Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1, Verse 42

Chapter 1 – Arjuna Vishada Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

सङ्करो नरकायैव कुलघ्नानां कुलस्य च ।
पतन्ति पितरो ह्येषां लुप्तपिण्डोदकक्रियाः ॥

Transliteration

saṅkaro narakāyaiva kulaghnānāṃ kulasya ca .
patanti pitaro hyeṣāṃ luptapiṇḍodakakriyāḥ ॥

Meaning

This confusion leads to hell both the destroyers of the family and the family itself; for their ancestors fall, deprived of the offerings of rice-balls and water.

Word meanings

सङ्करः – confusion of social order
नरकाय – to hell
एव – indeed
कुलघ्नानाम् – of the destroyers of the family
कुलस्य – of the family
च – and
पतन्ति – fall
पितरः – ancestors
हि – for
एषाम् – their
लुप्तपिण्डोदकक्रियाः – deprived of the rites of rice-ball and water offerings

Anvaya (word order)

सङ्करः कुलघ्नानां कुलस्य च नरकाय एव (भवति); हि लुप्तपिण्डोदकक्रियाः एषां पितरः पतन्ति ।

Explanation

Arjuna now carries the consequences of the family's destruction beyond this world into the next. According to him, social chaos (sankara) leads to hell not only those who destroy the family but the whole family.

To understand this, we need the Vedic idea of pitri-rina, the debt to the ancestors. Every person is said to owe three debts: to the gods, to the sages and to the ancestors. To repay the debt to the ancestors, descendants offer pinda (balls of cooked rice) and udaka (libations of water) in the shraddha rites. These express reverence, gratitude and the bond between generations, and are believed to bring satisfaction to the departed.

Arjuna argues that when the family is destroyed and tradition broken, no one will be left to perform these rites, or those who remain will not understand their meaning. The ancestors, deprived of their nourishment, will then 'fall'. Thus the effect of destroying a family reaches back even to past generations.

The verse also has a wider meaning. Our existence is not isolated; we are bound to those who came before us and responsible to those who come after. Arjuna's anxiety is that this unbroken chain will snap. But Krishna will show that protecting dharma is the greatest duty towards both ancestors and descendants.

Context

The previous verse spoke of the rise of varnasankara; this one describes its effect on the world beyond. In the next verse Arjuna sums up these evils: the destruction of community and family dharma.

Life lesson

We are the link between the traditions of our ancestors and the future of the generations to come. Gratitude to those before us and responsibility to those after us both give life its meaning.

Key terms

Pinda: a ball of cooked rice offered to the ancestors in shraddha
Udaka-kriya: the offering of water to the ancestors
Pitri: departed ancestors
Kulaghna: destroyer of the family