Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 24
अच्छेद्योऽयमदाह्योऽयमक्लेद्योऽशोष्य एव च।
नित्यः सर्वगतः स्थाणुरचलोऽयं सनातनः।।
नित्यः सर्वगतः स्थाणुरचलोऽयं सनातनः।।
acchedyo ’yam adāhyo ’yam akledyo ’śoṣya eva ca
nityaḥ sarva-gataḥ sthāṇur acalo ’yaṁ sanātanaḥ
also searched as "acchedyo yam adahyo yam akledyo sosya eva ca"
Translation
It cannot be cleaved; It cannot be burned; It cannot be wetted, and It cannot be dried; It is eternal, all-pervasive, stable, immovable, and primordial.
Vāṇi's rendering
Nothing cuts, burns, wets, or dries the self — eternal, all-pervading, steady, immovable, everlasting.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अच्छेद्यःacchedyaḥ | not able to be cut; uncleavable (elided to acchedyo before the following ayam) |
| अयम्ayam | this one — the self within |
| अदाह्यःadāhyaḥ | not able to be burned (elided to adāhyo) |
| अयम्ayam | this one |
| अक्लेद्यःakledyaḥ | not able to be wetted or soaked (elided to akledyo) |
| अशोष्यःaśoṣyaḥ | not able to be dried out (the initial a- is elided in speech after akledyo) |
| एवeva | indeed; exactly so |
| चca | and |
| नित्यःnityaḥ | eternal; always |
| सर्वगतःsarva-gataḥ | gone everywhere; present in all |
| स्थाणुःsthāṇuḥ | standing firm, like a post driven into the ground |
| अचलःacalaḥ | unmoving (elided to acalo) |
| अयम्ayam | this one |
| सनातनःsanātanaḥ | from always, without beginning; everlasting |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 24 mean?
It completes the argument begun a verse earlier. Blade, fire, water and drought are the four ways matter comes apart, and none of them reach the self. Krishna then names it positively: nitya, sarva-gata, sthāṇu, acala, sanātana — eternal, everywhere, steady, unmoving, without beginning.
What is the meaning of acchedyo yam adahyo yam akledyo shoshya eva cha?
Four denials in a row: it cannot be cleaved, cannot be burned, cannot be wetted, cannot be dried. The Sanskrit builds them as a list of impossibilities rather than as a shield, because there is nothing here for a weapon to meet. What cannot be reached does not need defending.
Why does Krishna repeat the same idea in verses 2.23 and 2.24?
Because Arjuna is not arguing, he is grieving, and grief does not yield to a single hearing. The first verse says weapons do not cut it. The second says it is uncuttable by nature. One describes an event; the other describes what the self simply is.
How does this verse help someone facing loss?
It does not deny that bodies end. It draws a line and asks you to see which side of it your grief is standing on. What burned, burned. What you are afraid was lost was never in the fire. Sit with that distinction before you try to feel better about anything.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Count the ways a thing can be destroyed. Cut it, burn it, soak it, dry it out — between them, blade and fire and flood and drought account for every ending you have ever witnessed. Krishna names all four and closes each door. What remains is not protected; it was never exposed. Arjuna is being taught to look past the body he is afraid to break, and past the one that can be broken in return. You have watched what weather does to everything you love. The one watching has not been touched by any of it, and will not be.