Arjuna Foresees Social Disaster – Gita Verses 9 Chapter 1 Verses 37 – 40

So Arjuna is doing a cost benefit analysis to explain his reasoning why he feels he should not fight and he has been quite poignant in his arguments so … … … … … … here Arjuna is anticipating a further argument and he is saying that they are not thinking the way you are thinking, they are out there to kill you so they are out to kill you and your family it’s like almost he is telling him that you didn’t start this war, they did so he is saying that even if that be true he says that safe his party is here, now he is speaking for himself but he is also using the plural sense he is not using the singular I don’t see, there is a they and we so he says they and although it is in between but he is thinking in terms of we they are blinded by greed and when they are blinded by greed because of that they can’t see the terrible sin, the terrible harm, the horror of destroying the dynasty because of their blindness they can’t see it as he says their actions they are doing it because they are blind but we are not blinded we are not blinded and we can see the horror how can we participate in this monstrosity he is not really excusing their actions but he is basically saying that why should we stoop to their level why they may be blind but we are not like them so in one sense he is forestalling the argument where he is saying that’s the way they are dealing with you tit for tat he says no they are mad, I don’t want to get involved in this, I don’t want to stoop to their level which is again a very strong argument at one level somebody is maddened by something they are madmen and they are out to kill us now they have gone mad but does that mean we should also go mad now of course here Arjuna’s reasoning is all going in one direction that is the nature of our thoughts also when one one point of view starts resonating within us then that’s the point of view we start emphasizing, that’s the point of view from which we see everything that’s what happening to Arjuna he is seeing from that perspective if you see his reasoning as I said he is anticipating objections he says kingdom not worth it why not worth it because it’s relatives whom I celebrate with not just relatives cherished relatives whom I celebrated that’s why it’s again too much cost then after that he says that aggressors doesn’t matter they are relatives it doesn’t matter to them that they are aggressors but it matters to me because killing them will lead to sin for me and now he is saying that they are attacking they are blinded we aren’t so now what is he going to do if he is not going to fight with them and they are going to fight with him what is he going to do that is a question that will come up but at this stage he is saying that I can’t do this because I can see the catastrophe that will come if you destroy our dynasty and in the subsequent verses he will describe that catastrophe that he is seeing what will happen when the dynasty is destroyed so these two verses I will go to 39-40 together you can read the translations and then we will discuss Adharma Bhibhavad Krishna Pradushyanti Kulastriyaha Trishudushta Shuvarshneya Yayate Varna Sankaraha now some aspects of his reasoning the sequence of events he is foreseeing they may not be relatable for us we will try to make them relatable but more important the specifics the point is he is thinking he is being farsighted he is claiming that I can see distant catastrophes so what are the distant catastrophes that he is seeing that Kulakshaya Pradushyanti Kuladharma Sanatana so when the dynasty’s leaders they are killed then the result its ongoing degradation that will lead to something else that will lead the dynastic traditions are destroyed so he is not just thinking in terms of infrastructure he is thinking in terms of cultural social capital so if all the elders who taught us how to live how to make choices what are the ways of our past this is thousands of years ago and at that time in general people valued the past that if you see one of the defining characteristics of modernity is the idea of progress and there is some truth to it but because of this idea of progress often modernity looks back at the past with contempt although those people were so primitive so this is the modern vision of time whereas the Gita will specifically mention this also it says the vision of the past is the past was exalted with time things have become worse this is tradition’s vision is that there is a decline there is a degradation that things become worse with time and that’s why when we consider the past the past is as much as possible to be preserved, cherished now of course it’s not black and white that even now there are heritage monuments and archaeological societies and things like that where we study the past and try to preserve the past but it’s more in terms of remains for the sake of curiosity not many people think that oh the past had some wisdom and we want that, there are a few but this is the vision over there that those who are the elders those who are the leaders, they are connected with a glorious past and they are going to pass this down to us and normally we all know that those who are elders everybody is going to die but when there is a war that war means sudden death and the bigger the war the greater the death huge war means it’s almost generations would be wiped out and if that happens and generations are wiped out then it’s almost like a collective amnesia oh my father is not there my grandfather is not there, this is not there this is a collective amnesia of the past and thus whatever was learnt from the past, whatever was developed in the past, whatever was valuable in the past, it would all go away so Kula Dharma Sanatana and Dharme Nashte Kulam Krishnam and when this degradation happens the next thing he is saying is then he says then the word uses Adharma Dharma can mean irreligion but it can say vice vice increases virtue decreases so the idea is that the past traditions are helpful for us in maintaining virtue in life we learn from our past and this is not something unfamiliar generally we find that say children who are who are not, who are born in