SankarAcArya's bhagavad gItA bhAshya: 2. 12-13.

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

I forgot to add a note to the commentary on verse 2. 12. This pertains to
SankarAcArya's position that the plural number in this verse is because of
the differences in bodies and does not refer to a difference in Atman (or
equivalently, differences among Atmans). A legitimate doubt may arise,
that this is not to be inferred directly from the verse itself. However,
that the Atman is One only, is seen in many places in the Gita. For
example, see verse 2. 30, which reads dehI nityam avadhyo 'yaM dehe
sarvasya bhArata, meaning, this Self, the embodied one, is eternal and
indestructible in all bodies. This does not point to a number of Selves in
a number of bodies, but to one Self in all bodies.

I will be traveling for a while, beginning Monday, the 16th of November,
and will not be able to post the translation series regularly. I'm trying
to reach up to the 16th verse of chapter 2 (the famous verse, nAsato
vidyate bhAvaH etc) before leaving. It is an appropriate place to pause
and go back over the previous part of the text, before proceeding to 2. 17
and forward.

Regards,
Vidyasankar

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