"He who thinks of this atman as the slayer, and he who thinks it slain, both fail to understand: it neither kills nor is killed. It is never born and never dies; it has not come into being at some time, nor will it come into being again. It is unborn, eternal, everlasting, primeval; it is not slain when the body is slain. O son of Pritha, how can a man who knows it to be indestructible, eternal, unborn, and unchanging kill anyone, or cause anyone to be killed? As a man casts off worn-out garments and puts on others that are new, so the embodied one casts off worn-out bodies and passes on to others that are new. Weapons do not cut it, fire does not burn it, water does not wet it, and wind does not wither it. It cannot be cut, burned, wetted, or withered; it is eternal, all-pervading, unmoving, immovable, and everlasting. It is called unmanifest, inconceivable, and unchangeable; therefore, knowing it thus, you should not grieve. But even if you consider it to be perpetually born and perpetually dying, O mighty-armed one, still you should not grieve for it. For the one who is born, death is certain, and for the one who has died, birth is certain; therefore you should not grieve over what cannot be averted. Beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their middle state, and unmanifest again at their end, O Bharata: what is there to lament in this? One sees this atman as a marvel, another speaks of it as a marvel, another hears of it as a marvel; yet even having heard, no one truly comprehends it. The embodied one dwelling in every body is forever unslayable, O Bharata; therefore you should not grieve for any being."