Chapter II · Śloka 18
अन्तवन्त इमे देहा नित्यस्योक्ताः शरीरिणः |
अनाशिनोऽप्रमेयस्य तस्माद्युध्यस्व भारत ||
अनाशिनोऽप्रमेयस्य तस्माद्युध्यस्व भारत ||
antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ |
anāśino 'prameyasya tasmād yudhyasva bhārata ||
anāśino 'prameyasya tasmād yudhyasva bhārata ||
These bodies of the eternal embodied self are said to have an end. The self is indestructible and immeasurable. Therefore, fight, O Bhārata.
Krishna draws the practical conclusion from his metaphysics: if bodies are perishable by nature and the self is beyond harm, then fighting is not the cause of death — death is intrinsic to embodied form. The teaching is not permission to kill but a dismantling of the false premise underlying Arjuna's grief.
