A story moment · reflective in mood · easy to enter
“When conduct breaks, the inherited order that protects everyone breaks too.”
Because of these faults that create mixed social order, the eternal duties of family and community are destroyed.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallyby faults · these · of family-destroyers · causing mixed social order · are destroyed · community duties · family duties · and · eternal
Arjuna says that when family lines break down, long-standing duties within the family and society are destroyed.
Arjuna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Arjuna Vishada Yoga" (The Yoga of Arjuna's Despair).
Verse 43 sits in Chapter 1 of the Bhagavad Gita — Arjuna Vishada Yoga, "The Yoga of Arjuna's Despair". The chapter has 47 verses in total.
A household that normalises cruelty or secrecy does not stay contained. The habits spread, and soon even the basic rules that kept everyone steady start disappearing.
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Arjuna claims these faults wipe out the eternal duties of both family and community.
What this verse means
Arjuna says that when family lines break down, long-standing duties within the family and society are destroyed.
Context & commentary
Arjuna keeps listing the damage he fears from war. After warning about mixed social order and the fall of ancestors, he says these faults destroy the ancient duties that families and communities have preserved for generations.
What it looks like today
A household that normalises cruelty or secrecy does not stay contained. The habits spread, and soon even the basic rules that kept everyone steady start disappearing.
“A collapse in conduct spreads outward, erasing the habits that hold a community together.”