For one who is born, death is certain; and for one who dies, birth is certain. Therefore, in this unavoidable matter, you should not grieve.
Commentary: "For one who is born, death is certain; and for one who dies, birth is certain." According to the previous verse, even if the embodied being is considered to be perpetually subject to birth and death, it still cannot be a cause for grief. The reason is that whoever is born will surely die, and whoever dies will surely be born again.
"Therefore, in this unavoidable matter, you should not grieve." Thus, no one can avert this flow of birth and death; because in this, no one has even the slightest control. This flow of birth and death has been going on since time immemorial and will continue for eternity. From this perspective, it is not proper for you to grieve.
These sons of Dhritarashtra have been born, so they will surely die. You have no means by which you can save them. Those who die will surely be born again. You cannot stop that either. Then what is there to grieve about? Grieve only for that which should not happen.
What should not happen, does not happen; what is destined, happens. For example, everyone knows that if the sun has risen, it will certainly set; and if it sets, it will certainly rise again. Therefore, people do not grieve or worry when the sun sets. Similarly, O Arjuna! If you believe that these beings like Bhishma and Drona will die along with the body, then they will also be born along with a body. Hence, from this viewpoint too, there can be no grief.
What the Lord has stated in these two verses (26 and 27) is not His actual doctrine. Therefore, by using the term "atha ca" (but if), the Lord presents the other viewpoint (of those who consider the body and the embodied to be one), saying that such a doctrine does not truly exist, but even if you assume it to be so, still it is not proper to grieve.
The essence of these two verses is this: all things in the world, being constantly subject to change, continuously give up one form and assume another. In this, giving up the prior form is death, and assuming a new form is birth. Thus, whoever is born, dies; and whoever dies, is born again—this flow perpetually continues. From this perspective as well, why grieve?
Connection: Having presented the alternative viewpoint in the preceding two verses, the Lord now, in the following verse, speaks from the completely ordinary point of view.
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