Atman

 

Know this Atman

Unborn, undying, 

Never ceasing, 

Never beginning, 

Deathless, birthless, 

Unchanging forever. 

How can It die

The death of the body?

Knowing It birthless, 

Knowing It deathless, 

Knowing It endless, 

Forever unchanging, 

Dream not you do

The deed of the killer, 

Dream not the power

Is yours to command it. 

Worn-out garments

Are shed by the body:

Worn-out bodies

Are shed by the dweller

Within the body.

New bodies are donned

By the dweller, like garments.

Not wounded by weapons, 

Not burned by fire, 

Not dried by the wind, 

Not wetted by water:

Such is the Atman, 

Not dried, not wetted, 

Not burned, not wounded, 

Innermost element, 

Everywhere, always, 

Being of beings, 

Changeless, eternal, 

Forever and ever.

Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God