FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Bhagavad-gītā 2.28

अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि व्यक्तमध्यानि भारत । अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव तत्र का परिदेवना ॥ २८ ॥
avyaktādīni bhūtāni
[avyaktaadeeni bhootaani]
vyakta-madhyāni bhārata
[vyakta-madhyaani bhaarata]
avyakta-nidhanāny eva
[avyakta-nidhanaany eva]
tatra kā paridevanā
[tatra kaa paridevanaa]
Word-for-word
avyakta - ādīni — in the beginning unmanifested bhūtāni — all that are created vyakta — manifested madhyāni — in the middle bhārata — O descendant of Bharata avyakta — nonmanifested nidhanāni — when vanquished eva — it is all like that tatra — therefore kā — what paridevanā — lamentation .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
avyaktādīni bhūtāni
avyakta - ādīni
in the beginning unmanifested
bhūtāni
all that are created
vyakta-madhyāni bhārata
vyakta
manifested
madhyāni
in the middle
bhārata
O descendant of Bharata
avyakta-nidhanāny eva
avyakta
nonmanifested
nidhanāni
when vanquished
eva
it is all like that
tatra kā paridevanā
tatra
therefore
kā
what
paridevanā
lamentation .
Important Words
  • avyakta - ādīni — unmanifest in the beginning
    Compound — *whose beginning is unmanifest*. Before this body, the being existed unmanifest to the present senses. The verse extends the unseen back into the past.
  • vyakta - madhyāni — manifest in the middle
    *Whose middle is manifest*. Only the present body — the small middle — is visible. The verse offers a proportional view: most of the being's existence is, at any time, off-stage.
  • avyakta - nidhanāni — unmanifest at the end
    *Whose end is unmanifest*. After this body, again unseen. The being's manifest portion is bracketed on both sides by the unmanifest. This is the structure of every embodied being, not an exception.
  • bhūtāni — beings
    Plural — all beings, not just humans. The verse is metaphysical, not species-specific. Every embodied being shares this triple structure.
  • paridevanā — lamentation
    From pari + √div — to weep around, to lament loudly. The verse asks: given this structure, what occasion is there for paridevanā? The question is rhetorical — there is none.
All created beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their interim state, and unmanifest again when annihilated. So what need is there for lamentation?
Classical Sanskrit analysis शास्त्रीय विश्लेषण
How Sanskrit scholars read this verse — split, rearranged, grammar-tagged. For the plain English distilled meaning, jump to Plain meaning below.
Auto-generated study layers — original analysis of the public-domain śloka. Review against a published edition for academic work.
Plain meaning (तात्पर्य · Tātparya)
Beings appear briefly between two stretches of un-manifestation, like a wave on the ocean's surface. To grieve their disappearance is to grieve the ocean's continual swelling and subsiding — the natural rhythm of existence.
Further notes (विवरण · Vivaraṇa)
The three bahuvrīhis form a single panoramic structure: avyakta → vyakta → avyakta. This is the standard Sāṅkhya view of phenomena rising from and returning to prakṛti's unmanifest matrix. By compressing the cosmic process into one verse, Kṛṣṇa removes the very stage on which grief could perform.
Prose order (अन्वय · Anvaya)
हे भारत! भूतानि अव्यक्त-आदीनि, व्यक्त-मध्यानि, अव्यक्त-निधनानि एव (सन्ति) । तत्र का परिदेवना ?
he bhārata! bhūtāni avyakta-ādīni, vyakta-madhyāni, avyakta-nidhanāni eva (santi) | tatra kā paridevanā ?
O Bhārata, beings are unmanifest in their beginnings, manifest in their middle, and unmanifest again in their end. What lament is there in that?
Word split (पदच्छेद · Padaccheda)
अव्यक्त-आदीनि भूतानि व्यक्त-मध्यानि भारत । अव्यक्त-निधनानि एव तत्र का परिदेवना ॥
avyakta-ādīni bhūtāni vyakta-madhyāni bhārata | avyakta-nidhanāni eva tatra kā paridevanā ||
Grammar (व्याकरण · Vyākaraṇa)
SanskritIASTGrammarMeaning
अव्यक्त-आदीनि avyakta-ādīni अव्यक्त (adj.) + आदि (m.) acc.pl. (accusative plural)n., bahuvrīhi cpd. (compound), 'having unmanifest beginning' with unmanifest beginning
भूतानि bhūtāni भूत (n.) nom.pl. (nominative plural), 'beings' beings
व्यक्त-मध्यानि vyakta-madhyāni व्यक्त + मध्य (n.) nom.pl. (nominative plural), bahuvrīhi cpd. (compound), 'having manifest middle' with manifest middle
भारत bhārata भारत (m.) voc.sg. (vocative singular) O Bhārata
अव्यक्त-निधनानि avyakta-nidhanāni अव्यक्त + निधन (n.) nom.pl. (nominative plural), bahuvrīhi cpd. (compound), 'having unmanifest end' with unmanifest end
एव eva ind. (indeclinable), emphatic indeed
तत्र tatra ind. (indeclinable), 'in that case' in that case
का kā किम् (interr. (interrogative)) nom.sg. (nominative singular)f. what
परिदेवना paridevanā परिदेवना (f.) nom.sg. (nominative singular), 'lamentation' lamentation
Purport

