Bhagavad Gita 2.27 · BG 2.27
Chapter 2Verse 27
Sankhya Yoga
जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युर्ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च। तस्मादपरिहार्येऽर्थे न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि॥
jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyur dhruvaṁ janma mṛtasya ca, tasmād aparihārye 'rthe na tvaṁ śocitum arhasi
Translation
Death is certain for whoever is born, and birth is certain for whoever dies. So you shouldn't grieve over what can't be avoided.
The moment
Krishna has been giving Arjuna spiritual reasons not to grieve. Here he adds a plain, practical one: even if you don't accept that the self is eternal, death still comes to everyone.
What it means
Everyone who's born will die, and in the Gita's view everyone who dies is born again. That cycle can't be stopped, so grieving as though it could is a mistake.
Going deeper
This argument works even if you set the spiritual claims aside. In the verse before, Krishna says 'even if you think the self is born and dies', and then gives this reason anyway.
The word 'aparihārya', unavoidable, carries the point. Grief for a loss is natural. Grief that refuses the fact itself has nowhere to go.
In your life
If you're carrying grief that feels like an argument with what happened, try saying the plain fact out loud: this happened, and it couldn't have been otherwise. It won't stop the sadness. It can stop the second layer of suffering that comes from fighting reality.
What is born will die. Don't spend your life grieving what can't be avoided.