Verse 2.26

अथ चैनं नित्यजातं नित्यं वा मन्यसे मृतम् ।

तथापि त्वं महाबाहो नैवं शोचितुमर्हसि ॥

2.26

Transliteration

atha cainaṃ nityajātaṃ nityaṃ vā manyase mṛtam |

tathāpi tvaṃ mahābāho naivaṃ śocitumarhasi ||

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3

Translation

But even if thou thinkest of It as being constantly born and constantly dying, even then, O mighty-armed, thou shouldst not grieve.

From the owner's sheet · +1 more

Word by word

if
and
this
constantly born
constantly
or
you think
dying

even then
you
O mighty-armed
not
thus
to grieve
you should

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08

Explanation

Krishna now considers a different view of life, perhaps the view of those who do not accept an eternal self. Suppose, he says, that the self is constantly born and constantly dies. Even then, Arjuna should not grieve in this way. The argument is generous: it meets Arjuna on whatever ground he stands. Whether one holds that something in us is eternal or that life is a continual flow of birth and death, excessive grief over the inevitable is still out of place.