BG 1.40 — Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 1.40Chapter 1 · Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga · Arjuna → Krishna · anuṣṭubh

कुलक्षये प्रणश्यन्ति कुलधर्माः सनातनाः ।

धर्मे नष्टे कुलं कृत्स्नमधर्मो ऽभिभवत्युत ॥

kula-kṣaye praṇaśyanti kula-dharmāḥ sanātanāḥ

dharme naṣṭe kulaṃ kṛtsnam adharmo 'bhibhavaty uta

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

When the family line is destroyed, its ancient customs perish with it; and once dharma is lost, lawlessness overtakes the whole clan.

ekras · bhāṣya

Arjuna extends the argument from personal to social. "When the family line is destroyed, its ancient customs perish; and once dharma is lost, lawlessness overtakes the whole clan." Kula-dharmah — family-customs. The verse names them as sanatanah — eternal, ancient. Family-customs are the passed-down practices that hold a clan together: birth-rites, the second-birth ceremony of upanayana, marriage rituals, funeral observances, ancestor-offerings. The Mahabharata treats these as the bones of dharma in society. They are eternal in principle but require living carriers in practice. Kula-kshaye — when the family is destroyed. The carriers die in war. The eldest, who knew the rites; the middle generation, who would have learned them; the young, who would have inherited them. When all three generations fall on the field, the customs lose their voice. Dharme nashte — when dharma perishes. The customs are not just etiquette; they are dharma's living shape. Lose the customs and you lose the local instance of dharma itself. Adharmah abhibhavati — adharma overtakes. The social vacuum left by the dead does not stay empty. The remaining children and women will live in a household where the elders who taught what was right are gone. Adharma — what should not be done — fills the space. Arjuna's argument has shifted scope. He started by refusing to kill his own people because he loves them. He is now arguing that killing them produces a society no one would want to live in.

Context

where

Chapter 1 · Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Arjuna → Krishna

preceded by — BG 1.39

Arjuna asks: O Janārdana, how could we not know to turn from sin, when we can see right before us the evil that comes from destroying a family line?

What's going on

When the family line is destroyed, its ancient customs perish with it; and once dharma is lost, lawlessness overtakes the whole clan.

Sūtras through this verse (99)

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

1.1Means and end set out as one paired axis.───→here1.40───→2.39Wisdom closes, action opens. Same axis.

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-ruleapproach

───→here1.40───→2.12Every soul named here is a real distinct self.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)approach

───→here1.40───→2.47Hold no mine-ness on body or on fruit.

show all 99

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbaapproach · other

───→here1.40───→2.18Image perishes, source endures

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closeapproach

───→here1.40───→2.18The mirror breaks but the sun is unhurt.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesapproach

───→here1.40───→2.23Even great gods are unequal in their glory.

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionapproach

───→here1.40───→2.50Release is embodied, blissful, never merging.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksapproach

───→here1.40───→2.18The image perishes, but the source endures.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadapproach

───→here1.40───→2.23Nāradīya names what reason cannot prove.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsapproach

───→here1.40───→2.39The two paths name one practice, one fruit.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causeapproach

───→here1.40───→2.46Scripture is a small well when the flood arrives.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do aloneapproach

───→here1.40───→2.23Without worship of Hari no one ever crosses.

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotapproach

───→here1.40───→2.13Self-survival is settled by śruti, not by reason.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoireapproach

───→here1.40───→2.55'Self' here means mind — a single word redirects.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here1.40───→

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actapproach

───→here1.40───→2.47Only a human body can do new action.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionapproach

───→here1.40───→2.55Drop desire, and the sense of doing falls.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workapproach

───→here1.40───→2.45Rise above the modes, said in chapter two.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipapproach

───→here1.40───→2.31A warrior's own duty is the war he faces.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterapproach

───→here1.40───→2.41A one-pointed mind is the seeker's mark.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingapproach

───→here1.40───→2.14Bear pleasure and pain as a passing season.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roomapproach

───→here1.40───→2.55Each path names its sage in its own words.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here1.40───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here1.40───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family destroyed, dharma destroyedstation · other · station 10/20

