BHAGAVAD-GITA 4:7

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 4:7

 

yada yada hi dharmasya

glanir bhavati bharata

abhyutthanam adharmasya

tadatmanam srjamy aham

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

yada yada--whenever and wherever; hi--certainly; dharmasya--of

religion; glanih--discrepancies; bhavati--become manifested;

bharata--O descendant of Bharata; abhyutthanam--predominance;

adharmasya--of irreligion; tada--at that time; atmanam--self;

srjami--manifest; aham--I.

 

TRANSLATION

 

Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O

descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion--at that

time I descend Myself.

 

PURPORT

 

The word srjami is significant herein. Srjami cannot be used in the

sense of creation, because, according to the previous verse, there is

no creation of the Lord's form or body, since all of the forms are

eternally existent. Therefore, srjami means that the Lord manifests

Himself as He is. Although the Lord appears on schedule, namely at the

end of the Dvapara-yuga of the twenty-eighth millennium of the seventh

Manu in one day of Brahma, He has no obligation to adhere to such

rules and regulations, because He is completely free to act in many

ways at His will. He therefore appears by His own will whenever there

is a predominance of irreligiosity and a disappearance of true

religion. Principles of religion are laid down in the Vedas, and any

discrepancy in the matter of properly executing the rules of the Vedas

makes one irreligious. In the Bhagavatam it is stated that such

principles are the laws of the Lord. Only the Lord can manufacture a

system of religion. The Vedas are also accepted as originally spoken

by the Lord Himself to Brahma, from within his heart. Therefore, the

principles of dharma, or religion, are the direct orders of the

Supreme Personality of Godhead (dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam).

These principles are clearly indicated throughout the Bhagavad-gita.

The purpose of the Vedas is to establish such principles under the

order of the Supreme Lord, and the Lord directly orders, at the end of

the Gita, that the highest principle of religion is to surrender unto

Him only, and nothing more. The Vedic principles push one towards

complete surrender unto Him; and whenever such principles are

disturbed by the demoniac, the Lord appears. From the Bhagavatam we

understand that Lord Buddha is the incarnation of Krsna who appeared

when materialism was rampant and materialists were using the pretext

of the authority of the Vedas. Although there are certain restrictive

rules and regulations regarding animal sacrifice for particular

purposes in the Vedas, people of demonic tendency still took to animal

sacrifice without reference to the Vedic principles. Lord Buddha

appeared to stop this nonsense and to establish the Vedic principles

of nonviolence. Therefore each and every avatara, or incarnation of

the Lord, has a particular mission, and they are all described in the

revealed scriptures. No one should be accepted as an avatara unless he

is referred to by scriptures. It is not a fact that the Lord appears

only on Indian soil. He can manifest Himself anywhere and everywhere,

and whenever He desires to appear. In each and every incarnation, He

speaks as much about religion as can be understood by the particular

people under their particular circumstances. But the mission is the

same--to lead people to God consciousness and obedience to the

principles of religion. Sometimes He descends personally, and

sometimes He sends His bona fide representative in the form of His

son, or servant, or Himself in some disguised form.

 

The principles of the Bhagavad-gita were spoken to Arjuna, and, for

that matter, to other highly elevated persons, because he was highly

advanced compared to ordinary persons in other parts of the world. Two

plus two equals four is a mathematical principle that is true in the

beginner's arithmetic class and in the advanced class as well. Still,

there are higher and lower mathematics. In all incarnations of the

Lord, therefore, the same principles are taught, but they appear to be

higher and lower in varied circumstances. The higher principles of

religion begin with the acceptance of the four orders and the four

statuses of social life, as will be explained later. The whole purpose

of the mission of incarnations is to arouse Krsna consciousness

everywhere. Such consciousness is manifest and nonmanifest only under

different circumstances.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.