偈颂 1.411.11.21.31.41.51.61.71.81.91.101.111.121.131.141.151.161.171.181.191.201.211.221.231.241.251.261.271.281.291.301.311.321.331.341.351.361.371.381.391.401.411.421.431.441.451.461.47

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.