2.19
Chapter 2, Verse 19
य एनं वेत्ति हन्तारं यश्चैनं मन्यते हतम्। उभौ तौ न विजानीतो नायं हन्ति न हन्यते৷৷
ya ēnaṅ vētti hantāraṅ yaścainaṅ manyatē hatam. ubhau tau na vijānītō nāyaṅ hanti na hanyatē৷৷
Translation
He who thinks that the Spirit kills, and he who thinks of It as killed, are both ignorant. The Spirit kills not, nor is It killed.
Translation — Purohit Swami
Commentary
यः he who, एनम् this (Self), वेत्ति knows, हन्तारम् slayer, यः he who, च and, एनम् this, मन्यते thinks, हतम् slain, उभौ both, तौ those, न not, विजानीतः know, न not, अयम् this, हन्ति slays, न not, हन्यते is slain. Commentary: -- The Self is nondoer (Akarta) and as It is immutable, It is neither the agent nor the object of the act of slaying. He who thinks I slay or I am slain with the body or the Ahamkara (ego), he does not really comprehend the true nature of the Self. The Self is indestructible. It exists in the three periods of time. It is Sat (Existence). When the body is destroyed, the Self is not destroyed. The body has to undergo change in any case. It is inevitable. But the Self is not at all affected by it. Verses 19, 20, 21, 23 and 24 speak of the immortality of the Self or Atman. (Cf.XVIII.17)
Commentary — Swami Sivananda
Sanskrit and transliteration of the Bhagavad Gita. Corpus compiled from the vedabase and the IIT Kanpur Gita Supersite.