Verse 1.39
kula-kṣaye praṇaśyanti
kula-dharmāḥ sanātanāḥ
dharme naṣṭe kulaṁ kṛtsnam
adharmo ’bhibhavaty uta
Translation
With the destruction of dynasty, the eternal family tradition is vanquished,
and thus the rest of the family becomes involved in irreligion.
RG Purport: The people involved in the war were all males which consisted of fathers, husbands, brothers, sons and the like. The man of the house is actually referred in the vedic parlance as “Karta” or the performer. Unless the men of the house take the initiative and perform religious acts , the women folk cannot be guided properly. The way to propitiate the various devatas are by performing sacrifices and carrying out “Dana” or act of providing service to humanity. This is an obligatory part in one’s life if one is to reach perfection. The men of the house , unless they perform such benign activities cannot light the path for women and the children that leads one to the destination of the Absolute. The war heralded the ominous possibility of destruction of the male population thereby leaving the women and children-folk absolutely without shelter. Undoubtedly the women-folk would have to indulge in irreligious activity by which they could satiate the pangs of hunger of the children and their own selves. Such irreligion would then lead to fall of human values which will invite the ire of the heavens. Arjuna being a far-sighted devotee of the Lord presented these arguments to the Lord in a way that could dissuade the Lord from entering into battle.
Verse 1.40
adharmābhibhavāt kṛṣṇa
praduṣyanti kula-striyaḥ
strīṣu duṣṭāsu vārṣṇeya
jāyate varṇa-saṅkaraḥ
Translation
When irreligion is prominent in the family, O Kṛṣṇa, the women of the
family become polluted, and from the degradation of womanhood, O descendant
of Vṛṣṇi, comes unwanted progeny.
RG Purport: Here Sri Krishna is addressed by Arjuna as the descendant of Vrishni. The dynasty of Vrishni, a descendant of King Yadu, was a glorious one and the Lord was the crest-jewel of such a dynasty. The address here is very relevant to indicate that the Lord Himself, an antecedent of a glorious dynasty, is exposing the human race to the risk of generating illegitimate progeny. The war echoed the possibility of the killing of innocent men and the exposure of their women-folk to the degradation of character for the sake of survival. When such degradation happens, it would only announce the generation of illegitimate population where the samskaras for higher-life cannot be performed for them. This would certainly create a disturbance in society and destroy the culture of the entire world.
Charan Pahari 