Chapter I · Śloka 40
Arjuna uvāca
अधर्माभिभवात् कृष्ण प्रदुष्यन्ति कुलस्त्रियः |
स्त्रीषु दुष्टासु वार्ष्णेय जायते वर्णसङ्करः ||
स्त्रीषु दुष्टासु वार्ष्णेय जायते वर्णसङ्करः ||
adharmābhibhavāt kṛṣṇa praduṣyanti kula-striyaḥ |
strīṣu duṣṭāsu vārṣṇeya jāyate varṇa-saṅkaraḥ ||
strīṣu duṣṭāsu vārṣṇeya jāyate varṇa-saṅkaraḥ ||
When irreligion is dominant, O Krishna, the women of the family become corrupted, and from the corruption of women, O Vrishni, arises unwanted population.
Arjuna's argument descends into the social anxieties of his age — concern for the purity of lineage and varṇa. These fears are real to him and to his world, but the Gita will ultimately ground dharma not in birth-order and bloodline but in the nature of the soul.