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CHAPTER I, 44.
41
---- - the three worlds, how much less then for this earth (alone)? What joy shall be ours, O Ganârdana ! after killing Dhritarashtra's sons ? Killing these felons ? we shall only incur sin. Therefore it is not proper for us to kill our own kinsmen, the sons of Dhritarashtra. For how, O Madhaval shall we be happy after killing our own relatives ? Although they have their consciences corrupted by avarice, they do not see the evils flowing from the extinction of a family, and the sin in treachery to friends; still, O Ganârdana ! should not we, who do see the evils flowing from the extinction of a family, learn to refrain from that sin ? On the extinction of a family, the eternal rites of families are destroyed? Those rites being destroyed, impiety predominates over the whole family. In consequence of the predominance of impiety, O Krishna l the women of the family become corrupt *; and the woinen becoming corrupt, O descendant of Vrishni ! intermingling of castes results; that intermingling necessarily leads the family and the destroyers of the family to hell; for when the ceremonies of (offering) the balls of food and water (to them) fail”, their ancestors fall down (to hell). By these transgressions of the destroyers of families, which occasion interminglings of castes, the eternal rites of castes and rites of families are
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'Sis classes are mentioned: an incendiary; one who administers pouson; one who assaults another-weapon in hand; one who destroy property; one who robs another of his wife; or his fields.
I.e.there being none to attend to the'rites,'women being ineligible.
I.c. ibe surviving members. • 1.c. cither by the mere fact of relationship to such men, or by following their bad example.
• There being no qualified person to perform them; their Lacestors'-hat is to say, of the destroyers of families.'
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