अशोच्यानन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च भाषसे ।
गतासूनगतासूंश्च नानुशोचन्ति पण्डिताः ॥ ११ ॥
śrībhagavānuvāca —
aśocyānanvaśocastvaṃ prajñāvādāṃśca bhāṣase .
gatāsūnagatāsūṃśca nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ .. 11 ..
The Lord said :
For those who deserve no grief thou hast grieved, and words of wisdom thou speakest. For the living and for the dead the wise grieve not.*
He who knows not the Self is subject to illusion. He who is subject to illusion will obtain right knowledge by devoutly listening to the words of the Scripture and the spiritual teacher, and by investigating into the nature of things as they are with a view to clearly understand such teachings. This shews to what class of persons this teaching is addressed.—(A.)
Read the commentary
Such people as Bhīṣma and Droṇa deserve no grief †, for they are men of good conduct and are eternal in their real nature. You have grieved for them saying “I am the cause of their death; of what avail are pleasures of dominion and other things to me left alone without them?” And you also speak the words - of wise men. Thus you exhibit inconsistency in yourself,—foolishness and wisdom,—like a maniac. For †, the wise (panditah)—those who know the Self—grieve neither for the living nor for the dead. They alone are wise who know the Self. For, the sruti says :
Whether you regard their present personalities or their real nature. Personally they are men of good conduct; in their real nature (as identical with the Absolute) they are eternal.
The second half of the verse is intended to show that Arjuna’s delusion was due to his ignorance of the true nature of the Self.—(A.)
“Having obtained wisdom (panditya, i. e., knowledge of the Self) in its entirety…” (Bri. Up. III. 5, 1.)
That is, you grieve those who are really eternal and who really deserve no grief; wherefore you are foolish.
(Question):—Why do they deserve no grief?
(Answer):—For, they are eternal.
(Question):—How?
(Answer):—The Lord says :