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By the prevalence of impiety, O Krishna, the women of the family become corrupt; and , women being corrupted, O Varshenya (descendant of Vrishni), there arises intermingling of castes.

When adharma prevails, Krishna, the women of the family are corrupted; and when the women are corrupted, descendant of Vrishni, a confusion of social orders arises.

Arjuna follows the chain of consequences further. With the men of a family killed in war and its customs lost, the women would be left without protection and the old rules of marriage would break down, producing varṇasaṅkara, a mixing of the social orders. This reflects the social thinking of the epic world, in which lineage and order were tied together. Readers today often approach this verse historically, as a picture of the values Arjuna held, rather than as a teaching the Gita itself endorses; Krishna does not take up this argument in his reply.