Bhagavad Gita 1.44 Meaning: Utsannakuladharmanam

Bhagavad Gita 1.44

उत्सन्नकुलधर्माणां मनुष्याणां जनार्दन ।नरकेऽनियतं वासो भवतीत्यनुशुश्रुम ॥

Utsannakuladharmanam manushyanam janardanaNarakeniyatam vaso bhavatityanushushruma

utsannakuladharmāṇāṃ manuṣyāṇāṃ janārdana |narake’niyataṃ vāso bhavatītyanuśuśruma ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

Our explanation Arjuna says he has heard that people whose family dharma is destroyed live in naraka (hell) for a time without limit. The 1922 printing reads "niyatam" here: they live in hell without fail. The verse ends with anuśuśruma, "so we have heard": he is repeating what tradition says. All these reasons come from his love for his family and from his grief.

हिंदी अर्थ अर्जुन कहते हैं कि उन्होंने सुना है कि जिनके कुलधर्म नष्ट हो जाते हैं, उन्हें अनिश्चित समय तक नरक में रहना पड़ता है। 1922 की छपाई में यहाँ “नियतं” है: उन्हें निश्चित रूप से नरक में रहना पड़ता है। श्लोक “अनुशुश्रुम” (ऐसा सुना है) पर समाप्त होता है: वे परंपरा से सुनी बात दोहरा रहे हैं। ये सब तर्क परिवार के प्रति उनके प्रेम और उनके शोक से निकले हैं।

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Word by word

उत्सन्नकुलधर्माणाम् utsannakuladharmāṇām · whose family dharma is destroyed (compound (masculine), genitive plural) Dictionary: ut-sanna, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 182, col. 1 “vanished, abolished, decayed, destroyed”; kula-dharma, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 294, col. 3 “practice or observance peculiar to a tribe or family”
मनुष्याणाम् manuṣyāṇām · of people (noun (masculine), genitive plural) Dictionary: manuṣya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 784, col. 3 “a man, human being”
जनार्दन janārdana · O Janardana (Krishna) (noun (masculine), vocative singular) Dictionary: janārdana, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 410, col. 3 “‘exciting or agitating men,’ Vishṇu or Kṛishṇa”
नरके narake · in naraka (hell) (noun (masculine), locative singular) Dictionary: naraka, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 529, col. 3 “hell, place of torment”
अनियतम् aniyatam · for a time not fixed (without limit) (adjective (masculine), nominative singular, with vāsaḥ) Dictionary: a-niyata, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 29, col. 3 “not regulated, uncontrolled, not fixed, uncertain”
वासः vāsaḥ · dwelling (noun (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: 3. vāsa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 947, col. 2 “abiding, dwelling, residence”
भवति bhavati · is (present, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: 1. bhū, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 760, col. 2 “arise, come into being, exist”
इति iti · so (closing the report) (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. iti, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 165, col. 1 “in this manner, thus”
अनुशुश्रुम anuśuśruma · we have heard (perfect, 1st person plural) Dictionary: anu-śru, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 39, col. 3 “to hear repeatedly (especially what is handed down in the Veda)”

3 printings differ

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

The printed edition reads: उत्सन्नकुलधर्माणां मनुष्याणां जनार्दन ।
नरके नियतं वासो भवतीत्यनुशुश्रुम ॥
Word The 1922 Madras printing reads: नरके नियतं वासो भवतीत्यनुशुश्रुम The 1922 base printing (leaf n25) reads नरके नियतं, 'a dwelling in hell, without fail'. Under decision 14 addendum c the display follows नरकेऽनियतं, 'a dwelling in hell for an unfixed (unlimited) time', printed by Gita Press (p. 32) and the Gita Supersite text (Sanskrit Wikisource); the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust prints नरके नियतं, and sanskritdocuments.org gives both. The translations stay as printed: Telang ('must necessarily live in hell') and Swarupananda ('inevitable is the dwelling in hell') translate नियतं; Besant ('the abode is everlastingly in hell') fits नरकेऽनियतं.
Word A digital text reads Reads like the 1922 edition (नरके नियतं) and gives नरकेऽनियतं in brackets as an alternative, so it counts for neither reading. Another digital text (a copy of an older file of this site) reads narake niyataṃ. The independent keying of 12 Oct 2026 had नरकेऽनियतं.

Bhagavad Gita 1.44: meaning and translation

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