Chapter 2, Verse 17
avināśi tu tad viddhi
yena sarvam idaṁ tatam
vināśam avyayasyāsya
na kaścit kartum arhati
Know that to be imperishable from which all this is extended. Who can slay the immortal spirit?
Whatever is perishable, like the body, the senses, the mind, all these objects of enjoyment, and pleasure – all these are under the control of Prakriti. And Prakriti is under the control of the Spirit, which means under the control of the Consciousness, the life principle.
“Know that to be imperishable from which all this is extended.” All matter, everything which is created, comes from the non-created: all emerges from only One Reality, God, the Immortal One, the Supreme Spirit. Everything comes from Him. Everything is just an extension of Him. The one who is realised in this immortality, attains the true Self. He sees that the same Narayana Krishna that is outside, is also inside. And not only in himself, but everywhere, in everything. The seers, the yogis, and the saints know and see this Truth. They know that everything which is created, everything which is on the outside, is an extension of only Him, and it is only Him that is present in everything.
Krishna says to Arjuna,“No one can bring about the destruction of the indestructible.” How can you kill the Atma? You can’t. At that moment, Arjuna is very worried about what will happen to the Atma of Bhishma. Will he go to Hell? Krishna says, “No. How can he go to Hell? He can’t.” It’s not because of his actions on the outside that he will go to Hell: his essence is only the Supreme Spirit. The soul, which is under the control of the Immortal Spirit, how can it be destroyed? It is not a material object. The soul is not something material that you can cut with a sword.
Bhagavad Gita