When the elders are gone

kulakṣaye praṇaśyanti kuladharmāḥ sanātanāḥdharme naṣṭe kulaṃ kṛtsnamadharmo’abhibhavatyuta

When a family is destroyed, its age-old ways are lost. And when dharma is lost, disorder takes over the whole family.

What it means

Arjuna looks to the future. If the elders die, the family's traditions die with them. He uses the word dharma here in the sense of the order that holds a family together, its duties and customs. Without that, he says, adharma, disorder, takes over. He fears for those who survive.

The story

In ancient India, elders passed down rituals, values and stories. Arjuna is imagining a world where everyone who remembers is gone. It's a real fear. Krishna will later teach that the deepest dharma isn't lost so easily, because it lives in each person.

In your life

Picture a family after the grandmother who hosted every holiday dies. Without her, the gatherings fade. If someone holds your family together, learn their recipes, their stories, their rituals. Carry them forward.