Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 2: The Path of Understanding

Bhagavad Gita 2.12

na tvevāhaṃ jātu nāsaṃ na tvaṃ neme janādhipāḥ | na caiva na bhaviṣyāmaḥ sarve vayamataḥ param ||

There was never a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor these kings; and none of us will ever cease to be hereafter.

Modern context

'There was never a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor these kings, and none of us will ever cease to be.' Krishna's first statement about reality is that what we most deeply are did not begin at birth and does not end at death. Whether or not one accepts this as doctrine, it changes the question from 'how do I avoid loss?' to 'what in a person cannot be lost?'