Shloka 28
कर्मयोग–ज्ञानयज्ञ–अवतारोपदेश
Karma-Yoga, Jñāna-Yajña, and Avatāra Instruction
सम्बन्ध-- अब अगले “्लोकमें यह सिद्ध करते हैं कि प्राणियोंके शरीरोंको उद्देश्य करके भी शोक करना नहीं बनता-- अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि व्यक्तमध्यानि भारत | अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव तत्र का परिदेवना
avyaktādīni bhūtāni vyaktamadhyāni bhārata | avyaktanidhanāny eva tatra kā paridevanā ||
Sanjaya said: “O descendant of Bharata, beings are unmanifest in the beginning, manifest only in the middle, and unmanifest again at the end. Since their appearance is only a brief interval between two unseen states, what ground is there for lamentation?” The verse frames grief as ethically misplaced when directed at the body’s transient visibility, urging steadiness of mind amid the impending war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Since embodied beings are unmanifest before birth and unmanifest after death, with only a temporary manifest phase in between, grief over the body’s changing condition is not rationally or ethically necessary; one should cultivate steadiness and discernment about impermanence.
In the lead-up to the Kurukshetra war, the teaching counters Arjuna’s sorrow by reframing life and death: the visible body is a brief manifestation between two unseen states, so lamentation should not derail one’s duty and clarity.