dehi nityamavadhyooyam dehe sarvasya bhaarata |
tasmaatsarvaani bhootani na tvam shochitumarhasi || 30 ||

This eternal and imperishable body-dweller dwells in all bodies, O Bhaarata. Therefore, you should not grieve for any or all beings.

dehi : body-dweller
nityam : eternal
avadhyaha : imperishable
ayam :  this
dehe : bodies
sarvasya : in all
bhaarata : O Bhaarata
tasmaat : therefore
sarvaani : all
bhootani : beings
tvam : you
shochitum : grieve
na arhasi : should not

With this shloka, Shri Krishna concludes the topic of the eternal essence. Now, having followed the teaching so far, we would probably have some questions. Let’s try to address some of them.

So if we were to ask ourselves “I have studied the Gita for a while now, what is the message in a nutshell so far?”. Or in management-speak “What is the net-net?”. It is this shloka. Therefore, even if we may not remember all the shlokas about the eternal essence, we should not forget this shloka.

Here’s another question: “We have covered the entire first chapter, as well as some part of the second chapter. Where is God in all of this?” We have purposely avoided the word “God” in our discussions because Shri Krishna has not yet uttered that word in any teaching so far. As we proceed through the Gita, Shri Krishna will bring up this topic at the appropriate time. For now, if we go to a place of worship like a temple, we can still continue to pray to God, knowing that the eternal essence is an integral part of God as well.

The pragmatist among us would ask “All this abstract stuff is well and good, how do we apply it in our daily life?”. And the answer is – stay tuned! The topics will become more practical starting with the next shloka. All we need to remember is the examples from these shlokas: the eternal essence is like the sun, actionless and changeless. It is like the water that pervades the entire cloth. And it is like the car-dweller who occupies and leaves the car once it is old.