothing of being killed. As mentioned in the previous verse, it is so small that no one can have any idea how to measure its dimension. So from both viewpoints there is no cause of lamentation, because the living entity as he is cannot be killed nor can the material body be saved for any length of time or permanently protected. The minute particle of the whole spirit acquires this material body according to his work, and therefore observance of religious principles should be utilized. In the Vedānta-sūtras the living entity is qualified as light because he is part and parcel of the supreme light. As sunlight maintains the entire universe, so the light of the soul maintains this material body. As soon as the spirit soul is out of this material body, the body begins to decompose; therefore it is the spirit soul which maintains this body. The body itself is unimportant. Arjuna was advised to fight and not sacrifice the cause of religion for material, bodily considerations.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
This verse also clarifies verse 16. The possessor of the body (sarīriṇaḥ), the jīva, is beyond measurement, or difficult to understand, because it is very, very small (aprameyasya). Therefore you should fight. This means that you should not give up your dharma as prescribed in scripture.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
The bodies of the jīva are said to have a destructible nature (antavantaḥ), whereas the possessor of the body, the jīva (śarīriṇaḥ), is eternal. Because of the very fine nature of the jīva, and because it is the knower and consciousness, the jīva cannot be known (aprameyasasya) (by material methods). [Note: The ātmā is a knower, and pure consciousness, rather than an object of knowledge as we know it in this world. The ātmā is self revealing, it can know itself, but does not know the ātmā as a separate object apart from the self.] Because the jīva and his body have such natures (eternal and destructible), neither the jīva nor his body is worthy of lamentation. The body of the jīva is created by the Lord for the jīva’s enjoyment and his liberation, which can both be attained through execution of dharma. Therefore, as both earthly enjoyment and liberation are attained by dharma, O Arjuna, fight.
Surrender Unto Me
Arjuna had put foward logic and compassion. "We shouldn't fight because I am going to be killing these dear and beloved people."
But in the next verse Krsna counteracts his argument: "You cannot kill them because they are eternal!" And not only that, one cannot kill the spirit soul, Krsna explains in the next text: