Bhagavad Gita 2.26
अथ चैनं नित्यजातं नित्यं वा मन्यसे मृतम् । तथापि त्वं महाबाहो नैवं शोचितुमर्हसि ॥
atha cainaṃ nitya-jātaṃ nityaṃ vā manyase mṛtam | tathāpi tvaṃ mahā-bāho naivaṃ śocitum arhasi ||
Translation
And, O mighty-armed one, even if you think it constantly born and constantly dying, even so you should not grieve.
Reflection
Where in your life are you waiting to be convinced when a smaller door has already been left open?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Two
Krishna grants the opposite premise. Even if you believe the self does come and go, even if you reject everything I just said, the conclusion still holds. Tathāpi. Even so. The teacher who has just spent fifteen verses making a metaphysical case now offers Arjuna the same conclusion from the opposite premise. Notice the generosity. Krishna does not require Arjuna to agree with him before letting him out of the grief. He builds a back door for the listener who isn't ready for the front one. Read this as method: the teaching is willing to meet the listener where he stands.