श्रीभगवानुवाच | अशोच्यानन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च भाषसे | गतासूनगतासूंश्च नानुशोचन्ति पण्डिताः ||११||
śhrī bhagavān uvācha aśhochyān anvaśhochas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁśh cha bhāṣhase gatāsūn agatāsūṁśh cha nānuśhochanti paṇḍitāḥ
Translation
The Supreme Lord said: While you speak words of wisdom, you are grieving for those who should not be grieved for. The truly wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead.
Interpretation
This is the opening of Krishna's formal teaching. He identifies the core contradiction: Arjuna speaks like a wise man ('prajña-vādān') but grieves like someone ignorant of the soul's nature. Wisdom and grief for the dead are incompatible — the wise know that the soul is eternal, and neither its presence nor its absence warrants grief.