───→here1.40───→

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterbetween · v2

1.30Skin burns, mind reels───→here1.40───→2.20The unborn dehī

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyabetween

1.1Dialectical chain present from line one.───→here1.40───→2.39Nanu… tatrāha: one pair, named.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

1.2Same form repeats on the next verse.───→here1.40───→2.10Word-fit holds even at the dialogue's pivot.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathapproach · v2

───→here1.40───→2.47Right to action

Ekrasmodernend_of_life

End of life — the threshold tourapproach · v2

───→here1.40───→2.13Bodies pass, the dehī does not

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentapproach · v2

───→here1.40───→2.55Sthitaprajna defined

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here1.40───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesapproach · v2

───→here1.40───→2.41Single-pointed buddhi

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here1.40───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementapproach · other

───→here1.40───→2.62Brooding breeds attachment

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthaapproach · other

───→here1.40───→2.10Thesis flat

ŚaṅkaraclassicalA

Sorrow and delusion are the diseaseapproach

───→here1.40───→2.10Sorrow and delusion are the seed of saṁsāra.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downapproach

───→here1.40───→2.10First lay down all action, then knowledge frees.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youapproach

───→here1.40───→2.10Some say: combine knowledge with rites.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentapproach

───→here1.40───→2.39So far for the seeker of the real; now hear yoga.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemyapproach

───→here1.40───→2.69Wisdom rises; ignorance fades like dawn-darkness.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here1.40───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimapproach

───→here1.40───→2.10Pāṇḍitya is knowing the Self — Bṛhadāraṇyaka.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedapproach

───→here1.40───→2.72Standing in this state, one reaches Brahman..

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asiapproach

───→here1.40───→2.1First hexad opens, tvam-pada implicit.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledapproach

───→here1.40───→2.47Primary fitness needs ripened conditions.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsapproach

───→here1.40───→3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologyapproach

───→here1.40───→2.47No-fruit ≠ no-karma: kāmya-tyāga ≠ nitya-tyāga.

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyateapproach

───→here1.40───→2.55A description, not a command. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhiapproach

───→here1.40───→2.47Action stays; the wish for fruit goes.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentapproach

───→here1.40───→2.39Wisdom section wound up here.

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sideapproach

───→here1.40───→2.13Same I as a child is now in this body.

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by verseapproach

───→here1.40───→2.12Plurals block monistic absorption.

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedapproach

───→here1.40───→2.13One-self-many-bodies runs out of grammar.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyaapproach

───→here1.40───→2.39Wrap prior section, then announce next.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsapproach

───→here1.40───→3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

Citation as proof — śruti, smṛti, MB, Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pañcarātraapproach

───→here1.40───→2.13Pratyabhijñā backed by śruti citation.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

Pūrva-pakṣa explicit — nanu / iti cet / ity ata āhaapproach

───→here1.40───→2.13Two objections, three pādas glossed.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availableapproach

───→here1.40───→2.13Recognition is literal across bodies.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥapproach

───→here1.40───→2.11Madhva first speaks, Jayatīrtha supplies.

Gauravmoderneminem_dsm_arjuna

Eminem Dsm Arjunabetween

1.30'Gandivam sramsate hastat tvak chaiva paridahyate, na cha shaknomy avasthatum bh───→here1.40───→2.3Krishna's first response. 'Klaibyam ma sma gamah Partha naitat tvayy upapadyate.

MadhusūdanaclassicalK

Arjuna's grief has two roots, not onebetween

1.1Discrimination overrun by grief and confusion.───→here1.40───→2.1Pity and despair treated as guests, not host.

