2.12
न त्वेवाहं जातु नासं न त्वं नेमे जनाधिपाः | न चैव न भविष्यामः सर्वे वयमतः परम् ||१२||
na tv evāhaṁ jātu nāsaṁ na tvaṁ neme janādhipāḥ na chaiva na bhaviṣhyāmaḥ sarve vayam ataḥ param
Translation
Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.
Interpretation
Krishna makes his most radical philosophical claim: the Self (Atman) has always existed and will always exist. There was never a time when Krishna, Arjuna, or these warriors did not exist — not as bodies, but as souls. And there will never be a time when they cease to be. Death is the death of the body, not the soul. This is the foundation upon which the entire Gita is built.