February 2, 2026
dehī nityam avadhyo ’yaṁ dehe sarvasya bhᾱrata
tasmᾱt sarvᾱṇi bhῡtᾱni na tvaṁ śocitum arhasi (II-30)
II/30. This self, the indweller in the body of everyone,
is ever indestructible, OArjuna, therefore, thou
shouldst not grieve for any creature. This is
the summing up of the philosophic argument.
Swamiji's Commentary
The body undergoes change: even the elements are not destroyed in the sense that they cease to be. Matter, too, in its ultimate analysis is indestructible, because, as has been proved by science, ‘mass is static or inert energy’. Life cannot be destroyed: energy itself is indestructible. Its apparent destruction is mere transmutation.
Body and life are themselves tools in the hands of the soul which is of the nature of pure consciousness. Body is inert. Life is blind energy. It is the soul which is the conscious director within these two. There is no power greater than this, for this consciousness is all-pervading and therefore one without a second.
“This Brahman, this creator, all these gods, these five great elements, all these small creatures, and others, the seeds of creation, the egg-born, the womb-born, the sweat- born, the sprout-born, horses, cows, men, elephants, whatever else breathes and moves or flies, or is immovable – all these are guided by consciousness and are supported by consciousness. The universe has consciousness for its guide. Consciousness is the basis or stay of all. Verily, consciousness is Brahman”, declares the Aitareya Upaniṣad. That Brahman is the self of all.
In the words of sage Yājñavalkya of The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad: “When the self alone is all this …” how can it be destroyed? “It is incomprehensible, imperishable, unattached, free and not subject to pain or destruction.” Hence, this soul is not physical or psychological – not a concept or an entity totally independent of other entities. Though incomprehensible, it is ‘realizable’. It is realized to be one in all.