A core teaching · grounding in mood · easy to enter
“What must change is not a reason for grief.”
For what is born, death is certain; for what dies, birth is certain. What cannot be avoided should not be grieved over.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Hover a word to focus on it.
Read literallyof the born · indeed · certain · death · certain · birth · of the dead · and · therefore · in the unavoidable · matter · not · you · to grieve · should
Anything that is born will die, and anything that dies will be born again. Since this cycle cannot be stopped, there is no reason to grieve over it.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Sankhya Yoga" (The Yoga of Knowledge).
Verse 27 sits in Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita — Sankhya Yoga, "The Yoga of Knowledge". The chapter has 72 verses in total.
You are sitting beside a hospital bed, watching a monitor you cannot negotiate with. The fear is real, but the fact is plain: some changes cannot be prevented, only met with steadiness.
Did you like this verse?
It shifts the mind from resisting inevitability to meeting it without panic.
What this verse means
Anything that is born will die, and anything that dies will be born again. Since this cycle cannot be stopped, there is no reason to grieve over it.
Context & commentary
On Kurukshetra, Arjuna stands frozen as Krishna keeps answering his grief. After saying the true self is beyond change, Krishna now grounds the lesson in the body’s cycle: birth, death, and return. The point is to stop mourning what nature itself keeps moving.
Why this verse still matters
You are sitting beside a hospital bed, watching a monitor you cannot negotiate with. The fear is real, but the fact is plain: some changes cannot be prevented, only met with steadiness.
“Some things are not yours to control, and peace begins where resistance ends.”
Explore related themes: sankhya (11 verses), grief (10 verses)