dysfunctional homes may be broken families or no families at all practically speaking then often these children they become juvenile delinquents they may even become violent, they may even go towards crime, so it doesn’t have to happen, some of the most inspiring human stories are of people who rise above such adversities but it is true that the modern statistics are showing that when there is no one from the past either it could be parents, grandparents whatever it is no one from the past to actually nurture a child then what happens, in general the nurturing means the virtue within them is supposed to be increased and the vice is supposed to be decreased everybody, especially when they come to, the children, they grow up they come to teenage and then they grow up so the children are not taught boundaries, so essentially how does this happen, it is that in some ways the past gives us boundaries to function within, and within those boundaries we are by living within the boundaries the vices that we have, those vices are decreased, they are curbed so the vices are regulated, it is not eliminated and the virtues are meant to be nourished so he is saying that those will be lost adharma will, so adharma is more in terms of the negative shift in the vice-virtue balance in human society, it is not simply irreligion, because irreligion can seem just like a moralistic judgment but a negative virtue-vice imbalance the basic sense of responsibility decency that is lost so when children say grow up as adults and become indiscriminately violent or I am talking about school shootings in America, one of the common correlators one of the common correlators for that is dysfunctional families so it is not just one thing, but in general I am not just talking about a moralistic degradation of culture is being lost, that is true but what Krishna is talking about, what Arjuna is talking about here, is he is saying that social balance that will be lost and the reasoning goes on so then he is saying something which can make us a little uncomfortable, but let us try to understand what he is saying is that adharma is there when basically this negative, when vice is more than, when vice becomes more than virtue in society then there is pradushyanti kulastriya, that is pollution of women and then from there is unwanted progeny so now this sequence could happen in many different ways one is that when vice is more than virtue, then you could say in society exploiters are more than protectors when there are less protectors, then naturally the these exploiters will try to exploit the more vulnerable sections of society and especially exploiters, they have greed they have lust so their target will be women and this is also one of the horrifying realities of war that whenever there is war and there is victory of one side quite often there is horrendous violation of the women on the other side so it could be that way that when there is, the society does not have protectors and the aggressors that they are exploiters they could exploit now so this could all happen in a gross way where there is physical force and physical violation there but it could also happen in a subtle way subtle way means that that without guiding values then if there is nothing to there is no wisdom from the past which gives a higher vision of life then immediate pleasure that becomes the motive so the pollution of women can happen because you could say let’s put it in two ways so one is the men may exploit and that is quite common another is that women may also be misled or they may have misconceptions they may just have if there is no higher wisdom available then no higher purpose of life is there, the purpose is just pleasure then immediately what happens is where do I get that pleasure so either way when women are polluted what it leads to is children who are unwanted now that unwanted progeny has can have different connotations in different context so we could say unwanted means in many ways that there are no parents that happens when women are exploited and there is progeny because of that in the past there was no abortion available there is no justification of abortion but this is a harsh reality that children they have no family, no parents mothers are desolate, no fathers are there or it could be people who are parents they are not not capable of being parents they are not mature enough they are not then basically for them they have children but they just can’t take care of children so they feel that children cramp my lifestyle so they are basically not capable means you could say not ready towards children so what happens is they are not ready and they have children and then the children can feel unwanted and in one sense to grow up in a world where we are not valued that’s bad enough but to grow up in a home where we are not valued, where we are not wanted a few things which can be as devastating for a child’s psyche as that so he is saying that this is all this is the disaster that I foreshadow all this will happen and then eventually when he will talk about when society is filled with such unwanted children then society will be become entirely devastated he will talk about that in the next text it’s a very sobering, grim kind of prognosis that he is giving we talked about two main points today that first was he saying that they are greedy we aren’t therefore even if they fight we shouldn’t so in one sense he is saying that we are in one sense we are not blind, they are blind, we are in a better situation we are not blind to disaster to impending disaster that can come if we go follow through with this war then what is the disaster that described in this next series of verses that he says that if leaders are killed then traditional boundaries are lost traditional boundaries lost so it could be about for everyone men may not learn to discipline themselves and may have no one to discipline them it could be women also, everybody can become undisciplined and lost and then there is pollution there is exploitation of women or there could be misleading of women, either way and then it leads to unwanted progeny and that is the recipe for disastrous society that we will discuss in the next session

