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Chapter 4

<< Chapter 4 verse 6

SlOkam – Original

yadhA yadhA hi dharmasya glAnir bhavathi bhAratha |
abhyuththAnam adharmasya thadhAthmAnam srujAmyaham ||

word-by-word meaning (based on puththUr krishNamAchArya swAmy’s thamizh translation)

bhAratha – Oh descendant of bharatha clan!
yadhA yadhA hi – whenever
dharmasya – for dharma (virtue)
glAni: bhavathi – decline occurs
adharmasya – for adharma (vice)
abhyuththAnam (bhavathi) – is on the rise
thadha – at those times
aham – I
AthmAnam – myself
srujAmi – create

Simple Translation (based on puththUr krishNamAchArya swAmy’s thamizh translation)

Oh descendant of bharatha clan! Whenever dharma declines and adharma is on the rise, at those times I create myself [manifest myself in various incarnations].

Rendering based on ALkoNdavilli gOvindhAchArya swAmy’s English translation of gIthA bhAshyam

‘Whensoever and wheresoever, Bhārata¹!, virtue wanes and vice waxes, then (and there) do I create Myself.’

No fixed periods are appointed for My Avatāras. Whensoever dharma (righteousness etc.,) as is ordained to be practised by the four varṇas² and the four āśramās³ decline, and wheresoever its opposite adharma increases, then do I manifest Myself in Incarnations, of My own free will, in the manner explained already (verse 7, ante).

The purpose of the Avatāras is now stated:—

>> Chapter 4 verse 8

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