Bhagavad Gita 1.41
Spoken by Arjuna · Verse 41 of 47 · Arjuna's Journey
संकरो नरकायैव कुलघ्नानां कुलस्य च। पतन्ति पितरो ह्येषां लुप्तपिण्डोदकक्रियाः॥
saṃkaro narakāyaiva kula-ghnānāṃ kulasya ca / patanti pitaro hy eṣāṃ lupta-piṇḍodaka-kriyāḥ
The dead depend on the living — break the chain of care and the ancestors fall.
Word by word (4)
- saṃkaraḥ narakāya eva
- — the mixing leads only to hell
- kula-ghnānām kulasya ca
- — for both the destroyers of the family and the family itself
- patanti pitaraḥ
- — the ancestors fall (to lower realms) · The ancestors (pitaraḥ) depend on their descendants performing the śrāddha rites — offerings of water and rice (piṇḍa). Without living descendants to perform these rites, ancestors are believed to 'fall' — lose their position in the afterlife.
- lupta-piṇḍa-udaka-kriyāḥ
- — deprived of offerings of rice-balls and water (the śrāddha rites)
'This disorder leads to hell — for the destroyers of the family and for the family itself. And the ancestors fall from their place, deprived of the offerings of rice and water that sustain them.'
A modern analogy
Consider how the memory of the dead lives through the practices of the living: the anniversaries remembered, the graves visited, the stories told to children. When a family is violently destroyed, this entire chain of remembrance breaks. Arjuna's 'ancestors fall' is his ancient way of saying: the dead are abandoned when the living who remembered them are gone.
Take with you
- The dead continue to be honored only through the living — destruction of the living severs the chain of memory and care.
- This verse shows Arjuna's moral concern extends backward across time (to ancestors) as well as forward.
- The śrāddha rites are not superstition — they are the ancient technology for keeping the dead present in the community of the living.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
Confusion of castes leads to hell the slayers of the family and the family itself; for their ancestors fall, deprived of the offerings of rice and water. [4]
And with the old rites lost, the pious dead Fall from their place of peace. [7]
Intermixture of castes leads to hell the slayers of the family as well as the family; for their ancestors fall, deprived of the offerings of food and water. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Every pillar of social order that took generations to build — destroyed in one war.
Worshippers of gods go to gods; of ancestors, to ancestors; of spirits, to spirits — My worshippers come to Me.
Arjuna sees his own people ready to die — and his body breaks before his mind can argue.
Your own imperfect path beats another's perfect path. Death in your own dharma is better. Another's dharma brings fear.
Krishna declares: 'I am the ground of Brahman — the Immortal, the Immutable, eternal Dharma, and perfect Bliss.'
This most secret śāstra spoken — knowing it, one becomes truly wise and kṛta-kṛtya: all duties fulfilled.
Verse 41 of 47 · back to Chapter 1