Chapter I · Śloka 39
Arjuna uvāca
कुलक्षये प्रणश्यन्ति कुलधर्माः सनातनाः |
धर्मे नष्टे कुलं कृत्स्नमधर्मोऽभिभवत्युत ||
धर्मे नष्टे कुलं कृत्स्नमधर्मोऽभिभवत्युत ||
kula-kṣaye praṇaśyanti kula-dharmāḥ sanātanāḥ |
dharme naṣṭe kulaṃ kṛtsnam adharmo 'bhibhavaty uta ||
dharme naṣṭe kulaṃ kṛtsnam adharmo 'bhibhavaty uta ||
When a family is destroyed, the eternal family traditions perish, and when religious traditions perish, the entire family becomes dominated by irreligion.
Arjuna now advances the sociological argument: without living family members to uphold kula-dharma, the rites, traditions, and moral fabric of society collapse. He speaks as a conservative concerned with cosmic order — and yet the order he defends has already been shattered by the Kauravas.
