Bhagavad Gītā › Chapter 2 › Verse 28
Bhagavad Gītā 2.28: Unseen, seen, unseen
अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि व्यक्तमध्यानि भारत ।
अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव तत्र का परिदेवना ॥
avyaktādīni bhūtāni vyaktamadhyāni bhārata
avyaktanidhanānyeva tatra kā paridevanā
Recitation: NehalDaveND (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted, original recording
Meaning
Beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their middle state, O Bhārata, and unmanifest again in their end; what is there to lament? The verse closes the second argument against grief: visible life is the middle of a longer, unseen arc.
For children
Krishna says: “Before we were born, nobody could see us. Now everyone can see us. One day we will be unseen again. That is just how it goes.”
This verse completes Kṛṣṇa’s second argument (2.26–2.28) that Arjuna’s grief is not needed.
Word by word
अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि — Beings are unseen at their beginning
- avyakta: unmanifest, unseen
- ādi: beginning
- bhūta: being, creature
व्यक्तमध्यानि भारत — seen in the middle, Arjuna
- vyakta: manifest, seen
- madhya: middle
अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव — and unseen again at their end
- nidhana: end
तत्र का परिदेवना — so why lament?
- tatra: about that
- paridevanā: lamenting
Kṛṣṇa speaks this verse. The Sanskrit is checked against four editions; meanings and word notes are simple learning aids written for MahaPrabha Gurukul, awaiting review by a Sanskrit teacher.