That which really is, cannot go
out of existence, just as that which is non-existent cannot come into being.
The end of this opposition of 'is' and 'is not' has been perceived by the seers
of essential truths, Know that to be imperishable by which all this is
extended. Who can slay the immortal spirit? Finite bodies have an end, but that
which possesses and uses the body, is infinite, illimitable, eternal,
indestructible. Therefore fight, O Bharata. He who
regards this (the soul) as a slayer, and he who thinks it is slain, both of
them fail to perceive the truth. It does not slay, nor is it slain. This is not
born, nor does it die, nor is it a thing that comes into being once and passing
away will never come into being again. It is unborn, ancient, sempiternal; it is not slain with the slaying of the body.
Who knows it as immortal eternal imperishable spiritual existence, how can that
man slay, O Partha, or cause to be slain? The
embodied soul casts away old and takes up new bodies as a man changes worn-out
raiment for new. Weapons cannot cleave it, nor the fire burn, nor do the waters
drench it, nor the wind dry. It is uncleavable, it is
incombustible, it can neither be drenched nor dried. Eternally stable,
immobile, all-pervading, it is for ever and for ever. It is unmanifest,
it is unthinkable, it is immutable, so it is described (by the Srutis);
therefore knowing it as such, thou shouldst not
grieve. Even if thou thinkest of it (the self) as
being constantly subject to birth and death, still, O mighty armed, thou shouldst not grieve. For certain is death for the born, and
certain is birth for the dead; therefore what is inevitable ought not to be a
cause of thy sorrow. Beings are unmanifest in the
beginning, manifest in the middle, O Bharata, unmanifest likewise are they in disintegration. What is
there to be grieved at? One sees it as a mystery or one speaks of it or hears
of it as a mystery, none knows it. This dweller in the body of everyone is
eternal and indestructible, O Bharata; therefore thou
shouldst not grieve for any creature.
Bhagavad-Gita, II:16-30