BG 2.23

nainam chindanti sastrani

nainam dahati pavakah

na cainam kledayanty apo

na soshayati marutah

SYNONYMS

na — never; enam — this soul; chindanti — can cut to pieces; sastrani — weapons; na — never; enam — this soul; dahati — burns; pavakah — fire; na — never; ca — also; enam — this soul; kledayanti — moistens; apah — water; na — never; soshayati — dries; marutah — wind.

TRANSLATION

The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.

naainam chindanti sastrani, the soul can not be penetrated by weapons, the soul is not dahati pavakah, burnt by fire; the soul is not destroyed by dissolving in water, na soshayati marutah; it cannot be weathered away by the wind. Essentially the emphasis of these four statement, is that things which can destroy body, cannot destroy the soul. Thus the indestructible nature of the soul is established. In continuation from previous verse, when the person discards old dress and takes new dress, he remains unharmed.

Srila Prabhupada mentioned in purport; about different kinds of weapons mentioned in Vedic literature such as Brahmashtra, Suryaastra etc. These weapons were used in the past and were entrusted to the Kshatriya class, who were trained to act responsibly and prevent widespread destruction. In the present day, technology has advanced significantly, but it is now in the hands of untrained or irresponsible individuals, leading to potential misuse and disastrous consequences. Khtriya => Ksh + triyata => those who can protect from heart so unless there is proper training the invention of weapons will lead to enormous damage in society.

During World War II atom bombs were used, but today these weapons are produced at large scale. America had tested a weapon on an island, and the result of that was the whole island destroyed. It just shattered and the debris sunk to the ocean. Thus, the island was removed from the world map.

Learning about the dynamics of weapons, leads to exploring the relationship between weapons and the manipulation of energy and matter. Weapons, whether ancient or modern, operate by manipulating atomic-level processes and energies. Most of the weapons known to us are categorized as “fire weapons” based on the elemental theory of matter, which classifies radiation and electromagnetic waves under the element of fire. However, there are different kinds of weapons, including those that utilize other elements or forces. For example, while a tornado may not be considered a conventional weapon, it can still cause destruction, and the forces of nature, including wind and storms, are controlled by the devatas or demigods.

Further, there is distinction between manipulating matter independently and manipulating it in cooperation with devatas. Independent manipulation of mater involves, humans influence nature through technology, seeking to control it from a reductionist perspective, reducing the universe to particles and forces. Alternately, there is a hierarchy in the universe, with matter being controlled by demigods who possess greater power. By performing rituals and tapasya (austerity) and satisfying the demigods, humans can receive power from them to control material nature. For example, there is vayu astra, a weapon that causes tornedo or storm by invoking the mantra on the arrow and that caused storm. No, it is not mythology. there are subtle principles involved; wherein the devata in charge of vayu is invoked, thus empowering the arrowing to cause a tornado.

So like that a living entity can try to control matter in different ways; one is independently of any higher controller, higher knowledge or higher purpose; or it can be in co-operation of higher purpose with the aid of devatas (higher beings). But either way, the important point is none of these can ever destroy the soul. There may be many weapons throughout history (in future also there will be many weapons) but the important point is none of those weapons can destroy the soul.