Verse 1.41
Speaker: Arjuna
Sanskrit
सङ्करो नरकायैव कुलघ्नानां कुलस्य च | पतन्ति पितरो ह्येषां लुप्तपिण्डोदकक्रियाः ||४१||
Transliteration (IAST)
saṅkaro narakāyaiva kulaghnānāṁ kulasya ca | patanti pitaro hyeṣāṁ luptapiṇḍodakakriyāḥ ||41||
Word-by-Word Meanings
सङ्करः-unwanted population
नरकाय-to hell
कुलघ्नानाम्-of the destroyers of the family
पितरः-ancestors
पतन्ति-fall
लुप्तपिण्डोदकक्रियाः-deprived of offerings of food and water
Translation
Such social disorder leads to hell for the family destroyers and the family itself, for the ancestors fall, deprived of their offerings of rice and water.
Commentary
Arjuna invokes the Vedic concept of pitṛ-yajña (ancestral rites). Without proper descendants to perform śrāddha ceremonies, ancestors lose their spiritual sustenance. This argument from tradition and duty to ancestors represents the most conservative layer of Arjuna's reasoning.
Themes
dharmakarmaduty