What cannot be avoided

jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyurdhruvaṃ janma mṛtasya catasmādaparihārye’arthe na tvaṃ śocitumarhasi

Death is certain for the born, and birth for the dead. So do not grieve over what cannot be avoided.

What it means

Krishna states the plainest truth of all. Everyone who is born will die. And in the Gita's view, life continues beyond death in new forms. This cycle is unavoidable. Grieving as if death were a mistake, he says, only adds suffering to what is already hard.

The story

Arjuna has been treating the coming deaths as something he alone causes. Krishna widens the view. Every warrior on this field, Kaurava and Pandava, will die one day, war or no war. Arjuna's choice is not whether they die, but how he himself will act.

In your life

Imagine someone watching an elderly parent grow frail, wishing it weren't happening. Acceptance doesn't mean loving less. It means spending the remaining time present, not fighting what can't be fought. Call them today.