अविनाशि तु तद्विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम् |
विनाशमव्ययस्यास्य न कश्चित्कर्तुमर्हति || 17||
avināśhi tu tadviddhi yena sarvam idaṁ tatam
vināśham avyayasyāsya na kaśhchit kartum arhati
avināśhi—indestructible; tu—indeed; tat—that; viddhi—know; yena—by whom; sarvam—entire; idam—this; tatam—pervaded; vināśham—destruction; avyayasya—of the imperishable; asya—of it; na kaśhchit—no one; kartum—to cause; arhati—is able
Translation:
(O Arjuna!) Know that Atma by which the whole universe is pervaded is indestructible. No one can cause the destruction of the imperishable.
Commentary:
Since everything – the moving and the non-moving objects of the world -is pervaded by the Self, which is present in the heart of every individual, one should consider every object as the manifestation of the self and be full of love and kindness for all. He should not commit any sin, since Atma, the Lord, is present everywhere. Since nothing can cause the destruction of Atma, one should contemplate and strive to live in Atma without any kind of doubt or fear.
Sri Ramakrishna Says —
Master: “Did you listen to the song?
Hedge it about with Kali’s name
If you would keep your harvest safe.
Surrender yourself to God and you will achieve everything. (BG 18.66)
This is the stoutest hedge of all,
For Death himself cannot come near it.
“Yes, it is a strong hedge indeed. If you but realise God, you won’t see the world as unsubstantial. He who has realised God knows that God Himself has become the world and all living beings. When you feed your child, you should feel that you are feeding God. You should look on your father and mother as veritable manifestations of God and the Divine Mother, and serve them as such. If a man enters the world after realizing God, he does not generally keep up physical relations with his wife. Both of them are devotees; they love to talk only of God and pass their time in spiritual conversation. They serve other devotees of God, for they know that God alone has become all living beings; and, knowing this, they devote their lives to the service of others.” …….
MASTER: “As long as one has not realised God, one should renounce the world, following the process of ‘Neti, neti’. But he who has attained God knows that it is God who has become all this. Then he sees that God, maya, living beings, and the universe form one whole. God includes the universe and its living beings. Suppose you have separated the shell, flesh, and seeds of a bel-fruit and someone asks you the weight of the fruit. Will you leave aside the shell and the seeds, and weigh only the flesh? Not at all. To know the real weight of the fruit, you must weigh the whole of it — the shell, the flesh, and the seeds. Only then can you tell its real weight. The shell may be likened to the universe, and the seeds to living beings. While one is engaged in discrimination one says to oneself that the universe and the living beings are non-Self and unsubstantial. At that time one thinks of the flesh alone as the substance, and the shell and seeds as unsubstantial. But after discrimination is over, one feels that all three parts of the fruit together form a unity. Then one further realises that the stuff that has produced the flesh of the fruit has also produced the shell and seeds. To know the real nature of the bel-fruit one must know all three.
“It is the process of evolution and involution. The world, after its dissolution, remains involved in God; and God, at the time of creation, evolves as the world. Butter goes with buttermilk, and buttermilk goes with butter. If there is a thing called buttermilk, then butter also exists; and if there is a thing called butter, then buttermilk also exists. If the Self exists, then the non-Self must also exist.
“The phenomenal world belongs to that very Reality to which the Absolute belongs; again, the Absolute belongs to that very Reality to which the phenomenal world belongs. He who is realised as God has also become the universe and its living beings. One who knows the Truth knows that it is He alone who has become father and mother, child and neighbour, man and animal, good and bad, holy and unholy, and so forth.” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
Question: What is the nature of Atma?
Answer: Atma pervades the whole universe. It is imperishable. No one can cause its destruction.
