Sanskrit
अविनाशि तु तद्विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम् । विनाशमव्ययस्यास्य न कश्चित्कर्तुमर्हति ॥
avināśi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idaṃ tatam vināśam avyayasyāsya na kaścit kartum arhati
Translation
Know That to be indestructible by whom all this is pervaded. Nor can any work the destruction of that imperishable One.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Having distinguished real from unreal, Krishna names what the “real” actually is here: whatever it is that pervades everything, and it cannot be destroyed by anything. This is the positive claim underneath verse 2.23’s later list of what can’t touch the self (weapons, fire, water, wind) — indestructibility as a definition, not just a description.
Concepts