Chapter 2,Verse 24

acchedhyo'yam adaahyoyam
akledhyo shoshya eva cha
nithyaha sarvagathaha sthanuhu
achaloyam sanathanaha



Krishna says that the atma cannot be cut,cannot be burnt,cannot neither be wet,nor can it be dried.This atma is all pervading,changeless,immovable.It has no birth or death.
It cannot be affected by any of the pancha boothas.Why?Is it because the atma is so far away that it cannot be reached?No.Atma transcends space and time.It is here & now.Nevertheless,it is inaccessible to the elements.

There are a couple of comparisons made in the vedas regarding the atma.

1.Atma is compared to akasha,meaning space(one of the pancha boothas).Space is everywhere,right around you.But can you cut it with a knife?Can you burn it be lighting a fire?When it rains,does the space get wet?Try pouring water from a height.It transcends the space and wets only the object it comes in contact with.Do winds move space?Space is present here & now,and yet it is not affected by anything.Similarly,the atma is all pervading.The word "Chitakashaha" refers to this concept.It is derived from the word 'chit' meaning the higher consciousness(atma) and akasha,meaning space.
If you go to Chidambaram,you will see God being worshipped in the form of space.It is one of the pancha bootha sthalas.(The other four being Kanchipuram(Prithvi sthalam),Thiruvanaikaval(Appu sthalam),Sri Kalahasthi(Vayu sthalam) and Thiruvannamalai(Thejo sthalam)).
At Chidambaram,there is no idol to represent the God.There is mere space.It signifies that God is present in the space there,but is beyond the reach of our sense organs.

2.Atma is compared to prakasha(light).Just as you cannot bring about change to the space around you,you cannot do anything to light emanating from a source.


Lord Krishna,as part of the teaching,presents the spiritual knowledge to Arjuna.Spiritual knowledge means the knowledge of our own higer nature(the atma).The atma is regarded as spirit because it is neither matter nor a material substance.Vedanta says atma is in the nature of the consciousness itself.Matter by itself,is not a conscious entity.No material substance is conscious of either itself or others.The keyboard on which I am typing this very line is neither aware that it is a keyboard,not is it aware of me,being present and typing on it.Matter is matter because it is neither self-conscious nor is it conscious of others.THe materia body becomes conscious only by the pervasion of the the spirit(atma).
The nature of the atma is described as follows-

1.Niyaha & sthanuhu:Nityaha means eternal.Sthanuhu means not being subject to any change like birth,growth,decay,death,etc.

2.Sarvagataha & achalaha:Sarvagathaha means all pervading.Since it is all pervading,it is 'Achalaha',which means immovable.The earth can move because it is limited.Fire,water and air can move from one place to another,but space cannot move since it is all pervading.Similarly,atma is limitless with respect to time & space.The space-time continium does not limit the atma.This is reffered to by the word "desha-kala-aparichinnam".Parichinnam means limited.Hence,aparichinnam refers to the atma being limitless with respect to 'desha',the space and 'kala',the time.