Chapter II · Śloka 23
नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः |
न चैनं क्लेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः ||
न चैनं क्लेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः ||
nainaṃ chindanti śastrāṇi nainaṃ dahati pāvakaḥ |
na cainaṃ kledayanty āpo na śoṣayati mārutaḥ ||
na cainaṃ kledayanty āpo na śoṣayati mārutaḥ ||
Weapons cannot cleave this self, fire cannot burn it, water cannot wet it, and wind cannot dry it.
The four classical elements — instruments of the material world — are each declared helpless against the ātman. This verse is not mythology but ontology: what belongs to a different order of being cannot be touched by the instruments of any other order.