Srimad BhagavadGita

After Arjuna's emotional breakdown, Kṛṣṇa smiled at him in good humour and started speaking to him, "You are grieving for things that should not be grieved for and speaking words of wisdom too. The wise never lament over the lifeless bodies or the conscious souls."

​aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṃ prajñā-vādāṃśca bhāṣase We see that the verbs bhāṣase (present tense form) and anvaśocaḥ (past tense form) are in different tenses. A doubt may arise as to which tense the meaning should be interpreted in. This is resolved as follows. As the verb bhāṣase (speaking) is in the present tense and as Arjuna is experiencing grief at the present moment too, though anvaśocaḥ is the past tense form of the verb, it must be considered in present tense too as 'are grieving'. The difference in tenses can be technically resolved as follows. Based on the Aṣṭādhyāyī sūtra 3.3.131 vartamāna sāmīpye vartamānavadvā (the action that occurred in proximity to the present time, may be expressed in present tense), it can be assumed that 'Arjuna's act of speaking' which occurred in the recent past i.e in proximity to the present time is stated in the present tense as 'bhāṣase' and that both the verbs (bhāṣase and anvaśocaḥ) were originally past tense forms.

prajñā-vādāṃśca bhāṣase patanti pitaro hyeṣhāṃ lupta-piṇḍodaka-kriyāḥ B G 1.42, From Arjuna's

speech in such places it can be seen that he was speaking like someone who knew about the inherent nature

and disposition of the body and the soul. However, in reality it is impossible for one who possesses such

knowledge to lament over things which are unworthy of grief. What are these things which are unworthy of

grief? These are things which are gatāsūn and agatāsūn.

gatāsūn agatāsūn The primary meaning of asu is prāṇā (life force). gatāsūn thus translates to 'one without prāṇā' and agatāsūn to 'one with prāṇā'. Since this meaning does not fit the context here, the figurative meaning for asu as 'indestructibility' must be taken here by lakṣanāvṛtti (figurative sense of the word or phrase with a more imaginative or abstract meaning than its literal one). Thus gatāsūn translates to destructible insentient body and agatāsūn to eternal, sentient, indestructible soul.

paṇḍitāḥ na anuśocanti (The wise do not grieve) Paṇḍā refers to jñāna (knowledge). Paṇḍita is the one who has knowledge. A paṇḍita who knows the inherent nature of the body and the soul does not grieve over both. But Arjuna was experiencing great grief and at the same time he was speaking the kind of words a paṇḍita speaks. Due to this contradiction, there was a jovial smile on Kṛṣṇa's face.

prajñā-vādān ca With these words spoken by Kṛṣṇa, we come to know that in reality, Arjuna did not have knowledge about many matters. It is one's speech that reflects the knowledge he has. From his speech it was clear that he did not know the nature of the body. He did not know that the soul was eternal and different from the body and that 'fighting the war' and such other varṇāśrama duties (duties per one's class and stage in life) were the means to attain the soul.

Some questions that might arise here are stated and answered below,

Q: How can the terrible war become the means to attain the soul? 

A: If war is fought with a desire to possess the kingdom, then the varṇāśrama duties like fighting the war, etc, become the cause for the jīva to get more and more entangled in this saṃsāra (material world). The same duties when performed without expecting any returns, purely as acts of worship to the Lord, become means for attaining the soul and the supreme soul. This is elaborated upon in the chapters that follow.  

Q: How can karma, jñāna and bhakti be considered as means for achieving the goal, when Bhagawān alone is granter of the goal (giver of fruit)?

A: Since Paramātma is the granter of the goal, HE is called the siddhōpāya (already existing means, independent of our efforts). However, Paramātma grants the goal only when karma, jñāna and bhakti are practised and since the performers of karma, jñāna and bhakti believe in these to be the means, they become their instruments for achieving the goal and are thus sādhyopāyas (achieved by own efforts). A prayerful surrendered state where the prayer is that, 'along with being the giver of desired fruit, please be my means for achieving it too', is called prapatti and one possessing such a state is a prapanna. Our ācāryas state that prapatti is not a means but the eligibility for obtaining Paramātma as both the means and the granter of fruit.

Q: How can it be concluded that Arjuna had no knowledge about the nature of the body? 

A: Body is different from the knowledgeable, unchangeable, birthless and deathless soul. It is insentient and is subject to constant change. Birth and death are natural to the body. Since it can be subject to death at any time be it the 6th year or the 100th year, there is no point grieving over its death. But Arjuna was lamenting over the thought of destruction of the bodies of his relatives. Hence we can conclude that Arjuna had no knowledge about the nature of the body.

Q: How can it be concluded that Arjuna had no knowledge about the soul? 

A: na jāyate mriyate Kaṭha Up 2.18, declares that the soul has no birth or death. Birth is never the cause for the existence of the soul and death can never wipe off its existence. Hence there is no reason to grieve for the soul. But Arjuna was grieving for his relatives and friends who were not the body but the soul. Hence we can conclude that he had no knowledge of the soul.

​Summary:

Knowing that Arjuna did not actually have complete knowledge, Kṛṣṇa wished to instruct him on the goal he should have, means for achieving it and the obstructions on the path to become misery free. From the next śloka onwards Kṛṣṇa will begin instructing about them.