Verse 2.23
नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः ।
न चैनं क्लेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः ॥
Transliteration
nainaṃ chindanti śastrāṇi nainaṃ dahati pāvakaḥ |
na cainaṃ kledayantyāpo na śoṣayati mārutaḥ ||
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3
Translation
Weapons cut It not, fire burns It not, water wets It not, wind dries It not.
From the owner's sheet · +1 more
Weapons do not cut it, fire does not burn it, water does not wet it, and wind does not dry it.
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08 · +1 more
Word by word
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08
Explanation
Krishna lists the four elements that could destroy a physical thing: sharp weapons, fire, water and wind. None of them can cut, burn, wet or dry the self. The examples are concrete, drawn from the world of a battlefield and from ordinary experience. They underline that the self is not a material object at all, so the forces that act on matter do not touch it. The verse works by negation, describing the self through what cannot happen to it.
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08