2.19 Neither slayer nor slain Krishna speaks
य एनं वेत्ति हन्तारं यश्चैनं मन्यते हतम्
उभौ तौ न विजानीतो नायं हन्ति न हन्यते
ya enaṁ vetti hantāraṁ yaśh chainaṁ manyate hatam
ubhau tau na vijānīto nāyaṁ hanti na hanyate
Whoever thinks this is the slayer, and whoever thinks it is slain, neither of them understands. It does not kill and it is not killed.
Explanation
Neither slayer nor slain.
Whoever thinks this kills, and whoever thinks it is killed, neither of them understands.
Both errors are named together. Arjuna's mistake is not that he over-values his enemies' lives; it is that he has cast himself as the author of an act nobody can perform.
Word by word
- yaḥ
- one who
- enam
- this
- vetti
- knows
- hantāram
- the slayer
- yaḥ
- one who
- cha
- and
- enam
- this
- manyate
- thinks
- hatam
- slain
- ubhau
- both
- tau
- they
- na
- not
- vijānītaḥ
- in knowledge
- na
- neither
- ayam
- this
- hanti
- slays
- na
- nor
- hanyate
- is killed
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