Gita 2.17

Sankhya Yoga

अविनाशि तु तद्विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम्। विनाशमव्ययस्यास्य न कश्चित्कर्तुमर्हति॥

avināśi tu tadviddhi yena sarvamidaṁ tatam | vināśamavyayasyāsya na kaścitkartumarhati ||

In essence: That which pervades everything cannot be destroyed by anything—know this imperishable reality as the ground of all that exists.

A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply

Sadhak-Guru Dialogue

Sadhak: "You say the Self pervades everything. Does this mean the Self is like an all-pervading substance, a kind of cosmic soup in which everything floats?"

Guru: "Not quite. A substance would be something you could detect, measure, locate—even if everywhere. The Self is more like the space in which all substances exist, but even that analogy falls short. Space is still an object of awareness—you are aware of space. The Self is the awareness itself, not located in space but that in which space appears. When Krishna says 'pervades,' he means nothing exists outside or apart from this awareness. All experiences, all worlds, arise within it and are known by it."

Sadhak: "If the Self pervades everything, is it also in evil, in suffering, in ugliness?"

Guru: "Yes—but not as a participant. The screen pervades both the hero and villain in a movie without being either. Light illuminates both beautiful and ugly scenes without being colored by them. The Self witnesses all without being affected by any of it. Evil exists in the Self like a dream exists in the dreamer—experienced fully, yet upon waking, the dreamer is untouched. This is why realizing your nature as the Self liberates: you discover you were never truly the sufferer, the sinner, the victim. You were the witness of those experiences, pure and unharmed."

Sadhak: "But I feel my suffering very intensely. It doesn't feel like I am just a witness."

Guru: "Because identification is so complete. When you watch a gripping movie, you forget you are sitting in a theater—you feel the character's fear, joy, grief. Only when the movie ends, or you briefly remember 'this is a movie,' does the emotional grip loosen. Spiritual practice is like repeatedly remembering you are in the theater. Each moment of remembrance loosens identification. Eventually, you enjoy the movie fully while never forgetting your true position. Suffering does not cease, but suffering of the suffering ceases—the meta-suffering of believing suffering can truly harm you."

Sadhak: "Krishna says no one can cause the destruction of this imperishable. But in Arjuna's case, he is about to cause deaths. How can he reconcile causing death with this teaching?"

Guru: "By understanding what he is actually doing. Arjuna's arrows will cause the death of bodies—the separation of consciousness from particular physical forms. But the consciousness itself continues. It is like changing clothes. Krishna will use this very analogy soon. You remove old worn-out clothes and put on new ones. The wearer is not harmed by the changing of clothes. Arjuna's arrows cause a change of clothes, not the destruction of wearers. This does not make killing trivial—karma for killing still applies, intentions matter—but it removes the ultimate horror of annihilation. No one is truly annihilated."

Sadhak: "If the Self cannot be destroyed, why do we still fear death so intensely? Even hearing this teaching, fear remains."

Guru: "Because the teaching has reached your intellect but not yet your being. The body has its survival instincts, conditioned through millions of years of evolution. The mind has its attachments, reinforced through countless lifetimes. These do not dissolve instantly upon hearing a truth. But the truth begins to work. Each time you remember your indestructible nature, each time you inquire 'who dies?', the grip loosens. The sages say that at the moment of death, one who has deeply realized this teaching departs in peace, even in joy—because they know the truth Krishna speaks here is verified in their own direct experience."

Sadhak: "How should I practice contemplating this truth of the all-pervading, indestructible Self?"

Guru: "Begin with what you can verify. Notice that awareness is present in every experience—in seeing, hearing, thinking, feeling. Without awareness, no experience could be known. Then notice: is this awareness localized? Can you find its edges? Usually you will discover that awareness is not inside your head—it is more accurate to say your head appears in awareness. All objects appear within awareness, which itself is not an object. This awareness is the 'that which pervades all' Krishna points to. Rest in this awareness, notice its qualities: present, open, unchanging, untouched by what appears within it. This is the practice."

Sadhak: "It sounds like meditation. But I struggle to meditate without thoughts intruding."