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanaapproach · other

───→here1.40───→2.47Fruit-free action cannot bind

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningapproach

───→here1.40───→2.62'Dhyayato vishayan pumsah sangas teshupajayate, sangat sanjayate kamah.' The out

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipapproach

───→here1.40───→2.48'Yoga-sthah kuru karmani sangam tyaktva Dhananjaya, siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handapproach

───→here1.40───→2.47Middle finger. Nishkama karma plus the failure-gym. 'Karmany evadhikaras te, ma

Gauravmodernmemorial_pastoral

Memorial Pastoralapproach

───→here1.40───→2.13The memorial-register anchor. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, ta

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101approach

───→here1.40───→2.13Reincarnation pillar. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, tatha deha

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidapproach

───→here1.40───→3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netiapproach

───→here1.40───→2.13Body changes. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara.' Gaurav opens the

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningapproach

───→here1.40───→3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsapproach

───→here1.40───→2.39Two minds, two paths, never one rule for all.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landapproach

───→here1.40───→2.39Pure mind for knowing, impure mind for acting.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingapproach

───→here1.40───→2.47Action offered, fruit-free, cannot bear bondage.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherapproach

───→here1.40───→2.39Like light and dark, they cannot share a place.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runapproach

───→here1.40───→3.1The architecture ends in living-liberation, then bodily.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalJ

Sañjaya's frame — evidentiary, not ornamentalbetween

1.2Dṛṣṭvā tu — Sañjaya speaks to be heard later.───→here1.40───→11.50Sañjaya names the viśva-rūpa as witness.

VallabhaclassicalJ

Strategic silence — pointers, not absencesbetween

1.31The despondency catalogue goes to Viṭṭhaleśa.───→here1.40───→11.21The cosmic-form catalogue is bracketed.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketapproach

───→here1.40───→2.10The teaching opens at the carama-bracket.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here1.40───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorapproach

───→here1.40───→2.12Plurals refute the unitary-self read.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionapproach

───→here1.40───→2.39What chapter 3 will resolve, named here.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationapproach

───→here1.40───→2.39Sāṅkhya and yoga: not two roads.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefapproach

───→here1.40───→2.10Krishna smiles before the first mā-śucaḥ.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedapproach

───→here1.40───→3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesapproach

───→here1.40───→2.1Six-verse prelude lays out the whole map.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderapproach

───→here1.40───→2.39The yoga-mind is just the sāṅkhya-mind, retold.

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personapproach

───→here1.40───→2.12The eternal among the eternal, conscious among the conscious.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordapproach

───→here1.40───→2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridapproach

───→here1.40───→2.11Vallabha quotes his own Nibandha at verse two.

ŚrīdharaclassicalA

The Gītā as raft across griefbetween

1.1A raft of teaching crosses the grief-sea.───→here1.40───→2.7I am sunk in pity; ask, do not order.

ŚrīdharaclassicalB

The Lord descends out of compassionbetween

1.1The first epithet: supremely compassionate.───→here1.40───→4.7When right wanes, I take a body.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingapproach

───→here1.40───→2.39Work polishes the inner instrument first.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here1.40───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerapproach

───→here1.40───→2.24The self is one unbroken awareness.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessapproach

───→here1.40───→2.45Exit the modes — not better modes are the goal.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalG

Saṃvit: one referent under many namesapproach

───→here1.40───→2.20Cit alone — the self cannot be destroyed.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)approach

───→here1.40───→2.10Bracket opens here.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)approach

───→here1.40───→2.47Act, but not for the fruit of acting.

Śabda · lemmas (10 unique · 13 occurrences)

कुल·कुलम् kula ×3 — family, lineage, clan · compound / accusative neuter singular noun
धर्माः·धर्मे dharma ×2 — duty, law, righteousness; the principle of right action; one's own nature (sva-dharma) · nominative masculine plural noun / locative masculine singular noun

show all 10

क्षये kṣaya — decay, destruction (from √kṣi) · locative masculine singular noun
प्रणश्यन्ति pra-√ṇaś — to perish utterly (pra- + √naś) · present indicative 3rd person plural verb
सनातनाः sanātana — eternal, perpetual; primeval (sanā 'always' + -tana) · nominative masculine plural noun
नष्टे √naś — to perish, be lost (verbal root) · locative masculine singular participle noun
कृत्स्नम् kṛtsna — whole, entire, complete · accusative neuter singular noun
अधर्मः adharma — unrighteousness (a- + dharma) · nominative masculine singular noun
अभिभवति abhi-√bhū — (abhi- + bhū: to be) · present indicative 3rd person singular verb
उत uta — and, also, even

