Gita : Ch-2. Slo-28.

Srimad Bhagavad-Gita :


Chapter-2. ( Samkya-yogam )


Slokam-28. ( Krishna   clarifies   further  ........ All created beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their interim state, and unmanifest again when they are annihilated. So what need is there for lamentation? )


Avyaktadini    bhutani   vyakta-madhyani    bharata,


Avyakta-nidhanany    eva    tatra    ka     paridevana.



Bharata    bhutani     =    Arjuna      all     living    and    non-living   things;

Avyaktadini   =   In   the   beginning     ( before   taking   birth  )   not    seen;  
                                                                                   
Vyakta-madhyani    =    In   the  middle    period     (  between    birth   and   death )     seen;  

Avyakta-nidhanany    eva    =    In    the    last     (  after   death  )   not   seen;

Tatra    ka     paridevana   =    In     that    why     do   you  (  Arjuna   )    lamenting!


In this slokam the Supreme Lord Krishna explains the fact that here on Earth whatever happened before birth is unknown by the use of the word avyaktadini.


Living entities like human beings though eternally existing due to the auspices of each one's eternal soul have an unknown origin before birth, a manifest condition from birth to death and proceed again to an unknown existence at the termination of the physical body. Such alternations constitute material existence and are a natural law. This then gives no cause to grieve. Having just shown that even if one erroneously was under the misapprehension that the physical body itself and the eternal soul are the same; there is still no reason to grieve as in the next verse 29 it is declared that very rarely is a person found who would see, hear, converse, or who could be convinced about the wonderful nature of the eternal soul which is factually distinct from the physical body.


When one considers the nature of the physical body and the facts about birth and death being a physical reality one should not lament. All living entities have the unmanifest as their beginnings, meaning unmanifest in the physical existence because it is only that which exists in the physical world either subtle or physical that is manifested. In the middle all living entities are manifested in the period between birth and death known as life constituting the state of mortal existence. Finally at the moment the body perishes known as death all living entities return once more to the unmanifest state. It is inevitable that all living entities must accept the nature of the material existence being embodied in a physical body so what is the need to lament over the physical body. To lament thus is like a person lamenting over friends seen drowning in a dream after one has woken up.


Even when the soul has departed from the physical body and no longer connected as is inevitable at the time of death and the bodies of respected elders like Bhishma are no longer perceptible still what is the necessity for grief? To this Lord Krishna states that all is unmanifest in its primordial state which is characterised by the three qualities known as sattva, rajas and tamas and which is a prior stage of creation to the illusory energy and material creation. All living entities have bodies in substratum as consciousness and this is the original matter of all existence which is beyond perception due to its being extremely subtle and subatomic in essence. But this in no way indicates that there is before all this an antecedent non-existence as the logicians and the impersonalists opine due to there inability to perceive this extremely subtle, subatomic nature. This original matter although extremely subtle and subatomic is revealed in the Vedic scriptures and is perceived by one whose consciousness has attained the realization of that state. Thus they are of the same nature although there is modification during the intermediate stage from birth to death.


It should not under any circumstances be erroneously assumed or mistakingly believed that from a non-existent condition the existent was produced and that because of the cause being non-existent then the effect is non- existent and thus the world is also non-existent.  That as a cloth is non-different from its threads, an effect is also non-different from it's cause. So how can it be reconciled that the something can be produced from nothing as those hypothesising that existence can manifest from the non-existent.


If we were to accept our origin as being non-existent then we can accept that the oil of sesame seeds is produced from sand but this has never been seen or heard. Because it is subatomic it is imperceptible and yet it is still existing. Therefore in the matter of the existence of living entities the unmanifest, imperceptibly subtle, transforms itself into the manifest by modification which is known as birth and after some time again transforms itself into the unmanifest which is known as death. So when the correct understanding of birth and death is realized then what possibly is the necessity for lamentation as it is not befitting one who is situated in spiritual intelligence.


Accepting that there are two classes of philosophers, one believing in the existence of soul and the other not believing in the existence of the soul, there is no cause for lamentation in either case. Nonbelievers in the existence of the soul are called atheists by followers of Vedic wisdom. Yet even if, for argument's sake, we accept the atheistic theory, there is still no cause for lamentation. Apart from the separate existence of the soul, the material elements remain unmanifested before creation. From this subtle state of unmanifestation comes manifestation, just as from ether, air is generated; from air, fire is generated; from fire, water is generated; and from water, earth becomes manifested. From the earth, many varieties of manifestations take place. Take, for example, a big skyscraper manifested from the earth. When it is dismantled, the manifestation becomes again unmanifested and remains as atoms in the ultimate stage. The law of conservation of energy remains, but in course of time things are manifested and unmanifested—that is the difference. Then what cause is there for lamentation either in the stage of manifestation or unmanifestation? Somehow or other, even in the unmanifested stage, things are not lost. Both at the beginning and at the end, all elements remain unmanifested, and only in the middle are they manifested, and this does not make any real material difference.

And if we accept the Vedic conclusion as stated in the Bhagavad-gita (antavanta ime dehah) that these material bodies are perishable in due course of time (nityasyoktah saririnah) but that soul is eternal, then we must remember always that the body is like a dress; therefore why lament the changing of a dress? The material body has no factual existence in relation to the eternal soul. It is something like a dream. In a dream we may think of flying in the sky, or sitting on a chariot as a king, but when we wake up we can see that we are neither in the sky nor seated on the chariot. The Vedic wisdom encourages self-realization on the basis of the nonexistence of the material body. Therefore, in either case, whether one believes in the existence of the soul, or one does not believe in the existence of the soul, there is no cause for lamentation for loss of the body.

To be continued  ...