2.28
अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि व्यक्तमध्यानि भारत | अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव तत्र का परिदेवना ||२८||
avyaktādīni bhūtāni vyakta-madhyāni bhārata avyakta-nidhanāny eva tatra kā paridevanā
Translation
O Bharata, all created beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their middle state, and again unmanifest at their end. What lamentation can there be for this?
Interpretation
Before birth, beings are unmanifest (avyakta). In life, they are manifest (vyakta). After death, unmanifest again. The middle state — this visible life — is sandwiched between two states of invisibility. What is the nature of grief about a manifestation that was always temporary? The being existed before, will exist after; only the current form is grieved.