The Blessed Lord said: You grieve for what should not be grieved for, and you speak words of wisdom. The wise do not grieve for the dead or for the living

Kṛṣṇa’s first teaching is diagnostic: Arjuna anvaśocaḥ (grieve continuously) for aśocyān (the not-grievable). The word prajñāvādān (discourses of wisdom) is ironic — Arjuna speaks of dharma and duties, but his behavior contradicts his rhetoric.

The dichotomy gata-asūn (those whose breath has gone, dead) and a-gata-asūn (those whose breath has not gone, living) covers all possibilities. The paṇḍitāḥ (wise, learned ones) do not anuśocanti (do not continue grieving).

The argument will be based on the immortality of the ātman, but begins with the observation of contradiction in Arjuna.