Kathopanishad- Verse 18 - kathopanishad-1-2-18-na jāyate

Kathopanishad – Part 1 – Canto 2 – Verse 18 « »

न जायते म्रियते वा विपश्चिन्
नायं कुतश्चिन्न बभूव कश्चित् ।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो
न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥ १८॥

na jāyate mriyate vā vipaścin
nāyaṃ kutaścinna babhūva kaścit .
ajo nityaḥ śāśvato’yaṃ purāṇo
na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre .. 18..

18 The knowing Self is not born; It does not die. It has not sprung from anything; nothing has sprung from It. Birthless, eternal, everlasting and ancient, It is not killed when the body is killed.

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Sri Shankara’s Commentary (Bhashya) translated by S. Sitarama Sastri

The particle ‘Om’ has been pointed out as a prop of and as a substitute for the âtman, asked about in the text beginning with ‘Anyaira dharmat,’ etc., and devoid of all attributes, for the benefit of the ignorant and the middling class of men who wish to attain the Brahman, manifested and unmanifested. Now, this text is indroduced for the purpose of directly ascertaining the real nature of the âtman, to attain whom the word ‘Om’ was mentioned as a prop; he is not born, i.e., produced; nor does he die; various modifications are incidental to a thing which is produced and not eternal. Of those, the first and the last modifications namely birth and death are at the outset denied of the âtman, with the object of denying all modifications by the expressions ‘he is not born nor does he die.’ Vipaschit, intelligent; for, he is by nature of indestructible intelligence. Again, this âtman came not from anything, i.e., from any other cause; nor did any other real thing proceed from this âtman; therefore, this âtman is unborn, eternal, everlasting, undecaying (for, whoso is not everlasting decays; but he is everlasting); therefore, ancient, i.e., new, even formerly; (for, that which undergoes a development of its parts, is then said to be new); for instance a pot, etc.; but the âtman who is of a contrary nature is ancient, i.e., incapable of development; this being so, he is not slain or affected, even though the body is slain by swords, etc. Though in it, he is in it like the âkâs.

Commentary by Swami Krishnananda of the great Divine Life Society

Na jāyate mriyate vā vipaścin nāyaṁ kutaścin na babhūva kaścit: ajo nityaḥ śaśvato’yam purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (1.2.18). Na jāyate: The soul does not really get born. It is not born. It is birthless. Mriyate vā vipaścin: This all-knowing soul never dies. Nāyaṁ kutaścin: It does not come from somewhere, because it is everywhere. Na babhūva kaścit: It does not become something else when it appears to be born. Ajo nityaḥ: It is eternal, unborn. Śaśvato’yam: Perpetual is this ancient reality. Purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre: Even when the body perishes, it does not perish.

This is similar to a verse from the Bhagavad Gita. Na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin nāyaḿ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ, ajo nityaḥ śāśvato’yaṁ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (B.G. 2.20): If person imagines himself to be a destroyer, if he thinks that he is really a destroyer, and if a person who is apparently destroyed or killed feels that he is struck with death and destruction, neither of these know the truth properly. The impulsion, the Consciousness that is necessary for creative activity of any kind—creating or killing, or whatever it is—that Consciousness which is essential, without which the body will be deadened and no activity would be possible, that Consciousness which is finally responsible for good deeds and bad deeds, even the worst of deeds, that Consciousness is not involved in the goodness or the badness of the deeds. The killer does not kill, and the killed is not killed, because of the fact that the thing that is really responsible for making such actions possible cannot be killed, and is not killed, because it is Pure Consciousness.

The sun in the sky, without whom we cannot do anything, good or bad, is not responsible for any good or bad in this world. Neither the virtues nor the evils of the world can manifest themselves if the sun is not to be there in the sky, yet the virtues and the evils of the world are not connected with the sun in any manner whatsoever. So is the case with the Atman that is responsible for anything that we are to do. The good action of charity or the worst action of killing, nothing is possible unless Consciousness is backing us up as an ocean of force behind us, but it does not get involved in this action of ours. Even as space is not involved in what is contained in the vessel and the sun is not involved in what is happening in the world, so also the universal Atman that is Consciousness is not involved in any action. Neither the killer nor the killed, appearing to be identified with this action and experience, knows the truth.

Links
Various resources on the Kathopanishad
Upanishad Series – Katopanishad Commentary by Swami Chinmayananda

Kathopanishad – Verse 18 – kathopanishad-1-2-18-na jāyate – In Sanskrit with English Transliteration, Meaning and Commentary by Adi Shankaracharya (Sankara Bhashya) – Katha-1-2-18