कुलक्षये प्रणश्यन्ति कुलधर्माः सनातनाः। धर्मे नष्टे कुलं कृत्स्नमधर्मोऽभिभवत्युत॥
kula-kṣaye praṇaśyanti kula-dharmāḥ sanātanāḥ / dharme naṣṭe kulaṃ kṛtsnam adharmo 'bhibhavaty uta
When families collapse, the traditions that hold communities together collapse with them.
Word by word (5)
- kula-kṣaye
- — in the destruction of the family
- praṇaśyanti kula-dharmāḥ sanātanāḥ
- — the eternal laws of the family perish · 'Sanātanāḥ' — eternal, ancient, time-tested. Kula-dharma (family duty/custom) includes the rites, traditions, and moral codes that bind generations together. Its destruction is not merely personal loss but loss of the social fabric.
- dharme naṣṭe
- — when dharma is lost / when law is destroyed
- kulam kṛtsnam
- — the entire family
- adharmaḥ abhibhavati uta
- — adharma (lawlessness) overwhelms / overcomes
'When a family is destroyed, the ancient, time-tested laws of that family are lost. And when those laws are lost, lawlessness overtakes the entire family.'
A modern analogy
When a family breaks apart violently — through war, trauma, or collapse — more than people are lost. The shared rituals, the stories, the ways of marking birth and death and celebration, the knowledge of who you are in relation to others — all of this frays and disappears within a generation or two. Arjuna is describing the destruction of cultural memory.
Take with you
- Kula-dharma (family tradition) is the transmission system for values across generations — its destruction is irreversible.
- The word 'sanātanāḥ' (eternal/ancient) signals that Arjuna is arguing for the value of time-tested practices, not mere sentiment.
- The sequence: family destroyed → dharma lost → adharma enters → escalating disorder. Each step makes reversal harder.
Verses 39–43 constitute Arjuna's most sophisticated social argument: the chain of consequences from family destruction to the dissolution of the entire social order. The concept of 'kula-dharma' (family duty) was central to ancient Indian social thought. The family was the basic unit not only of social organization but of religious practice — the śrāddha rites for ancestors, the sacred fire, the transmission of Vedic knowledge, all depended on the family's continuity. This verse introduces the concept of 'adharma' — its opposite. In the Gita's framework, dharma is not merely a set of rules but the underlying order that makes human society coherent and sustainable. Adharma is not just rule-breaking but the erosion of the conditions for right living itself.
Advaita lens
From Shankaracharya's perspective, the deepest dharma is not kula-dharma but universal dharma grounded in the recognition of the one Atman in all. Arjuna is arguing from the lower (social) level of dharma, which is valid but limited. The Gita will eventually transcend this level without dismissing it.
Modern parallels
Sociologists study 'social capital' — the networks, norms, and trust that make societies function. War and mass violence have been shown to destroy social capital across generations. The communities that lose their traditions and practices most completely are the hardest to reconstruct. Arjuna's kula-dharma argument is a 3000-year-old version of this insight.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
On the destruction of the family, the immemorial religious rites of the family perish. On the destruction of the religious rites, impiety overcomes the whole family. [4]
On the destruction of a family, the immemorial customs of that family perish; and when the customs are lost, impiety overwhelms the whole family. [6]
For, if the race be lost, the immemorial laws Fall too; and impious disorder enters in. [7]
When the family is destroyed, the ancient laws of the family perish; when the laws perish, impiety is said to overcome the whole family. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
When order collapses, the most vulnerable members of society suffer first.
If the great one withdraws, the worlds collapse and they become the cause of chaos — not a neutral bystander.
Krishna says: 'Look.' Two words that will change everything.
He looked — and saw everyone he has ever loved, lined up to kill or be killed.
Even the fathers-in-law and dearest friends — on both sides. No one is safely 'other.'
What is a kingdom for, if all those you wanted to share it with are dead?