Gyaneshwari -Sant Gyaneshwar
|
|
Chapter-1
Despondency of Arjuna
41. When immorality prevails, O Krishna, the women of the family become wanton; with the corruption of women, there arises intermingling of castes. Then all thought of right and wrong, or moral conduct, of what one should do and should not do, is lost, even as a person who throws away the lamp in his hand and walks in the dark, trips on a straight road. So with the destruction of the family its customs cease and then what can be his lot other than sin? When the senses start acting willfully without self restraint, then even women of good families become unchaste. Then the higher castes unite with the lower castes, and with the mingling of castes the caste duties perish (246-250). Just as the crows pounce upon the food kept on the cross-road, so all sins rush at that family. 42. And this mingling of castes leads the family and its destroyers to hell; for their forefathers fall from heaven, being deprived of their rice-balls and water.Then both the family and its wreckers go to hell. While the family grows it becomes degraded, and its forefathers fall from heaven. If no one performs the obligatory and periodical rites, who will offer water and seasamum seeds to the deceased? How can the ancestors then remain in heaven? They too come back to the family (251-256). Just as the poison of a snake-bite at the nail instantly goes to the head, so the sin of kin-slaughter envelops the whole family, right from its founder. |
 |
