Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 2: The Path of Understanding
Bhagavad Gita 2.20
न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचि-
न्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः ।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो
न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥
na jāyate mriyate vā kadāci- nnāyaṃ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ | ajo nityaḥ śāśvato'yaṃ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre ||
It is never born and it never dies; nor, having once existed, does it ever cease to be. Unborn, eternal, everlasting, and ancient, it is not killed when the body is killed.
Modern context
Unborn, eternal, everlasting, ancient: four words for one fact, that the self stands outside the sequence of beginnings and endings. Our deepest fear is of ceasing to be. This verse, among the best known in the Gita and often recited at times of bereavement, addresses that fear directly.