Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 27
जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युर्ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च।
तस्मादपरिहार्येऽर्थे न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि।।
तस्मादपरिहार्येऽर्थे न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि।।
jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyur dhruvaṁ janma mṛtasya ca
tasmād aparihārye ’rthe na tvaṁ śocitum arhasi
also searched as "jatasya hi dhruvo mrityur dhruvam janma mritasya cha"
Translation
For, death is certain for the born, and rebirth is certain for the dead; therefore, you should not grieve for what is inevitable.
Vāṇi's rendering
For the born, death is certain; for the dead, birth. Do not grieve over what cannot be avoided.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| जातस्यjātasya | for the one who has been born |
| हिhi | for, indeed |
| ध्रुवःdhruvaḥ | certain, fixed (sandhi: dhruvo before mṛtyuḥ) |
| मृत्युःmṛtyuḥ | death (sandhi: mṛtyur before dhruvaṁ) |
| ध्रुवम्dhruvam | certain |
| जन्मjanma | birth |
| मृतस्यmṛtasya | for the one who has died |
| चca | and |
| तस्मात्tasmāt | therefore (sandhi: tasmād before a vowel) |
| अपरिहार्येaparihārye | in what cannot be avoided |
| अर्थेarthe | in the matter, in the case (its initial a elided after aparihārye) |
| नna | not |
| त्वम्tvam | you (sandhi: tvaṁ) |
| शोचितुम्śocitum | to grieve |
| अर्हसिarhasi | you ought, it befits you |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 27 mean?
It states a plain law: death follows birth, birth follows death, and neither can be argued with. Krishna gives Arjuna no consolation and no afterlife promise here — only the shape of the wheel. Then he draws the conclusion. Where nothing can be altered, sorrow has no work to do.
What does jatasya hi dhruvo mrityur mean in the Gita?
For the born, death is certain; for the dead, birth is certain. The two are one motion seen from two ends. Krishna is not being cold with Arjuna. He is removing the illusion that some cleverer choice on the battlefield could have kept these men from dying at all.
Does this verse mean I should not feel sad when someone dies?
No. Krishna forbids śoka — the grief that argues, that replays what might have been done differently. Feeling the loss of someone is not that. Grief becomes suffering when it turns into a case against reality. You may weep. Ask only whether your weeping is asking the world to have been otherwise.
Why does Krishna talk about rebirth here?
Because Arjuna fears death as an ending, and endings are what he cannot bear to cause. Krishna widens the frame: what appears as an end is a turn. Nothing is being destroyed, only moved. The certainty cuts both ways — and what is certain on both sides is not worth breaking yourself over.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Krishna is not comforting Arjuna. He is stating a law, the way one states that water runs downhill. Whatever is born will die; whatever dies will be born. The gate swings both ways, and neither swing needs your permission. Arjuna's grief assumes he could have arranged it otherwise — that some better strategy, some refusal to fight, would keep these men alive forever. It would not. Grief over the unavoidable is grief aimed at nothing. This does not forbid you to feel. It asks you to notice where your sorrow is pointing, and whether anything stands there that your sorrow could have changed.