Text 28]
Contents of the Gītā Summarized
109
violence and war are inevitable factors in human society for keeping law and order.
The Battle of Kurukṣetra, being the will of the Supreme, was an inevitable event, and to fight for the right cause is the duty of a  kṣatriya . Why should he be afraid of or aggrieved at the death of his relatives since he was discharging his proper duty? He did not deserve to break the law, thereby becoming subjected to the reactions of sinful acts, of which he was so afraid. By avoiding the discharge of his proper duty, he would not be able to stop the death of his relatives, and he would be degraded due to his selection of the wrong path of action.
TEXT 28
अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि व्यक्तमध्यानि भारत । 
    अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव तत्र का परिदेवना ॥२८॥
avyaktādīni bhūtāni  
 vyakta-madhyāni bhārata  
 avyakta-ṅidhanāny eva  
 tatra kā paridevanā
avyaktādīni —in the beginning unmanifested;  bhūtāni —all that are created;  vyakta —manifested;  madhyāni —in the middle;  bhārata —O descendant of Bharata;  avyakta —nonmanifested;  nidhanāni —all that are vanquished;  eva —it is all like that;  tatra —therefore;  kā —what;  paridevanā —lamentation.
TRANSLATION
All created beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their interim state, and unmanifest again when they are annihilated. So what need is there for lamentation?
PURPORT
Accepting that there are two classes of philosophers, one believing in the existence of soul and the other not believing in the existence of the soul, there is no cause for lamentation in either case. Nonbelievers in the existence of the soul are called atheists by followers of Vedic wisdom. Yet even if, for argument's sake, we accept the atheistic theory, there is still no