A declaration · expansive in mood · a little context helps
“Clear seeing makes violence look absurd.”
One who knows the imperishable, eternal, unborn, and unchanging cannot think of killing or causing death.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallyknows · the imperishable · the eternal · who · this one · unborn · unchanging · how · that · person · Arjuna · whom · causes to be killed · kills · whom
Anyone who truly sees the inner being as unborn and unchanging cannot think in terms of killing or being killed.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Sankhya Yoga" (The Yoga of Knowledge).
Verse 21 sits in Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita — Sankhya Yoga, "The Yoga of Knowledge". The chapter has 72 verses in total.
A soldier's mother may lie awake asking whether her son will kill or be killed. Krishna tells Arjuna that someone who knows the self as unborn and unchanging stops thinking in those terms.
Did you like this verse?
Krishna asks how anyone who knows the self as unborn and unchanging could kill, or cause killing.
What this verse means
Anyone who truly sees the inner being as unborn and unchanging cannot think in terms of killing or being killed.
Context & commentary
Krishna deepens the teaching: the inner being is untouched by birth or death. From that vision, the idea of killing becomes confused, because the real person was never perishable.
What it looks like today
A soldier's mother may lie awake asking whether her son will kill or be killed. Krishna tells Arjuna that someone who knows the self as unborn and unchanging stops thinking in those terms.
“The fear around death loosens when you see what cannot be destroyed.”
Explore related themes: atman (12 verses), clarity (10 verses)