Accepting that there are two classes of philosophers, one believing in the existence of the 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 this 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 nonmanifestation 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 in 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-gītā that these material bodies are perishable in due course of time ( antavanta ime dehāḥ ) but that the soul is eternal ( nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ ), 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.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
28. Living entities are invisible in the beginning, manifest in the middle, and invisible at the end. What is there to lament in this?
Commentary

Thus from the point of view of the soul, having no birth and death (verse 20), and from the point of view of the body, for which birth and death are certain (verse 27), the causes for lamentation have been eliminated. In this verse the Lord argues against lamentation using both ideas—being eternal and having certain birth and death (but with a purely materialistic argument). Devas, humans and animals are not visible before their birth. However, their subtle and gross bodies do exist invisibly in a potential form, from the existence of the causal ingredients such as earth. They become visible in the middle period, and invisible after death. Even at the time of mahāpralaya these bodies exist in a subtle form through the continued existence in subtle form of karmas and other elements. Thus all living entities bodies are invisible before birth and after death, and are visible in the interval. This is stated by the personified Vedas in the Bhāgavatam: sthira-cara-jātayaḥ syur ajayottha-nimitta-yujaḥ O eternally liberated, transcendental Lord, Your material energy causes the various moving and nonmoving species of life to appear by activating their material desires, but only when and if You sport with her by briefly glancing at her. SB 10.87.29 What cause is there for lamentation (paridevanā)? As Nārada says: yan manyase dhruvaṁ lokam adhruvaṁ vā na cobhayam sarvathā na hi śocyās te snehād anyatra mohajāt O King, in all circumstances, whether you consider the soul to be an eternal principle, or the material body to be perishable, or everything to exist in the impersonal Absolute Truth, or everything to be an inexplicable combination of matter and spirit, feelings of separation are due only to illusory affection and nothing more SB 1.13.44.

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
28. Living entities are invisible in the beginning, manifest in the middle, and invisible at the end. What is there to lament in this?
Commentary

