य एनं वेत्ति हन्तारं यश्चैनं मन्यते हतम्।
उभौ तौ न विजानीतो नायं हन्ति न हन्यते।।2.19।।
न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचि
न्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो
न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे।।2.20।।
He who thinks of this One as the killer, and he who thinks of this One as the one being killed, both of them do not know. This One neither kills nor is It killed.
Never is this One born, nor does It ever die; nor, having come into existence, does It cease to be. This One is birthless, eternal, undecaying, and ancient; It is not killed when the body is killed.
Osho’s Commentary
The one who thinks he is a slayer, and the one who thinks he is slain—both are ignorant. The Self neither kills nor is it killed. It is never born, and it never dies. It is unborn, eternal, unchanging. It is not destroyed when the body is destroyed. Krishna is hammering the same truth again and again, from different angles. He is trying to break Arjuna’s deep-rooted identification with the body. You are not the body. You are the pure consciousness that dwells within it. To know this is the ultimate revolution. When you know this, you see that death is just a change of scenery, and all the violence of the world is just a play of shadows on the eternal screen of consciousness.