Page 76 - Defending Prabhupada Words - By Harivlas Das

The degradation of womanhood is clearly stated to be due
to the death of elders, who are responsible for maintaining
the purifying processes in the family. Arjuna foresaw that
the carnage on the battlefield of Kurukshetra would destroy
the dynastic elders resulting in the destruction of family
traditions and the degradation of the remaining family
members. Arjuna blamed the “men” of the Kuru dynasty
who were overpowered with greed and thus, blinded to
the effects of such a fratricidal war. He could see “teachers,
fathers, sons, grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-
law, grandsons, brothers-in-law and other relatives.” These
were all men who were for the most part described as
“lobhopahata-cetasah”, whose hearts were overtaken by greed.
Once these “men” who were blinded to the consequences of
their imminent acts were killed, then Arjuna could see that
irresponsible “men” would provoke adultery in society where
the women were no longer protected by their elders. Arjuna
nobly expressed the idea that the Kuru elders were blinded to
the consequences of such a war, but why should Arjuna be
a part of such a war when he could understand the horrible
aftermath of such a war.

Srila Prabhupada’s conclusion is, “Therefore, the breaking
of the sanatana-dharma tradition by irresponsible
leaders of society brings about chaos in that society, and
consequently people forget the aim of life - Visnu.” (Visnu
is another name for Lord Krishna)

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