He that knows Him as one that kills,
He too that believes Him slain,
They both know not well,
He never ever kills,
Nor yet ever gets slain. || 2.19 ||
Here is the transliteration with the meanings of Sanskrit words:
yah enam vetti hantāram yah cha enam manyate hatam |
ubhau tau na vijānītahna ayam hanti na hanyate ||
yah: he who; enam: this (soul): vetti: imagines, knows; hantāram: as hunter, slayer, killer; yah cha: and he who; enam: this (soul): manyate hatam: believes to be killed/slain; ubhau:(they)both; tau: they two; na vijānītah: know not well; na ayam: (that)neither this (soul): hanti: kills, slays; na hanyate: nor (is it)killed.
Here is one more interpretation:
If He is taken as one that slays,
Or thought of as slain,
Both ways one knows not still
This soul's subtlest of ways:
This One never doth kill,
Nor can He ever be slain.
1. Ralph Waldo Emerson translated this verse in his poem entitled Brahma as under:
If the red slayer think he slays,
Or if the slain think he is slain,
They know not well the subtle ways
I keep, and pass, and turn again.
2. Compare the closeness of this verse with # 1.2.19 of Kaţha Upaniśhad.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
This poem is well translated of Sanskrit shloka of ''yah enam vetti hantāram yah cha enam manyate hatam | ubhau tau na vijānītahna ayam hanti na hanyate |' Soul can neither be destroyed nor killed. A beautiful poem. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you dear poet KM for your feedback