Guru: "Thoughts are not intrusions—they are appearances in awareness, just like sensations or perceptions. The mistake is thinking you need to stop thoughts to find awareness. But who notices the thoughts? That noticing is awareness. You do not need to eliminate thoughts any more than you need to turn off the movie to know you are watching it. Simply recognize: thoughts appear, awareness remains. Emotions arise, awareness remains. The body breathes, awareness remains. That remaining is the indestructible truth this verse points to."

Sadhak: "So the teaching is not to achieve a special state but to recognize what is already the case?"

Guru: "Precisely. The Self is not something to be attained—you already are it. You cannot not be it. The practice is recognition, not acquisition. This is why Krishna uses 'viddhi' (know, understand) rather than 'prāpnuhi' (obtain). You do not need to obtain the Self; you need to know that you are the Self. This knowing is not intellectual only—it is direct recognition, like recognizing your own face in a mirror. Once recognized, it cannot be unrecognized. That is liberation."

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🌅 Daily Practice

🌅 Morning

Upon waking, before the mind begins its habitual activity, rest in the sense of being aware. Not aware of something in particular—just aware. Notice that this awareness is already present before you open your eyes, before you remember who you are or what you need to do. This is the imperishable—already here, already pervading. Begin the day knowing yourself as this awareness, not as the body that rises or the mind that plans.

☀️ Daytime

When faced with situations that seem threatening—physical danger, loss, conflict—pause and inquire: 'Can this actually touch what I fundamentally am?' Not as a trick to avoid feeling, but as a genuine inquiry. Feel the fear or resistance fully, then notice: even as the body trembles, awareness witnesses the trembling without trembling itself. Even as the mind worries, something knows the worry without being worried. That knowing is indestructible. Act from that knowing.

🌙 Evening

Before sleep, as the day's experiences settle, rest in the recognition that what you experienced all day—the pleasures and pains, the successes and failures—arose within awareness and subsided within awareness. Awareness itself did not gain or lose anything. Sleep will come, and awareness will pervade sleep, though you will not remember it. Upon waking, awareness will still be present. This continuum is what Krishna calls 'that by which all this is pervaded.' Fall asleep knowing yourself as that which cannot be destroyed even by the apparent destruction of sleep.

Common Questions

If the Self is indestructible and pervades everything, is this the same as pantheism—the belief that everything is God?

It shares similarities with pantheism but is more precisely called panentheism in the Gita's framework—God pervades everything AND transcends everything. The Self (ātman) pervading all is ultimately identical with Brahman, the absolute reality, which in the Gita's theistic chapters is further identified with Krishna as the Supreme Person. But the identification is not crude: it does not mean every rock and tree is conscious in the way humans are. Rather, one consciousness underlies all appearances, expressing itself through different forms at different levels of manifestation. The ocean underlies all waves; the waves are not separate from the ocean, yet each wave has its own particular form and duration.

If nothing can destroy the Self, can the Self destroy itself? Can consciousness somehow end itself?

This is philosophically impossible because destruction implies change—something that was, ceasing to be. But the Self is avyaya (changeless). What does not change cannot undergo the change called 'ceasing to exist.' Moreover, for the Self to destroy itself, it would need to be its own object—but the Self is the ultimate subject, never an object. The eye cannot see itself (except in a mirror, which is seeing a reflection, not the eye itself). The Self cannot make itself into an object of destruction. The question itself reveals a subtle confusion: treating consciousness as if it were a thing that could undergo events. Consciousness is the space in which all events occur, not an event itself.

Does this teaching of the imperishable Self lead to ethical passivity? If no one can truly be harmed, why care about causing harm?

This is perhaps the most important practical question. The Gita emphatically does not teach passivity—the entire context is Krishna urging Arjuna to act. The resolution is understanding that actions have consequences at their own level. Bodies can suffer, minds can be disturbed, societies can be harmed—all of this is real in its domain. The teaching of the imperishable Self does not negate these relative realities; it contextualizes them. Compassion arises naturally when you realize all beings are expressions of one Self—you care for the other as yourself because, at the deepest level, the other IS yourself. The difference is that compassion is now free from the desperation that comes from believing suffering is ultimate. You act to reduce suffering not because the universe is cruel and indifferent but because alleviating suffering in any form is serving the one Self that you are.

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