अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि व्यक्तमध्यानि भारत ।
अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव तत्र का परिदेवना ॥
अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव तत्र का परिदेवना ॥
Hindi · हिन्दी
हे भारत सभी प्राणी जन्मसे पहले अप्रकट थे और मरनेके बाद अप्रकट हो जायँगे, केवल बीचमें ही प्रकट दीखते हैं । अतः इसमें शोक करनेकी बात ही क्या है ॥
English
All beings are unmanifest before birth and unmanifest after death; they are manifest only in between. Why grieve over that?
What this verse means
All beings are hidden before birth and hidden again after death. Since life is only a brief visible interval, there is no reason for grief.
Context & commentary
On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna is frozen by grief. Krishna continues his teaching about the body and the true self, saying that all beings are unmanifest before birth and after death, and only briefly visible in between. That makes lamentation over loss misplaced.
Why this verse still matters
You are staring at a hospital monitor, waiting for news you cannot control. The shape of a life is changing in front of you. This verse steadies the heart by showing that appearance and disappearance are not the whole story.
The takeaway
Sorrow loosens when you stop treating a passing form as permanent.
Word-by-word translation
अव्यक्तादीनि (unmanifest at the beginning) / भूतानि (beings) / व्यक्तमध्यानि (manifest in the middle) / भारत (O Bharata) / अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव (unmanifest at the end also) / तत्र (there) / का (what) / परिदेवना (lamentation)
This verse is part of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2: Sankhya Yoga — The Yoga of Knowledge, which contains 72 verses.
Explore related themes: kurukshetra (95 verses)