Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02, Text 20 | Listen to Bhagavad Gita As It Is Online in MP3 Audio Format.
na — never; jayate — takes birth; mriyate — dies; va — either; kadacit — at any time (past, present or future); na — never; ayam — this; bhutva — having come into being; bhavita — will come to be; va — or; na — not; bhuyah — or is again coming to be; ajah — unborn; nityah — eternal; sasvatah — permanent; ayam — this; puranah — the oldest; na — never; hanyate — is killed; hanyamane — being killed; sarire — the body.
The soul is full of knowledge, or full always with consciousness. Therefore, consciousness is the symptom of the soul. Even if one does not find the soul within the heart, where he is situated, one can still understand the presence of the soul simply by the presence of consciousness. Sometimes we do not find the sun in the sky owing to clouds, or for some other reason, but the light of the sun is always there, and we are convinced that it is therefore daytime. As soon as there is a little light in the sky early in the morning, we can understand that the sun is in the sky. Similarly, since there is some consciousness in all bodies – whether man or animal – we can understand the presence of the soul. This consciousness of the soul is, however, different from the consciousness of the Supreme because the supreme consciousness is all-knowledge – past, present and future. The consciousness of the individual soul is prone to be forgetful. When he is forgetful of his real nature, he obtains education and enlightenment from the superior lessons of Krishna. But Krishna is not like the forgetful soul. If so, Krishna's teachings of Bhagavad-gita would be useless.
"Both the Supersoul [Paramatma] and the atomic soul [ jivatma] are situated on the same tree of the body within the same heart of the living being, and only one who has become free from all material desires as well as lamentations can, by the grace of the Supreme, understand the glories of the soul." Krishna is the fountainhead of the Supersoul also, as it will be disclosed in the following chapters, and Arjuna is the atomic soul, forgetful of his real nature; therefore he requires to be enlightened by Krishna, or by His bona fide representative (the spiritual master).