Bhagavad Gītā › Chapter 2 › Verse 17
Bhagavad Gītā 2.17: Everywhere, unbreakable
अविनाशि तु तद्विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ।
विनाशमव्ययस्यास्य न कश्चित्कर्तुमर्हति ॥
avināśi tu tadviddhi yena sarvamidaṃ tatam
vināśamavyayasyāsya na kaścitkartumarhati
Recitation: NehalDaveND (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted, original recording
Meaning
Know that to be indestructible by which all this is pervaded. No one can bring about the destruction of this imperishable one. The verse identifies the “real” (sat) of 2.16; traditions differ on whether it refers chiefly to the individual self, to Brahman, or to both.
For children
Krishna says: “There is something that is everywhere, in everything, and nobody can ever break it.”
Kṛṣṇa now names what is real in 2.16: what pervades everything and cannot be destroyed.
Word by word
अविनाशि तु तद्विद्धि — Know that to be indestructible
- avināśin: indestructible
- viddhi: know
येन सर्वमिदं ततम् — which fills all of this
- sarvam idam: all this
- tata: spread out, pervaded
विनाशमव्ययस्यास्य — the destruction of this unchanging one
- vināśa: destruction
- avyaya: unchanging, imperishable
न कश्चित्कर्तुमर्हति — no one is able to bring about
- kaścit: anyone
- kartum arhati: is able to do
Kṛṣṇa speaks this verse. The Sanskrit is checked against four editions; meanings and word notes are simple learning aids written for MahaPrabha Gurukul, awaiting review by a Sanskrit teacher.