अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि व्यक्तमध्यानि भारत ।अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव तत्र का परिदेवना ॥
avyaktādīni bhūtāni vyaktamadhyāni bhārata |avyaktanidhanānyeva tatra kā paridevanā ||
Beings are unseen at the beginning, seen in the middle, O descendant of Bharata, and unseen again at the end. So what is there to grieve about?
Explanation
Krishna continues consoling Arjuna, who is overcome with grief at the thought of fighting his own relatives. He says that living beings are unmanifest (avyakta) before birth, visible only for a middle span, and unmanifest again after death. Since this is the natural course of all beings, grieving over it is pointless. Traditions differ on emphasis: some read it as a reminder of impermanence, others as pointing to an unchanging reality behind the visible phase.