Do we really die after death?

Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 2 Verses 26,27,28

Verses 2.26–2.28 Explained

Introduction

Bhagavad Gita is a conversation between Krishna and Arjun. This dialogue begins just before the war of Mahabharata is about to begin. On seeing his family in opposition, Arjun is gripped with fear and confusion and wants to run away, but Krishna convinces him to fight and tells Arjun why he today raise his weapons to kill his brothers and relatives in this war.

Bhagavad Gits teaches us how to live life!

The core message of the Bhagavad Gita is considered very powerful for it can fundamentally transform the way you live your life. Bhagavad Gita is also called a summary of Vendantic Knowledge or simply ancient Knowledge.

Bhagavad Gita is crystallized form of the Hindu thought.

Bhagavad Gita is 700 verses long, spread across 18 chapters. Here we will understand Verses 26, 27, and 28, of Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita.

Verse 2.26

अथ चैनं नित्यजातं नित्यं वा मन्यसे मृतम् |

तथापि त्वं महाबाहो नैवं शोचितुमर्हसि || 26||

atha chainam nitya-jatam nityam va manyase mritam

tathapi tvam maha-baho naivam shochitum arhasi

Translation

Even if you believe that “It” is born and “It” dies regularly, still you shouldn’t grieve over this subject.

Verse 2.27

जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युर्ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च |

तस्मादपरिहार्येऽर्थे न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि || 27||

jatasya hi dhruvo mrityur dhruvam janma mritasya cha

tasmad apariharye arthe na tvam ahochitum arhasi

Translation

That which is born will definitely die, it is a fact. And what dies will be born again, it is also a fact.

Thus what is inevitable, its occurrence shouldn’t be a subject of grief for you, for it is bound to happen.

Verse 2.28

अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि व्यक्तमध्यानि भारत |

अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव तत्र का परिदेवना || 28||

avyaktadini bhutani vyakta-madhyani bharata

avyakta-nidhananyeva tatra ka paridevana

Translation:

All living beings, at the very beginning, are unmanifested. In the middle, they become manifested and when they stop living and die, they become unmanifested again.

Therefore why the need to mourn, O Arjun?

Commentary (2.26–2.28)

Krishna continues to tell Arjun about the nature of the Soul and its immortality in an attempt to console him and persuade him to fight.

Krishna says that the Soul is unborn and can’t be destroyed, but still, even if Arjun believes that the Soul is indeed born and it also dies like a human does, still there is no reason for him to be sad about the fact.

Krishna tells Arjun that birth and death is a Universal fact. Whatever is born shall die one day. But death doesn’t mean that that energy that made that living entity is destroyed. Pure energy can’t be destroyed, for it can only change forms.

Thus on death, you can see that the body is gone, but the Soul remains. The Soul was present even before Birth. It is just that after birth, in the middle stages, we are able to see the body function under the influence of the Soul.

So, Birth and Death of what is living is a Universal Truth. It is inevitable, it is bound to happen.

What is born, shall die one day and it shall be born again. The cycle continues.

Thus there is no need to mourn someone’s death, for the Soul lives. And with time it shall again manifest into a body, if not liberated from the cycle of death and birth.

Krishna is thus telling Arjun, that either he believes in the immortality of the Soul, and realises that it can’t be killed. Or he can choose to stick to a narrow view of the birth and death of a being, which is a universal truth, but in both cases, there is no point to grieve as it doesn’t make sense.

After all, what is always there, how can that be lost? And what was always bound to get lost, why mourn when it is lost?

I have translated Bhagavad Gita from Sanskrit to English and shall be publishing here verse by verse. If you like what you read and would like to read Bhagavad Gita, then please subscribe to this account.

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