If one thinks that the body is the self, or if one thinks that the body is different from ātmā, there is no need to lament for the destruction of the body, since the elements composing the body are eternal. This is expressed in this verse. The original form of all things is the very fine pradhāna, because it is devoid of all individual forms and names. The destruction (nidhanāni) of the names and forms of things in this invisible pradhāna (avyakta) is called avyakta nidhanāni. The formation of a pot takes place by eternal material called earth assuming a state of having a pot with belly and neck, and its assuming and opposite state in assuming the form of fragments is its destruction. The materials however always remain. Thus Parāśara says: mahī ghaṭatvaṁ ghaṭataḥ kapālikā cūrṇa-rajas tato’ṇuḥ Earth takes the form of a pot and then the form of dust particles. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 2.12.42 The bodies become invisible at the beginning and end because of loss of name and form. They become visible in the middle period because of attaining name and form. The composing elements however always remain. Thus the meaning is “If the elements in reality remain, then why do you moan due to grief (paridevanā)?” And accepting the idea of an eternal ātmā different from the body, then one should in addition not forget verses such as vāsāṁśi jirṇāni. [Note: You should not lament for the transformation of elements, since the soul is eternal.] That which is non-existent in the beginning and end, also does not exist even in the middle, like the false images of horses or chariots seen in dreams. The person who has woken up does not lament because of separation from those illusions. In this way some philosophers speak, accepting the viewpoint of dṛṣṭi-sṛṣṭi. [Note: This interpretation of the verse argues that one should not lament because the manifestation of bodies is temporary and dream-like. All things of this world are created by a person through ignorance when he cognizes them, and continue as long as he cognizes them. This theory is accepted by advaitins such as Maṇḍana Miśra and Madhusūdana Sarasvati. The first argument was that one should not lament because the elements forming the bodies are eternal.] It is actually foolish, because in accepting this position one has to accept the fault of the non-vedic theory of asat kārya vāda. [Note: Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika philosophies, saying that effect is non-existent in the cause (asat kārya vāda), maintain that God is the operative cause of the world and prakṛti is the material cause. Sāṅkhya philosophy, pariṇāma-satkāryavāda, saying that the effect exists in the cause, maintains that prakṛti evolves on its own, as the material cause without the necessity of God. The Vedas however state that God is the material (through his śaktis) and the operative cause. Just as the Nyāyikas say that any created object has previous non-existence, the dṛṣti-sṛṣṭi-vādīs say that whatever one sees was previously nonexistent. At the moment of seeing it, it is created.] Thus even accepting these two theories, [Note: The two opinions are: that the elements are eternal and continually evolve and disintegrate on their own (sāṅkhya) and that the middle period of manifestation is an illusion (dṛṣṭi-sṛṣṭi vāda).] there should be no grief at destruction of the body.

Bhūrijana Dāsa Gauḍīya
Commentary

This verse is very interesting. It takes both sides: whether he believes in the soul, Arjuna should do his duty and not and not lament.

Study Notes — Gauranga Priya Dāsa
Gauranga Priya Dāsa Study
Bhakti-śāstrī Notes, ISKCON Chowpatty (2009)
Theme

Death generates no loss, irrespective of the philosophy followed; therefore there is no cause of

lamentation

All created beings are unmanifest in their beginning
They are manifest in the interim state
They become unmanifest again when annihilated
Focus of Learning

(a) Unnecessary violence is not encouraged – Cycle of birth and death does not support unnecessary

slaughter, murder and war

(b) But violence is an inevitable factor – But at the same time, violence and war are inevitable factors

for law and order (e.g. Battle of Kurukshetra is an inevitable event by will of Supreme)

(c) Practical Application: Applying this philosophy to Arjuna’s case

No need to fear the death of relatives because fighting was his proper duty as a ksatriya
No need to fear sinful reactions because He did not deserve to break the law; He was simply carrying out the will of the Supreme

(a) History – This verse indicates that such philosophers existed even at the time when Krishna spoke

Bhagavad-gita

(b) Examples of philosophies in this category

Buddhists
Lokayatika’s & Vaibhasikas – They maintain that life symptoms take place at a certain mature condition of material combination
Modern material scientists and materialist philosophers – They think the body is a combination of physical elements and life symptoms develop at a certain stage by interaction of physical and chemical elements
Science of Anthropology
Many pseudo-religions fashionable currently and nihilistic non devotional Buddhists sects

(c) How does this verse help Arjuna to overcome lamentation and material compassion

No lamentation for loss of chemicals e.g. modern scientific warfare
Also if there is no rebirth, there is no fear of sinful reactions