Praśna · so what (7)

01If Arjuna's sociological analysis of kula-kṣaya is empirically correct, at what point does accurate observation become moha — and how do we distinguish the two in our own grief?
02Every school agrees the kula-dharmāḥ are sanātana (eternal), yet the verse shows they can perish — what does it mean for an 'eternal' ordering-principle to be conditional on social continuity?

show all 7

03Madhusūdana identifies kutatarka (specious reasoning) in an argument that appears compassionate and dharmic on its surface — what internal markers might distinguish genuine dharmic concern from moha dressed in dharmic language?
04Three of six commentators are silent on this verse; Śaṅkara and Madhva begin their commentaries only after Kṛṣṇa speaks. What does this editorial choice tell us about where those schools locate the theological substance of the Gītā?
05Advaita reads kula-identity as vyāvahārika (conventional); Dvaita and Viśiṣṭādvaita treat kula-dharma as genuinely binding until reoriented toward Hari. Is there a practical difference in how these two stances would counsel someone facing actual institutional collapse?
06Rāmānuja characterizes Arjuna as paramakāruṇika (supremely compassionate) — a positive quality — yet the same compassion produces the crisis. How does the Viśiṣṭādvaita tradition handle virtues that generate wrong action?
07The verse argues from consequences (kula destroyed → dharma lost → adharma floods). Kṛṣṇa's counter-argument will shift from consequences to nature (svadharma). Which mode of ethical reasoning is more resilient to emotional distortion, and why?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When an institution you helped build is dismantled — your company folded, your community scattered, your family tradition broken — the Advaita application is to notice the grief without letting it harden into a false equation of 'this structure = the real.' Mourn what was real at the vyāvahārika level; but do not confuse dissolution of the container with dissolution of awareness itself. The sanātana is not the organization; you are the sanātana.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

When you are genuinely motivated by love for others and still produce harm — you protected someone by lying, or withdrew from conflict out of care and caused greater damage — the Viśiṣṭādvaita application is to audit whether that love is oriented toward Bhagavān's will or toward your own preferred outcome. Compassion reoriented toward service (kainkarya) corrects where compassion anchored in personal preference distorts.

show all 6

Dvaita

When you are tempted to abandon a duty because keeping it will hurt people you love, ask whether the abandonment maintains or severs your dependence on Hari's ordering will. The Dvaita application: do not mistake harm-avoidance for dharma. The jīva's real security comes from right relationship with Viṣṇu, and that relationship is expressed through fulfilling assigned duty even when consequences are painful.

Śuddhādvaita

When you cling to a ritual, a family custom, or a devotional form because you are afraid of what disappears if it goes — the Puṣṭi-mārga application is to distinguish between the form as prasāda (gift given, to be held lightly) and the form as possession (grasped, causing the very loss you fear). Kṛṣṇa restores what He wills to restore; your job is participation, not preservation.

Bhakti

When the devotional infrastructure of your life — the community, the lineage, the regular practices — is under threat, the bhakti-philological application is to identify which elements are genuinely sanātana (carrying the transmission) and which are cultural accretion. Protect the former with energy; grieve the latter without despair. The difference matters: rebuilding a real kula-dharma is possible; trying to rebuild cultural form stripped of devotional substance produces hollow repetition.

Advaita-Bhakti

When your own reasoning about a difficult decision feels compassionate and dharmic, apply Madhusūdana's kutatarka test: is this argument being constructed by a mind already clouded by attachment to a particular outcome? The practical move is to surface the conclusion you are defending before you examine the premises — if you find yourself arguing toward what you already emotionally need, the reasoning is likely kutatarka. Surrender to Kṛṣṇa in this context means suspending the constructed argument long enough to ask what action actually serves, not what argument justifies staying still.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 1, Verse 40: Arjuna to Krishna — Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga