Kṛṣṇa explains the continuity of consciousness. He says that in their new birth, the soul automatically regains the ‘buddhi-saṁyogam’, the revival of the spiritual intelligence they had developed in their previous life. The ‘hard drive’ of the soul is not wiped clean by death. Because they have this latent wisdom, they start to endeavor ‘bhūyaḥ’ (again) for perfection from the point where they left off. If you finished 60% of the path in your last life, you start at 61% in this life, not at 0%. Spiritual progress is a cumulative bank account that follows you through every womb. Kṛṣṇa addresses Arjuna as ‘Kuru-nandana’, reminding him of his heritage. He is showing that there is no such thing as ‘wasted time’ in spiritual life. Even if Arjuna dies in the battle, his current realization will follow him into the next body and push him closer to the goal. Death is just a comma in the long sentence of the soul’s liberation.