MindKshetraby LogitsLab
← Chapter 1

Bhagavad Gita · 1.43 · Arjuna's Dilemma·43 of 47

दोषैरेतैः कुलघ्नानां वर्णसङ्करकारकैःउत्साद्यन्ते जातिधर्माः कुलधर्माश्च शाश्वताः

doṣhair etaiḥ kula-ghnānāṁ varṇa-saṅkara-kārakaiḥ

utsādyante jāti-dharmāḥ kula-dharmāśh cha śhāśhvatāḥ

Sanskrit recitation

When the body freezes · 1.28–1.47 · Teaching

Translation

By these evil deeds of the destroyers of the family, which cause confusion of castes, the eternal religious rites of the caste and the family are destroyed.

Meaning

Arjuna bases his argument not on his own personal experience, but on what he has heard from the authorities. That is the way of receiving real knowledge. One cannot reach the real point of factual knowledge without being helped by the right person who is already established in that knowledge. There is a system in the varṇāśrama institution by which before death one has to undergo the process of atonement for his sinful activities. One who is always engaged in sinful activities must utilize the process of atonement, called prāyaścitta. Without doing so, one surely will be transferred to hellish planets to undergo miserable lives as the result of sinful activities.

After Swami Sivananda

When the body freezes· 1.28–1.47

Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.

Word-by-word
cha
and
etaiḥ
these
doṣhaiḥ
through evil deeds
kārakaiḥ
causing
utsādyante
are ruined
kula-ghnānām
of those who destroy the family
kula-dharmāḥ
family traditions
jāti-dharmāḥ
social and family welfare activities
śhāśhvatāḥ
eternal
varṇa-saṅkara
unwanted progeny

Related verses

Your reflection

Sign in to save reflections.

Sign in