So Arjuna is doing a cost-benefit analysis to explain his reasoning why he feels he should not fight. And he's been quite poignant in his arguments. So here Arjuna is anticipating a further argument.

And he's saying that they are not thinking the way you're thinking, they are out there to kill you. So they are out to kill you and your family. It's like almost he's telling him that you didn't start this war, they did.

So he's saying that even if that be true, he says that if his party is here, now he's speaking for himself, but he's also using the plural sense. He's not using the singular. I don't see.

There's a they and we. So he says they, and although it's physically in between, but he's thinking in terms of we. They are blinded by greed and when they are blinded by greed, because of that, they can't see the terrible sin, the terrible harm, the horror of destroying the dynasty.

Because of their blindness, they can't see it. As he says, so their actions, yeah, they're doing it because they're blind, but we are not blinded. We are not blinded then and we can see the horror.

So how can we participate in this monstrosity? It's not really excusing their actions, but he's basically saying that, why should we stoop to their level? Why? They may be blind, but we are not like them. So in one sense, he is forestalling the argument where he's saying, you know, that's the way they're dealing with you tit for tat. He says, no, they're mad.

I don't want to get involved in this. I don't want to stoop to their level, which is again, a very strong argument. At one level, somebody is maddened by something and they are madmen and they are out to kill us.

Now they have gone mad, but does that mean we should also go mad? Of course, here Arjuna's reasoning is all going in one direction. That is the nature of our thoughts also. When one point of view starts resonating within us, then that's the point of view we start emphasizing.

That's the point of view from which we see everything. That's what's happening to Arjuna. He is seeing from that perspective.

If you see his reasoning, as I said, he's anticipating objections. He says, kingdom? Not worth it. Why not worth it? Because it's relatives whom I celebrate with, not just relatives, cherished relatives, whom I celebrate with.

That's why it's again too much cost. Then after that, he says that aggressors, doesn't matter, they are relatives. It doesn't matter to them that they are aggressors, but it matters to me because killing them will lead to sin for me.

And now he's saying that they are attacking, they are blinded. We aren't. So now what is he going to do? If he's not going to fight with them and they're going to fight with him, what is he going to do? So that is a question that will come up.

But at this stage, he's saying that I can't do this because I can see the catastrophe that will come if you destroy our dynasty. And in the subsequent verses, he will describe that catastrophe that he's seen, what will happen when the dynasty is destroyed. So these two verses, I'll go to 39-40 together.

We can read the translations and then we'll discuss. Now, some aspects of his reasoning, the sequence of events he's foreseeing, they may not be relatable for us. We'll try to make them relatable.

But more important, the specifics is the point is he's thinking he is being farsighted. He's claiming that I can see distant catastrophes. So what are the distant catastrophes that he's seeing? That kulakshe pranashyanti kuladharma sanatana.

So when the dynasty's leaders, they are killed, then the result is ongoing degradation that will lead to something else that will lead the dynastic traditions are destroyed. So he's not just thinking in terms of infrastructure, he's thinking in terms of cultural social capital. So if all the elders who taught us how to live, how to make choices, what are the ways of our past? This is thousands of years ago.

And at that time, in general, people valued the past. If you see one of the defining characteristics of modernity is the idea of progress. And there is some truth to it.

But because of this idea of progress, often your modernity looks back at the past with contempt. Or those people were so primitive. So this is the modern vision of time.

Whereas the Gita will specifically mention this also. It says the vision of the past is the past was exalted. With time, things have become worse.

This is tradition's vision, you could say. But the reality is that there is a decline, there is a degradation, that things become worse with time. And that's why when we consider the past, the past is as much as possible to be preserved, cherished.

Now, of course, it's not black and white, that even now there are heritage monuments and archaeological societies and things like that, where we study the past and try to preserve the past. But it's more in terms of physical remains for the sake of curiosity. Not many people think that, oh, the past had some wisdom and we want that.

There are a few. But this is the vision over there, that those who are the elders, those who are the leaders, they are connected with a glorious past. And they are going to pass this down to us.

And normally, we all know that those who are elders, everybody is going to die. But when there is a war, that war means sudden death. And the bigger the war, the greater the death.

Huge war means it's almost generations would be wiped out. And if that happens, the generations are wiped out. Then it's almost like a collective amnesia.

Oh, my father is not there. My grandfather is not there. This is not there.

This is not there. It's a collective amnesia of the past. And thus, whatever was learned from the past, whatever was developed in the past, whatever was valuable in the past, it would all go away.

So, kula dharma sanatana. And dharme nashte kulam krishnam. And when this degradation happens, the next thing he is saying is, then he says, then the word uses adharma.

Dharma can mean irreligion, but it can say vice. Vice increases, virtue decreases. So, the idea is that the past traditions are helpful for us in maintaining virtue in life.

We learn from our past. And this is not something unfamiliar. Generally, we find that, say, children who are born in dysfunctional homes, maybe broken families or no families at all, practically speaking, then often these children, they may become juvenile delinquents.

