2.28 Beings are unmanifested in their beginning, manifested in their middle state, O Arjuna, and unmanifested again in their end. What is there to grieve about?

2.28 Avyaktadini etc. Whether beings are permanent or impermanent, this much is certain : The person, who laments over a given object - as far as that person is concerned, that object is at the beginning unmanifest and at the end also it is unmanifest. Its manifestation in between is therefore a deviation from its natural state, Rather, there may be need to lament over the deviation from natural state and nor over the natural state [itself]. Further, whatever has been approved as its root cause, that itself permanently exhibits, within itself, a variety of different and endless creation, sustenance and absorption as its own manifold nature, in a set pattern. Hence what is the necessity for lamenting over the same nature of this (its effect) ? And enowed with the above mentioned nature-

**2.28:** O Bharata, all beings were unmanifest before birth and become unmanifest again after death; they are manifest only in the middle. Therefore, what cause is there for lamentation? **Commentary:** 'Beings are unmanifest in the beginning' – All beings (such as bodies) that are seen, heard, and perceived were unmanifest before birth, meaning they were not visible. 'They are unmanifest in the end as well' – All these beings become unmanifest after death, meaning upon their destruction, they all merge into 'non-existence' and are no longer seen. 'Manifest only in the middle' – All these beings appear manifest only in the middle, i.e., after birth and before death. Just as a dream did not exist before sleep and does not remain upon waking, similarly, these bodies of beings were absent before and will be absent afterward. However, even though they appear to exist in the middle, in reality, they are ceasing to exist every moment. 'What cause is there for lamentation?' – The principle is: that which does not exist in the beginning and the end, does not exist in the middle either. The bodies of all beings did not exist before and will not remain afterward; therefore, in reality, they do not exist in the middle either. But this embodied soul existed before and will remain afterward; therefore, it certainly exists in the middle as well. The conclusion drawn is that the bodies are always non-existent, and the embodied soul is never non-existent. Hence, there can be no grief for either.