**Verse 2.12:** Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor shall we ever cease to be in the future.
**Commentary:** [In this world, there are only two entities—the embodied Self (Sat, the Eternal) and the body (Asat, the non-eternal). Both are not worthy of grief, meaning grief can be neither for the embodied Self (the dweller in the body) nor for the body itself. The reason is that the embodied Self is never non-existent, and the body can never endure. The term 'not worthy of grief' (ashochyān) used for both in the previous verse is now explained in terms of the eternality of the Self and the transience of the body.]
"Never was there a time... nor all these kings"—From the worldly perspective, until I had not manifested this incarnation, I was not visibly present before all in this form (as Krishna); until you were not born, you were not visibly present before all in this form (as Arjuna); and until these kings were not born, they too were not visibly present before all in this form (as kings). However, it is not that I, you, and these kings did not exist before being manifest in these forms.
Here, simply stating "I, you, and these kings existed before" would have sufficed. Yet, it is not stated that way; instead, it is said, "it is not that we did not exist before." The reason for this is that by saying "it is not that we did not exist," the truth that "we certainly did exist" is firmly established. The implication is that the eternal Principle is always eternal. It was never non-existent. The word 'ever' (jātu) implies that in past, future, or present time, and in any place, circumstance, condition, event, or object, the eternal Principle can never have even the slightest absence.
Here, by using the word 'I' (aham), the Lord states a remarkable point. Later, in verse 4.5, the Lord tells Arjuna, "Many births of mine and yours have passed; I know them all, but you know them not." Thus, by revealing His divinity, the Lord distinguishes Himself from the individual souls. But here, the Lord is declaring His oneness with the souls. The implication is that there (in 4.5), the Lord's intent is to reveal His greatness and distinctiveness, while here, the Lord's intent is to know the eternal Principle from the standpoint of absolute truth.
"Nor shall we ever cease to be in the future"—In the future, these bodily states will not remain, and one day these bodies too will not remain. Yet, even in that state, it is not that we shall cease to be—meaning, we shall certainly exist. The reason is that the eternal Principle was never non-existent and never shall be.
Thus, the Lord has spoken about the past and the future, but not about the present. The reason is that from the bodily perspective, "we all are directly perceptible in the present. There is no doubt about this. Therefore, there is no need to say, 'it is not that we do not exist now.'" If viewed from the standpoint of absolute truth, we all exist in the present, and these bodies are changing every moment—thus, the experience of detachment from the bodies should be realized by us in the present itself. The meaning is that just as there is no absence of our existence in the past and future, so too there is no absence of our existence in the present—this should be realized.
Just as every being has the experience "I am" before waking from sleep and also after waking, so too during the state of sleep, we remained exactly as we are. Only the external means of knowing were absent, not our own existence. Similarly, the bodies of I, you, and the kings—we all—did not exist before and shall not exist hereafter, and even now the bodies are moving every moment towards destruction; but our existence existed before, shall remain hereafter, and is exactly the same even now.
Our existence is the timeless Principle; because we are the knowers of even that time, meaning past, future, and present—all three times are within our knowing. It is to explain this timeless Principle that the Lord has spoken this verse.
The special meaning of saying, "it is not that I, you, and the kings did not exist before, and it is not that we shall not exist hereafter," is that even when these bodies did not exist, we all existed, and even when these bodies will not exist, we shall exist—meaning, all these bodies are perishable, and we all are imperishable. That these bodies did not exist before and shall not exist hereafter establishes the transience of the bodies; and that we all existed before and shall exist hereafter establishes the eternality of everyone's essential nature. From these two points, one principle is established: that which exists in the beginning and the end, also exists in the middle; and that which does not exist in the beginning and the end, does not exist in the middle either.
How can that which does not exist in the beginning and the end not exist in the middle, since it is perceived by us? The answer is that the perceived object, along with the mind, intellect, and senses through whose perspective (i.e., by which) the experience of the perceived occurs, is changing every moment. They are not stable even for an instant. Even so, when one identifies oneself with the perceived object, one becomes the perceiver (the seer). When the means of perception (mind-intellect-senses) and the perceived (the objects of the mind-intellect-senses)—all of these—are not stable even for an instant, how can the perceiver be proven stable? The meaning is that the designation 'perceiver' exists only due to the relationship between the perceived and the act of perception. If there is no relationship with the perceived and the act of perception, then there is no designation of a perceiver; rather, that eternal Principle, which is its substratum, alone remains. That eternal Principle can be called the substratum of the origin, sustenance, and dissolution of us all, and the illuminator of all appearances. However, these names 'substratum' and 'illuminator' also exist only in relation to the supported and the illuminated. Even when the supported and the illuminated are not present, Its existence remains exactly as it is. For one whose vision is turned towards that Truth-Principle, how can there be grief? Meaning, it is impossible. It is from this perspective that I, you, and the kings, in our essential nature, are not worthy of grief.
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