They may even become violent. They may even go towards crime. So, it doesn't have to happen.

Some of the most inspiring human stories are of people who rise above such adversities. But it is true that the modern statistics are showing that when there is no one from the past, either it could be parents, grandparents, whatever it is, no one from the past to actually nurture a child. And what happens? In general, the nurturing means the virtue within them is supposed to be increased.

And the vice is supposed to be decreased. Everybody, especially when they come to the children, they grow up, they come to teenage and then they grow up. So, the children are not taught boundaries.

Essentially, how does this happen? It is that in some ways, the past uses boundaries to function within. And within those boundaries, we are, by living within the boundaries, the vices that we have, those vices are decreased. They are curbed.

So, their vices are regulated. It's not eliminated. And the virtues are meant to be nourished.

So, he's saying that those will be lost. Adharma is more in terms of the negative shift in the vice-virtue balance in human society. It's not simply a religion because a religion can seem just like a moralistic judgment, but a negative virtue-vice imbalance.

The basic sense of responsibility, decency, that is lost. So, when children grow up as adults and become indiscriminately violent, or I'm talking about school shootings in America, one of the common correlators for that is dysfunctional families. So, it's not just one thing, but in general, I'm not just talking about a moralistic degradation of culturalism being lost.

That's true. But what Krishna is talking about, what Arjuna is talking about here, is he's saying that social balance, that will be lost. And the reasoning goes on.

So, then he's saying something which can make us a little uncomfortable, but let's try to understand what he's saying is, that Adharma is there. And basically, this negative, when vice becomes more than virtue in society, then there is Pradushyanti Kulastriya, that is pollution of women. And then from there is unwanted progeny.

So, now this sequence could happen in many different ways. One is that when vice is more than virtue, then you could say in society, exploiters are more than protectors. When there are less protectors, then naturally these exploiters will try to exploit the more vulnerable sections of society.

And especially exploiters, they have greed, they have lust. So, their target will be women. And this is also one of the horrifying realities of war, that whenever there is a war and there is victory of one side, quite often there is horrendous violation of the women on the other side.

So, it could be that way that when there is, and the society does not have protectors and aggressors, they are exploiters, they could exploit. Now, so this could all happen in a gross way, where there is physical force and physical violation there. But it could also happen in a subtle way.

Subtle way means that without guiding values, then if there is no wisdom from the past, which gives us a higher vision of life, then immediate pleasure, that becomes the motive. So, the pollution of women can happen because you could say, let's put it in two ways. So, one is the men may exploit.

And that is quite common. Another is that women may also be misled. Or they may have misconceptions.

Okay, if there is no higher wisdom available, then no higher purpose of life is there. The purpose is just pleasure. Then immediately what happens is, okay, where do I get that pleasure? So, either way, when women are polluted, what it leads to is children who are unwanted.

Now, that unwanted progeny can have different connotations in different contexts. So, we could say unwanted means in many ways that there are no parents. That happens when, say, women are exploited and there is progeny because of that.

In the past, there was no abortion available. This is not a justification of abortion, but this is a harsh reality. Children may have no family, no families.

Just have mothers who are desolate, no fathers are there. Or it could be the people who are parents, they are not capable of being parents. They're not mature enough.

Then, basically for them, they have children, but they just can't take care of children. So, they feel that children cramp my lifestyle. So, they are basically not capable.

Capable means you could say not ready to have children. So, what happens if they're not ready and they have children? Then, the children can feel unwanted. It's nonsense to grow up in a world where we are not valued.

That's bad enough. But to grow up in a home where we are not valued, where we are not wanted, a few things which can be as devastating for a child's psyche as that. So, he is saying that this is all, this is the disaster that I foreshadow.

All this will happen. And then, eventually, when he will talk about when society is filled with such unwanted children, then society will become entirely devastated. He will talk about that in the next text.

It's a very sobering, grim kind of prognosis that he's giving. We talked about two main points today. The first was he's saying that they are greedy.

We aren't. Therefore, even if they fight, we shouldn't. So, in one sense, he's saying that we are, in one sense, we are not blind.

They are blind. We are in a better situation. He's saying I'm not blind to disaster, to impending disaster that can come if we go follow through with this war.

And then, what is the disaster? That's described in this next series of verses that he says that if leaders are killed, then traditional boundaries are lost. Traditional boundaries lost. So, it could be about, for everyone, men may not learn to discipline themselves and may have no one to discipline them.

It could be women also. Everybody can become undisciplined and lost. And then there is pollution.

There's exploitation of women or there could be misleading of women. Either way. And then it leads to unwanted progeny.

And that is the recipe for a disastrous society that we'll discuss in the next session.