Chapter2- Sloka 30
dehī nityam avadhyo’yaṃ dehe sarvasya bhārata |
tasmāt sarvāṇi bhūtāni na tvaṃ śocitum arhasi || 30 ||
(2.30)
bhārata- O Arjuna! Born in the dynasty of Bharata; ayam- this soul; dehe- in the body; sarvasya- of everyone (from devatas- gods up to sthāvara- immovable ones); (vadhyamāne api- though the bodies are being killed) dehī- the soul that is a resident of the body; nityam- is always; avadhyaḥ- indestructible; tasmāt- Therefore; na arhasi- it is not proper; tvaṃ- for you; śocitum- to grieve; sarvāṇi bhūtāni (prati)- for any living being;
Purport
In all the jīvas residing in the four types of bodies, namely deva-god, manuṣya-human, tiryak-movable (eg: animals) and sthāvara-stationary (eg: plants), further differences are seen within these bodies due to differentiating factors such as nature of the body, qualities, race, caste, place, time, etc. Differences can be noticed at the soul level too in terms of their happiness and sorrow, contraction and expansion in knowledge, etc.
Q: Anticipating that Arjuna will have the question- 'When someone is addressed as a deva, manuṣya, tiryak or sthāvara, that soul together with the respective body is actually being addressed. When different names refer to the soul-body combinations distinctly different from each other, can it not be that one soul is eternal and another is not?'
A: Kṛṣṇa answers it in this śloka by saying that the eternal nature of the soul talked about in the earlier ślokas is applicable to all the souls without exception. Kṛṣṇa says, "In the body of anyone from gods up to the immovable ones, though the bodies are being killed, the soul residing in the body is always indestructible. O Bhārata! Therefore it does not befit you to grieve about any living being."
sarvasya dehe (vadhyamāne api) dehī
dehe (vartamānaḥ) dehī One way to understand the meaning is to append 'vartamānaḥ (present)' here
and state the meaning as 'The soul present in the body'.
Appending the words 'vadhyamāne api (though they are getting killed)' to 'sarvasya dehe' helps in understanding the meaning better. Since the word 'dehe' (in the body) itself is a usage referring to the one present in the body and also since the aim of the śloka is to say that even if the body is killed, the soul does not get killed, it is befitting to add the word 'vadhyamāne api' in the commentary and interpret the meaning of sarvasya dehe (vadhyamāne api) dehī as 'for the jīvas residing in any of the four types of bodies namely deva, manuṣya, tiryak and sthāvara, though the bodies are being killed...' This meaning is in line with the earlier śloka, na hanyate hanyamāne sarēre B.G 2.20 where Kṛṣṇa told that the soul is not killed when the body is killed, thus attesting our interpretation in this way.
ayam dehī nityam avadhyaḥ (This soul, a resident of any of these four types of bodies, can never be killed) By declaring that the soul is always indestructible, Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna to give up all his doubts about the eternal nature of the soul like, 'The soul may be destructibe?', 'Someone must be existing who could destroy it?', 'The soul may be indestructible at certain times and destructible at other times?'.
So the meaning of the first pādam of the śloka is that, for the jīvas residing in any of the four types of bodies namely deva-god, manuṣya-human, tiryak-movable and sthāvara-stationary, when the bodies are killed, the soul (a resident of any of these four types of bodies) can never be killed.
tasmāt (therefore) As described in the earlier ślokas, since the soul is very subtle, indestructible by weapons and fire, insoluble and non dryable, therefore....
sarvāṇi bhūtāni (for all the living beings) Here Kṛṣṇa is referring to all the jīvas whose bodies as well as the consciousness of the soul called dharmabhūta jñāna (attributive consciousness) display contraction and expansion and also other deformations. Differences may exist in the bodies as well as in the attributive consciousness of the souls on account of the soul's association with the body. However, there is no chance for differences, contractions or expansions to occur in the inherent nature of the souls. Therefore, all souls are the same with respect to their inherent nature and eternal nature. Differences and impermanence are due to the body alone. Since the body remains inseparable from the soul until it exists, the words referring to the body like deva, manuṣya, etc, are also used to refer to the soul. But this should not lead to the doubt that the impermanent and transient nature of the body applies to the soul too.
na tvaṃ śocitum arhasi Not just about Bhīṣma and others standing in front of you, it does not befit you to grieve about any jīva at all.