1.42. Confusion of castes leads to hell the slayers of the family, for their forefathers fall, deprived of the offerings of rice-ball and water (libations).

1.35 1.44 Nihatya etc. upto anususruma. Sin alone is the agent in the act of slaying these desperadoes. Therefore here the idea is this : These ememies of ours have been slain, i.e., have been take possession of, by sin. Sin would come to us also after slaying them. Sin in this context is the disregard, on account of greed etc., to the injurious conseences like the ruination of the family and the like. That is why Arjuna makes a specific mention of the [ruin of the] family etc., and of its duties in the passage 'How by slaying my own kinsmen etc'. The act of slaying, undertaken with an individualizing idea about its result, and with a particularizing idea about the person to be slain, is a great sin. To say this very thing precisely and to indicate the intensity of his own agony, Arjuna says only to himself [see next sloka]:

**1.42** Adulteration of castes leads only to hell for the destroyers of the family and for the family itself. Deprived of the offerings of food and water (śrāddha and tarpaṇa), the ancestors of these (family-destroyers) also fall from their abode. **Commentary:** 'Saṅkaro narakāyaiva kulaghnānāṁ kulasya ca' — The offspring born from the intermixture of castes (varṇa-saṅkara) lacks religious discernment. He does not uphold the established codes of conduct (maryādā), because he himself is born without adherence to such codes. Therefore, as he himself has no family-dharma, he does not follow it; on the contrary, he acts against the family-dharma, i.e., the established traditions of the family. Those who have annihilated their own family in war are called 'family-destroyers' (kula-ghnī). Adulteration of castes leads such family-destroyers to hell. Not only the family-destroyers, but due to the destruction of the family lineage, it leads the entire family to hell as well. 'Patanti pitaro hyeṣāṁ luptapiṇḍodakakriyāḥ' — Because of the adulteration of castes, the ancestors of these family-destroyers, who have destroyed their family, do not receive the offerings of rice balls and water (śrāddha and tarpaṇa), and thus those ancestors fall. The reason is that when the ancestors receive the rice balls and water, they reside in higher realms due to the merit of that offering. But when they cease to receive the rice balls and water, they fall from there, meaning their position in those realms is not sustained. The reason the ancestors do not receive the rice balls and water is that the offspring of mixed castes lack reverence for their forefathers. Consequently, they do not even have the inclination to perform śrāddha and tarpaṇa for the ancestors. Even if, for the sake of social propriety, they do perform them, they have no right to perform śrāddha and tarpaṇa according to scriptural injunctions, and thus the rice and water do not reach the ancestors. In this way, when the ancestors do not receive the rice and water with reverence and according to scriptural injunctions, they fall from their abode.