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Bhagavad Gita 2.21

One who knows the self as deathless cannot think of himself as a killer or as making others kill.

वेदाविनाशिनं नित्यं य एनमजमव्ययम्।
कथं स पुरुषः पार्थ कं घातयति हन्ति कम्॥

vedāvināśinaṃ nityaṃ ya enam ajam avyayam
kathaṃ sa puruṣaḥ pārtha kaṃ ghātayati hanti kam

Translation

"Partha, a person who knows this self as undying, steady, unborn and unchanging: whom could such a person make anyone kill, and whom could he kill himself?"

Hindi

"पार्थ, जो पुरुष इस आत्मा को अविनाशी, स्थिर, अजन्मा और अव्यय जानता है, वह किसे मरवाएगा और किसे मारेगा?"

Commentary

The argument of 2.19 is applied to the person who knows the self. Commentators take care to say that this is not a licence to harm: the verse speaks of the knower's freedom from the false belief that he is the final destroyer of anyone. The picture of the self is extended in 2.22.

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