Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1, Verse 43

Chapter 1 – Arjuna Vishada Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

दोषैरेतैः कुलघ्नानां वर्णसङ्करकारकैः ।
उत्साद्यन्ते जातिधर्माः कुलधर्माश्च शाश्वताः ॥

Transliteration

doṣairetaiḥ kulaghnānāṃ varṇasaṅkarakārakaiḥ .
utsādyante jātidharmāḥ kuladharmāśca śāśvatāḥ ॥

Meaning

Through these faults of the destroyers of the family, which give rise to the confusion of social order, the ancient duties of the community and the traditions of the family are uprooted.

Word meanings

दोषैः – by the faults
एतैः – these
कुलघ्नानाम् – of the destroyers of the family
वर्णसङ्करकारकैः – causing confusion of social orders
उत्साद्यन्ते – are uprooted, destroyed
जातिधर्माः – duties of the community
कुलधर्माः – family traditions
च – and
शाश्वताः – everlasting, ancient

Anvaya (word order)

कुलघ्नानाम् एतैः वर्णसङ्करकारकैः दोषैः शाश्वताः जातिधर्माः कुलधर्माः च उत्साद्यन्ते ।

Explanation

This verse sums up Arjuna's arguments so far. He says that through the faults of those who destroy the family, faults that give rise to varnasankara, two kinds of dharma are destroyed: jatidharma and kuladharma.

Kuladharma means the particular traditions of a family or lineage, discussed in verse 40. Jatidharma means the duties and customs of a larger community or social group. According to commentators, jati here refers to varna or a wider social group with its own duties and values. When the smaller unit, the family, breaks, the effect spreads to the larger unit, society.

Utsadyante, 'are uprooted', is a strong word, like a tree torn out by the roots. Arjuna feels that this war will tear up the very roots on which the whole structure of society rests.

Notice that Arjuna calls these dharmas shashvata, 'everlasting'. The irony is that what is truly eternal, the Self and the supreme dharma, has not yet even been discussed. In the second chapter Krishna will teach that bodies perish while the Self is indestructible; the duties of family and community change with time and place, but the dharma of the Self is ever constant. Arjuna is turning away from the supreme dharma in order to protect relative ones.

Context

This verse summarises the evils of destroying a family described in verses 40-42. In the next verse Arjuna states the final consequence: such people dwell in hell.

Life lesson

The breakdown of a small unit affects the larger one; disorder in families reaches society. But we must also distinguish changing customs from eternal values; right decisions come from recognising eternal truth.

Key terms

Jatidharma: the duties and customs of a community or social group
Kuladharma: the traditional religious observances of a family
Utsadana: uprooting, complete destruction
Shashvata: everlasting, eternal