4.8 parithrANAya sAdhUnAm

SrI:  SrImathE SatakOpAya nama:  SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama:  SrImath varavaramunayE nama:

Chapter 4

<< Chapter 4 verse 7

SlOkam – Original

parithrANAya sAdhUnAm vinASAya cha dushkruthAm |
dharmasamsthApanArthAya sambhavAmi yugE yugE ||

word-by-word meaning

sAdhUnAm parithrANAya – to protect the virtuous
dhushkruthAm vinASAya – to torture and destroy the wicked
dharma samsthApanArthAya cha – and to establish dharma firmly (virtues)
yugE yugE – in every yuga
sambhavAmi – I am born in many ways

Simple Translation

I am born in many ways in every yuga to protect the virtuous, to torture and destroy the wicked and to establish dharma firmly (virtues).

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

‘For protecting the virtuous and destroying (punishing) the wicked, and for firmly re-installing dharma, am I born from yuga to yuga[1. Kṛita-Yuga with Sandhis = 4800 x 360= 1,728,000 mortal years.
Tretā-Yuga with Sandhis =3600×360=51,296,000 mortal years.
Dvāpara-Yuga with Sandhis =2400×360= 864,000 mortal years.
Kaii-Yuga with Sandhis =1200×360= 432,000 mortal years.
Total. 4,320,000=a Mahā-Yuga. (Read Vishṇu-purāṇa, I-3).
A Mahā-kalpa is the life-period of Brahmā, which is one hundred (Brahmā) years. Each day of the year is called a Kalpa. A Kalpa consists of fourteen Manvantaras.
Each Manvantara is equal to 71 3/7 Mahāyugās, a Mahāyugā being a group composed of the four Yugas, amounting to 4,320,000 human years. Fifty years of Brahmā have now passed away. We are in his fifty-first year, seventh Manvantara (presided by Vaivasvata-Manu = Manu the Son of Vivasvat). Of the 71 3/7 Mahāyugas, the present Mahāyuga is the twenty-eighth, of which the present Yuga is Kali, the first quarter of which is now closing (5000 years). The discourse between Kṛishṇa and Arjuna, was in Dvāpara, the preceding Yuga to Kali, or more than 5000 years ago.](age to age).’

Sādhus: are the good and virtuous, the godly, the eminent Vaishṇavas (or worshippers of the All-Pervading Spirit=Vishṇu[2. The 259th, 663rd name of God, derived from the root: ‘Vishī, vyaptau’.—‘Yasmād vishtam idam sarvam tasya śaktyā mahātmanaḥ, tasmāt sa proch yate Vishnuḥ viśer-dhātoḥ praveśanāt’. (Āditya-purāṇa) Also ‘ Vishṇur vikramaṇād-devaḥ’ (Mahābhā; Ud: Par: 69-13.]), who are seeking Me out as their Shelter. They are those who feel that without seeing Me —Whose names and wonderful works transcend the powers of speech and mind— they cannot live and move, cannot support their very being. They are those to whom a single moment of My absence from their memory, is as it were a kalpa.

For the protection of these holy men, —lest they, in their agony at not seeing Me, pine away—, I grant them the privilege (or right) to be able to see Me and My doings, and hold converse with Me, and so on.

For this purpose, viz., (1) protecting the good, (2) destroying the wicked (the doers of heinous things, —sinners), who stand in contrast to the good, and (3) for re-instating the Vaidik or Veda-forms of dharma, which had suffered decay, I take Incarnations. Dharma is, in fact Modes of My Worship, (in order to attain salvation, or other minor objects which men may aspire for through Me), and My manifestations as Avatāras serve as Objects of that worship. And (hence), I become like the devas, like men etc., from age to age:

‘Age to age (yuga to yuga)[4. Kṛita-Yuga with Sandhis = 4800 x 360= 1,728,000 mortal years.
Tretā-Yuga with Sandhis =3600×360=51,296,000 mortal years.
Dvāpara-Yuga with Sandhis =2400×360= 864,000 mortal years.
Kaii-Yuga with Sandhis =1200×360= 432,000 mortal years.
Total. 4,320,000=a Mahā-Yuga. (Read Vishṇu-purāṇa, I-3).
A Mahā-kalpa is the life-period of Brahmā, which is one hundred (Brahmā) years. Each day of the year is called a Kalpa. A Kalpa consists of fourteen Manvantaras.
Each Manvantara is equal to 71 3/7 Mahāyugās, a Mahāyugā being a group composed of the four Yugas, amounting to 4,320,000 human years. Fifty years of Brahmā have now passed away. We are in his fifty-first year, seventh Manvantara (presided by Vaivasvata-Manu = Manu the Son of Vivasvat). Of the 71 3/7 Mahāyugas, the present Mahāyuga is the twenty-eighth, of which the present Yuga is Kali, the first quarter of which is now closing (5000 years). The discourse between Kṛishṇa and Arjuna, was in Dvāpara, the preceding Yuga to Kali, or more than 5000 years ago.]’: is to imply that I should incarnate whenever I chose, not that My Incarnations should be confined to any particular yuga such as the kṛta, tretā etc.[5. Kṛita-Yuga with Sandhis = 4800 x 360= 1,728,000 mortal years.
Tretā-Yuga with Sandhis =3600×360=51,296,000 mortal years.
Dvāpara-Yuga with Sandhis =2400×360= 864,000 mortal years.
Kaii-Yuga with Sandhis =1200×360= 432,000 mortal years.
Total. 4,320,000=a Mahā-Yuga. (Read Vishṇu-purāṇa, I-3).
A Mahā-kalpa is the life-period of Brahmā, which is one hundred (Brahmā) years. Each day of the year is called a Kalpa. A Kalpa consists of fourteen Manvantaras.
Each Manvantara is equal to 71 3/7 Mahāyugās, a Mahāyugā being a group composed of the four Yugas, amounting to 4,320,000 human years. Fifty years of Brahmā have now passed away. We are in his fifty-first year, seventh Manvantara (presided by Vaivasvata-Manu = Manu the Son of Vivasvat). Of the 71 3/7 Mahāyugas, the present Mahāyuga is the twenty-eighth, of which the present Yuga is Kali, the first quarter of which is now closing (5000 years). The discourse between Kṛishṇa and Arjuna, was in Dvāpara, the preceding Yuga to Kali, or more than 5000 years ago.]

>> Chapter 4 verse 9

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