Reasons why the soul is not destroyed, viewed from its nature.

In the previous section, it was said that the soul is not cut, burned, wetted, or dried. In verse 24, the reason for this is explained based on the nature of the soul.

The soul cannot be divided, nor can it be changed into a different state like matter. It is eternal, omnipresent, immobile, and unchanging. Because it does not undergo change, it is also something that is not born or destroyed within the flow of time. The conclusion of immortality is supported by an explanation of what the soul is and what kind of changes it does not undergo.

Japanese Translation from the Gita Press Edition - Chapter 2, Section 24: "The soul is eternal, omnipresent, and immutable."

Sanskrit original text

अच्छेद्योऽयमदाह्योऽयमक्लेद्योऽशोष्य एव च ।
नित्यः सर्वगतः स्थाणुरचलोऽयं सनातनः ॥ २४ ॥

Romanization

acchedyo 'yam adāhyo 'yam akledyo 'śoṣya eva ca |
nityaḥ sarvagataḥ sthāṇur acalo 'yaṃ sanātanaḥ || 24 ||

This soul cannot be cut, and it cannot be burned by fire. It cannot be melted by water, nor can it be dried by wind. The soul is eternal, omnipresent, immutable, constant, and permanent. (24)

This section, added by the author, aims to demonstrate logically why a soul cannot be destroyed by weapons.

The soul is indivisible, non-manifest, constant, and immutable. Therefore, weapons have absolutely no power to destroy the soul.

When it is said that the soul is not cut or burned, its indestructibility is indeed established. However, this validation also applies to ether. Ether is the cause of all other elements and permeates them all, so it cannot be cut by weapons produced from the earth, nor can it be burned by fire, dissolved by water, or dried by wind.

In order to demonstrate that the indestructibility of the soul is completely different from the indestructibility of ether, it is said that the soul is eternal, omnipresent, and permanent. The intention here is to show that ether is not eternal, because even ether will dissolve at the final dissolution of creation. On the other hand, the soul never ceases to exist. Therefore, the soul is eternal.

Also, ether does not permeate everything. It only permeates its own derivatives. However, the soul permeates everything. Furthermore, ether has a beginning. But the soul does not have a beginning. In this way, the differences between the soul and ether are clearly shown by these adjectives used at the end.

By describing the soul as "something that is at rest" and "something that does not move," it is shown that both vibration and movement from one place to another do not exist in the soul.

Movement that occurs while something remains rooted in a fixed location is called "vibration." On the other hand, movement in the form of change of location is called "movement from one place to another."

The soul does not vibrate, nor does it move from one place to another. The soul permeates everything. There is no place that is not filled by it.