BG 2.11

Bhāṣya on BG 2.11

The wise — those who know the Self — grieve neither for the living nor for the dead. For the living, the Self is eternal; for the dead, the Self merely discards the body as one discards worn-out garments. What is there to grieve?

— source · bhāṣya

2.11 अशोच्यान् those who should not be grieved for? अन्वशोचः hast grieved? त्वम् thou? प्रज्ञावादान् words of wisdom? च and? भाषसे speakest? गतासून् the dead? अगतासून् the living? च and? न अनुशोचन्ति grieve not? पण्डिताः the wise.Commentary -- The philosophy of the Gita begins from this verse.Bhishma and Drona deserve no grief because they are eternal in their real nature and they are virtuous men who possess very good conduct. Though you speak words of wisdom? you are unwise because you grieve for those who are really eternal and who deserve no grief. They who are endowed with the knowledge of the Self are wise men. They will not grieve for the living or for the dead because they know well that the Self is immortal and that It is unborn. They also know that there is no such a thing as death? that it is a separation of the astral body from the physical? that death is nothing more than a disintegration of matter and that the five elements of which the body is composed return to their source. Arjuna had forgotten the eternal nature of the Soul and the changing nature of the body. Because of his ignorance? he began to act as if the temporary relations with kinsmen? teachers? etc.? were permanent. He forgot that his relations with this world in his present life were the results of past actions. These? when exhausted? end all relationship and new ones ones crop up when one takes on another body.The result of past actions is known as karm and that portion of the karma which gave rise to the present incarnation is known as prarabdha karma.

— vedicscriptures · exposition · source ↗

The Lord at once took the position of the teacher and chastised the student, calling him, indirectly, a fool. The Lord said, “You are talking like a learned man, but you do not know that one who is learned – one who knows what is body and what is soul – does not lament for any stage of the body, neither in the living nor in the dead condition.” As explained in later chapters, it will be clear that knowledge means to know matter and spirit and the controller of both. Arjuna argued that religious principles should be given more importance than politics or sociology, but he did not know that knowledge of matter, soul and the Supreme is even more important than religious formularies. And because he was lacking in that knowledge, he should not have posed himself as a very learned man. As he did not happen to be a very learned man, he was consequently lamenting for something which was unworthy of lamentation. The body is born and is destined to be vanquished today or tomorrow; therefore the body is not as important as the soul. One who knows this is actually learned, and for him there is no cause for lamentation, regardless of the condition of the material body.

— vedicscriptures · exposition · source ↗