Chapter 1, Verse 41
adharmābhi-bhavāt kṛṣṇa
praduṣyanti kula-striyaḥ
strīṣu duṣṭāsu vārṣṇeya
jāyate varṇa-saṅkaraḥ
Owing to the predominance of lawlessness, O Krishna, the women of the family become corrupt; women corrupted lead to the confusion of the
varnas (castes).
With the disappearance of family tradition, men and women will lose restraint in
their activities, and be tempted by vices.
There are different kinds of families. ‘Family’ means not only the individual family,
it also means the spiritual family. ‘Family’ means a gathering, where you spend most
of your time.
Arjuna says, “Through unrestrained activities, vices will arise and this will result
in sin. Sin will spread throughout all of society. The moral values will be thrown out:
the respect between men and women; the respect of children for their parents; the
respect between all people.” People who have no moral values will make fun of
others. That’s why, when you are on the spiritual path, people make fun of you saying, “Ah, look at this person. He is stupid because he has become spiritual.” They call you
all kinds of names. They can’t respect others. The world is nowadays like this – not
always, but most of the time it is like this. When you are on the spiritual path, it doesn’t
matter which religion you are, other people make fun of you because those people
have turned towards materialism. People’s minds have turned towards the outside
and they don’t bother about respect. They don’t care.
Arjuna is still trying to find excuses to stop the war. He says, “Krishna, if there is war, women will be corrupted. They will not be faithful. The social conduct which holds the family together will not be there anymore. Women used to carry the responsibility of holding the family together. If the women themselves are corrupted, then the whole family, everything is finished.” This is greatness: here Arjuna is praising the important role of women. How important it used to be at that time! The mothers and sisters were the ones who maintained this tradition. Arjuna says, “If these women get corrupted and start mixing, adultery will take over.” Here he is also talking about the purity of the different castes: when all the castes start to mix, there is a mixing of blood. The purity of the race is changed.
At that time, the tradition of the pitris was very important: the tradition of the
‘ancestral fathers’ was strictly kept. Even Krishna Himself strictly respected this
tradition. How they worshipped the ancestors was very, very important. Arjuna asks,
“Whom will we worship? Each person’s ancestors will be different. If this gets changed, what will be our path?” Krishna says, “You should not bother about all these things. This is not about that: it is about dharma!” Arjuna’s mind is completely confused. He is still trying to find many excuses not to fight.
Bhagavad Gita