(d) Significance of ‘Maha–Bahu’ – Sarcasm to Arjuna, such philosophy is not expected from an Aryan

because such philosophies leave aside Vedic wisdom

Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
2.28 It is not reasonable to grieve even for beings which are constituted by bodies and organs, since 'all beings remain unmanifest' etc. (Bharata, O descendant of Bharata;) bhutani, all beings, avyaktaduni, remain unmainfest in the beginning. Those beings, viz sons, friends, and others, constituted by bodies and organs, [Another reading is karya-karana-sanghata, aggregates formed by material elements acting as causes and effects.-Tr.] who before their origination have unmanifestedness (avyakta), invisibility, nonperception, as their beginning (adi) are avyaktaadini. Ca, and; after origination, before death, they become vyakta-madhyani, manifest in the middle. Again, they eva, certainly; become avyakta-nidhanani, unmanifest after death. Those which have unmanifestness (avyakta), invisibility, as their death (nidhana) are avyakta-nidhanani. The idea is that even after death they verily attain unmanifestedness. Accordingly has it been said: 'They emerged from invisibility, and have gone back to invisibility. They are not yours, nor are you theirs. What is this fruitless lamentation!' (Mbh. St. 2.13). Ka, what; paridevana, lamentation, or what prattle, can there be; tatra, with regard to them, i.e. with regard to beings which are objects of delusion, which are invisible, (become) visible, (and then) get destroyed!
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
2.28 Human beings etc., (i.e., bodies) exist as entities; their previous stages are unknown, their middle stages in the form of man etc., are known, and their (final) and future stages are unknown. As they thus exist in their own natural stages, there is no cause for grief. After thus saying that there is no cause for grief even according to the view which identifies the body with the self, Sri Krsna proceeds to say that it is hard to find one who can be said to have truly perceived the Atman or spoken about It or heard about It or gained a true conception of It by hearing. For the Atman, which is actually different from the body, is of a wonderful nature.
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
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-
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
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?
Commentary

2.28 अव्यक्तादीनि unmanifested in the beginning? भूतानि beings? व्यक्तमध्यानि manifested in their middle state? भारत O Bharata? अव्यक्तनिधनानि unmanifested again in the end? एव also? तत्र there? का what? परिदेवना grief.Commentary The physical body is a combination of the five elements. It is seen by the physical eyes only after the five elements have entered into such combination. After death? the body disintegrates and the five elements go back to their source it cannot be seen. Therefore? the body can be seen only in the middle state. The relationship as son? friend? teacher? father? mother? wife? brother and sister is formed through the body on account of attachment and Moha (delusion). Just as planks unite and separate in a river? just as pilgrims unite and separate in a public inn? so also fathers? mothers? sons and brothers unite and separate in this world. This world is a very big public inn. People unite and separate.There is no pot in the beginning and in the end. Even if you see the pot in the middle? you should think and feel that it is illusory and does not really exist. So also there is no body in the beginning and in the end. That which does not exist in the beginning and in the end must be illusory in the middle also. You must think and feel that the body does not really exist in the middle as well.He who thus understands the nature of the body and all human relationships based on it? will not grieve.

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
2.28 O descendant of Bharata, all beings remain unmanifest in the beginning;; they become manifest in the middle. After death they certainly become unmanifest. What lamentation can there be with regard to them?
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
2.28 The end and the beginning of beings are unknown. We see only the intervening formations. Then what cause is there for grief?
Related values & verses
Related values
Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Ahimsa (Non-violence / Compassion)Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)Guru Bhakti (Reverence for Teacher)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)Maitri (Friendship / Goodwill)
Related verses
BG 2.26 BG 8.18 BG 9.7 SB 3.10.13 SB 11.24.21 SB 12.4.20 CC Ādi 2.96 CC Madhya 20.111 CC Madhya 20.273 Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.1.7Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.2.3
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
All beings are unmanifest in the beginning, manifest in the middle, unmanifest again at the end — what is there to lament about the visible interval?
Practical Applications
  • View your life as the brief manifest interval; live it well rather than mourning its brevity.
  • Let the impermanence of the manifest deepen your appreciation rather than your grief.
  • Use this perspective when meeting strangers — they too are brief manifestations of eternal souls.
Reflection Questions
  • What in my middle-section life would I cherish more if I really accepted its brevity?
  • Where am I clinging to the manifest as if it were the soul itself?
Analogy

A wave rises from the unseen ocean, lives briefly visible, and sinks again into the unseen. The wave's middle is its only manifest portion; its beginning and end are hidden. So with every being. To grieve the dissolution of one wave while the ocean continues is to misread what one is looking at.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

← Read full Chapter 2