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Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 1.39
कुलक्षये प्रणश्यन्ति कुलधर्माः सनातनाः ।
धर्मे नष्टे कुलं कृत्स्नमधर्मोऽभिभवत्युत ॥ ३९ ॥
kula-kṣaye praṇaśyanti
kula-dharmāḥ sanātanāḥ
dharme naṣṭe kulaṁ kṛtsnam
adharmo ’bhibhavaty uta
With the destruction of the dynasty, the eternal family tradition is vanquished, and thus the rest of the family becomes involved in irreligion.
Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.ioWhat this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.
3 study points
When a dynasty is destroyed, its eternal family tradition is lost, and the remaining family falls into irreligion.
Religious traditions in the varṇāśrama system help family members grow properly and gain spiritual values, while elders uphold purifying practices from birth to death.
Family elders should not be killed for any purpose, since their deaths may stop purifying practices and lead younger members into irreligion, jeopardizing spiritual salvation.
These notes cover verses 1.39–43
Fighting will cause family destruction in the following 6-step sequence:
Death of Elderly (1.39)
Fighting destroys the whole dynasty
Family Traditions Stop — Irreligion increases (1.39)
With the destruction of dynasty, the entire family tradition is vanquished, and thus the rest of the family becomes involved in irreligion
Women polluted (1.40)
When irreligion is prominent, the women in the family become polluted
Chanakya Pandit says “Women need protection”
Why women need special protection – Because they are
Less intelligent
Not trustworthy
Prone to degradation
How they are protected – By engaging in religious principles, either under father, husband or son
If they are not protected, it leads to adultery and varna-sankara
Varna-sankara (unwanted progeny) (1.40*)
From degradation of woman comes unwanted progeny
Varna-sankara has three effects
Risk of war and pestilence
Hellish life
For the whole family – Ancestors falldown because pinda-dana stops
For those who destroy family
All community projects and family welfare acts stop
Hellish life for ‘family’ and ‘destroyers of family’ (1.41*)
Culture is destroyed — Community projects and family welfare acts stop (1.42)
39 purport)
Responsible for maintaining purificatory samskaras (birth to death)
Helping younger generation on the path of salvation
Importance of good population (1.40 purport) — It is the basic principle for peace, prosperity and spiritual progress in life
What good population depends on (1.40 purport) — Chastity and faithfulness of womanhood
Philosophy of Pinda-Dan (1.41 purport)
Based on rules and regulations of fruitive acts
What it is – To offer periodical food and water to forefathers
Right process – worship of Vishnu done / remnants offered to forefathers
Principle: To release them from many sinful reactions / ghostly existence etc.
Who is not obliged for this – One in devotional life
Why devotees are not obliged – Because devotional service relieves hundreds and thousands of forefathers from all misery (Ref. SB. 11.5.41 “devarsi bhutapta…”)
Community projects and family welfare acts — Importance (1.42 purport)
They are set forth by Varnashrama / Sanatana-dharma
Sets duties for four orders of society
Purpose – To help attain ultimate salvation
‘Result of breaking’ such projects
Chaos in society
People forget ultimate aim of life – Vishnu
Ways of receiving real knowledge (1.43 purport) — Disciplic succession
Arjuna based his arguments not on personal experience, but on what he has heard from authorities
Principle of ‘Prayascitta’ (1.43 purport) — A system in the varnashrama system by which before death one has to undergo the process of atonement for his sinful activities
Without doing so, one surely will be transferred to the hellish planets to undergo miserable lives ARJUNA’S FIFTH ARGUMENT — “INDECISION”
Fifth argument covered in chapter 2:
Please refer to Text 2.6 for Arjuna’s fifth argument
Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.
The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.
Key ideas: saṁśaya, viṣāda.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
What does BG 1.39 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to questions & crisis?
Write down the real question behind your current dilemma.
Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.
Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.
Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.