सङ्करो नरकायैव कुलघ्नानां कुलस्य च ।पतन्ति पितरो ह्येषां लुप्तपिण्डोदकक्रियाः ॥
saṅkaro narakāyaiva kulaghnānāṃ kulasya ca |patanti pitaro hy eṣāṃ luptapiṇḍodakakriyāḥ ||
- सङ्करः · saṅkaraḥ
- the confusion, mixing
- नरकाय · narakāya
- to hell, for damnation
- एव · eva
- indeed, leads
- कुलघ्नानाम् · kulaghnānām
- of the slayers of the family
- कुलस्य · kulasya
- of the family
- च · ca
- and
- पतन्ति · patanti
- fall
- पितरः · pitaraḥ
- the ancestors, forefathers
- हि · hi
- for, indeed
- एषाम् · eṣām
- of these
- लुप्तपिण्डोदकक्रियाः · luptapiṇḍodakakriyāḥ
- deprived of rice-ball and water offerings
“Such confusion drags to hell both the slayers of the family and the family itself — for their ancestors fall, deprived of rice-ball and water offerings.”
— Original plain-language translation
Arjuna's dread reaches the ancestors: no surviving sons to offer śrāddha rites, the dead themselves fall. The argument spans three generations past and future — the war as an offence against the entire lineage, living and dead.
— Reader's notes (original)