Bhagavad Gītā › Chapter 2 › Verse 24
Bhagavad Gītā 2.24: Steady and everlasting
अच्छेद्योऽयमदाह्योऽयमक्लेद्योऽशोष्य एव च ।
नित्यः सर्वगतः स्थाणुरचलोऽयं सनातनः ॥
acchedyo'yamadāhyo'yamakledyo'śoṣya eva ca
nityaḥ sarvagataḥ sthāṇuracalo'yaṃ sanātanaḥ
Recitation: NehalDaveND (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted, original recording
Meaning
This self cannot be cut, burnt, wetted or dried; it is eternal, all-pervading, stable, immovable and everlasting. Restating 2.23 as qualities of the self, Kṛṣṇa builds a list of attributes that later verses continue (2.25).
For children
Krishna says the real you can’t be cut, burnt, made wet or dried up. It is always there, steady like a mountain.
Kṛṣṇa repeats and expands 2.23, describing the self as something no element can affect.
Word by word
अच्छेद्योऽयमदाह्योऽयम् — It cannot be cut, it cannot be burnt
- acchedya: cannot be cut
- adāhya: cannot be burnt
अक्लेद्योऽशोष्य एव च — it cannot be wetted or dried
- akledya: cannot be made wet
- aśoṣya: cannot be dried
नित्यः सर्वगतः स्थाणुर् — eternal, everywhere, firm
- nitya: eternal
- sarvagata: present everywhere
- sthāṇu: firm, stable
अचलोऽयं सनातनः — unmoving and everlasting
- acala: unmoving
- sanātana: everlasting, ancient
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.