जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युर्ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च। तस्मादपरिहार्येऽर्थे न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि॥
jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyur dhruvaṃ janma mṛtasya ca / tasmād aparihārye 'rthe na tvaṃ śocitum arhasi
Birth means death is certain. Death means birth is certain. Grief over the unavoidable serves no one.
Word by word (4)
- jātasya hi dhruvaḥ mṛtyuḥ
- — for one who is born, death is certain · 'Dhruva' — fixed, certain, like the pole star. Death is the one certainty of birth.
- dhruvam janma mṛtasya ca
- — and birth is certain for one who has died
- tasmāt aparihārye arthe
- — therefore in this unavoidable matter · 'Aparihārya' — unavoidable, inescapable. Birth and death are not problems to be solved; they are the structure of embodied existence.
- na tvam śocitum arhasi
- — you should not grieve
'For one who is born, death is certain. For one who has died, birth is certain. Therefore over this unavoidable matter — you should not grieve.'
A modern analogy
The Stoics: 'memento mori' — remember you will die. Not as despair but as clarity. Marcus Aurelius: 'It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.' Arjuna grieves over what is structurally inevitable. The grief doesn't prevent it; it only consumes the time before it happens.
Take with you
- 'Dhruvaḥ mṛtyuḥ' — death is certain. This is not pessimism but clarity.
- 'Aparihārye arthe' — the unavoidable matter. Grief over what cannot be changed changes nothing except the griever.
- This verse offers practical rather than metaphysical comfort: separate the inevitable from what can be changed. Act on the latter; accept the former.
Verse 27 is the simplest and most direct philosophical argument in the entire immortality section. If the soul is born, it will die — this is certain. If it dies, it will be reborn — this is also certain (in the Indian cosmological view). Either way, death is not a catastrophe but a phase in an ongoing process. The word 'aparihārya' (unavoidable) is key: it places death in the same category as other structural features of existence — things that happen regardless of how we feel about them. The Gita's teaching about grief is consistent: if nothing can be changed, grief serves no one. Direct your energy toward what can be addressed.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
For certain is death for the born and certain is birth for the dead; therefore, over the inevitable, you should not grieve. [4]
For that which is born, death is certain; For that which is dead, birth is certain. Therefore, over the inevitable, thou shouldst not grieve. [7]
Death is certain for every being born; and birth is certain for every being that dies. Therefore, over this inevitable cause, thou shouldst not mourn. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Even if the soul were not eternal — even then, grief is not the answer.
Before birth: unmanifest. After death: unmanifest. The life between is the brief visible part — what is there to grieve?
Arjuna sees his own people ready to die — and his body breaks before his mind can argue.
The people who shaped him — teachers, father-figures, sons — are on the field, ready to die.
Bow down, arrows scattered, warrior collapsed — this is where the Gita begins.
You grieve for those who should not be grieved for — and call it wisdom.