Kṛṣṇa addresses the common misconception about death and agency. He says that anyone who thinks the soul is the slayer or that the soul is slain is in ignorance. Neither of them understands the truth, for the self neither kills nor is it ever killed. The soul is the passenger, and the body is the vehicle. If a car is crushed, the driver may still be alive. On the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, arrows will pierce flesh and chariots will be destroyed, but the essence of the person—the soul—remains untouched. The act of ‘killing’ applies only to the material covering. This verse clears Arjuna of the spiritual guilt of murder, provided he fights as a matter of duty without personal malice. It helps him understand that he is not actually taking a life, but merely participating in a physical transition that has already been ordained by the laws of nature.