2.28 Unmanifest, manifest, unmanifest Krishna speaks

अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि व्यक्तमध्यानि भारत
अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव तत्र का परिदेवना

avyaktādīni bhūtāni vyakta-madhyāni bhārata
avyakta-nidhanānyeva tatra kā paridevanā

Beings are unmanifest before they appear, manifest in between, and unmanifest again when they go. Why grieve over this?

Explanation

Unmanifest, manifest, unmanifest again.

Beings are hidden before they appear, visible in between, and hidden again. Why grieve over this?

The same three-beat shape as 8.18's exhaling and inhaling universe. Appearing and disappearing are being described as phases, not as arrival and loss.

Word by word

avyakta-ādīni: unmanifest before birth
bhūtāni: created beings
vyakta: manifest
madhyāni: in the middle
bhārata: Arjun, scion of Bharat
avyakta: unmanifest
nidhanāni: on death
eva: indeed
tatra: therefore
kā: why
paridevanā: grieve