**Verse 2.24:** This Self cannot be cut, cannot be burned, cannot be moistened, and cannot be dried. For it is eternal, all-pervading, immovable, fixed in nature, and without beginning.
**Commentary:** [This verse explains why weapons and the like cannot cause any modification in this Self.]
'**Achchhedyo'yam**' – Weapons cannot cut this Self. This does not mean there is an absence of weapons or that the wielder is unskilled. Rather, the action of cutting cannot even enter the Self; it is simply not capable of being cut. Beyond weapons, this Self cannot be cut by mantras, curses, etc. For example, due to being unable to answer Yajnavalkya's questions, Shākalya's head fell off by his curse (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad). Thus, while the body can be cut by mantras or speech, the Self is entirely uncuttable.
'**Adāhyo'yam**' – This Self is non-combustible because it does not even possess the capacity to burn. Besides fire, this Self cannot be burned by mantras, curses, etc. For instance, by Damayanti's curse, a hunter burned to ashes without fire. Thus, only that which is capable of burning can be burned by fire, curses, etc. The action of burning cannot even enter this Self.
'**Akledyaḥ**' – This Self is not capable of being moistened; meaning, it does not possess the capacity to become wet. It cannot be moistened by water, nor by mantras, curses, herbs, etc. It is heard, for example, that stones become wet by the singing of the Malakosh raga, or that the Chandrakanta gem becomes moist by the moon's gaze. However, this Self is not an object that can be moistened by ragas, melodies, etc.
'**Aśhoṣhyaḥ**' – This Self is non-dryable. It is not such a thing that can be dried by wind, because the action of drying cannot enter it. It cannot be dried by wind, nor by mantras, curses, herbs, etc. Just as Sage Agastya dried up the ocean, no one can dry up this Self by their power.
'**Eva cha**' – Arjuna was grieving based on the possibility of destruction. Therefore, after stating the Self to be uncuttable, non-combustible, non-moistenable, and non-dryable, the Lord emphatically adds the words '**eva cha**' (indeed, and) to stress that this Self is precisely so. No action can enter it. Hence, this Self is not at all a fit object for grief.
'**Nityaḥ**' – This Self is eternal, ever-existing. It is not that it did not exist at some time and will not exist at another; rather, it remains exactly the same in all times, perpetually.
'**Sarvagataḥ**' – Since this Self remains exactly the same in all times, one might think it must reside in some place. In answer, it is said that this Self is uniformly present in all manifest entities, objects, bodies, etc.
'**Achalaḥ**' – Since it is all-pervading, one might think it must also move about somewhere. To this, it is said that this Self is immovable, meaning it has no activity of coming here or going there at any time.
'**Sthāṇuḥ**' – It is true that it is immovable and does not go anywhere. But one might think that it must still experience vibration. Just as a tree stays in one place, not going anywhere, yet it sways while staying there, so too this Self must have the activity of movement. In answer, it is said that this Self is 'Sthāṇu' – fixed, meaning it has no activity of movement.
'**Sanātanaḥ**' – It is true that this Self is immovable and fixed. But one might think it must have been born at some point. To this, it is said that it is 'Sanātana' – without beginning, ever-existing. It is not possible that there was a time when it did not exist.
**Special Point:**
This world is impermanent, not remaining steady for even a moment. The intent of the word '**Nityaḥ**' is to draw attention to that Self which is eternal, in which not even the slightest change ever occurs.
All that is perceived in the seen, heard, read, and understood phenomenal world – the intent of the word '**Sarvagataḥ**' is to draw attention to that essence which is complete and present everywhere within it.
All objects, beings, substances, etc., in the entire world are in motion. The intent of the word '**Achalaḥ**' is to draw attention to that principle which, by its very nature, is never moved (agitated) within all those moving objects, beings, and substances.
In the world of Prakriti and its effects, activity and change occur every moment. The intent of the word '**Sthāṇuḥ**' is to draw attention to that principle within this changing world which is devoid of activity, devoid of change, and of a permanent nature.
Only phenomenal objects are subject to birth and destruction; they did not exist before nor will they remain afterwards. The intent of the word '**Sanātanaḥ**' is to draw attention to that principle (the Self) which is neither born nor destroyed, which existed before and will remain forever after.
The meaning of all five adjectives is that, even when identified with the body and the world, and even when the distinction between the body and the Self is not experienced, the Self remains eternally uniform and of one essence.
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