🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 4.7

Chapter 4 · ज्ञानकर्मसंन्यासयोग · Jñāna-Karma-Sannyāsa-Yoga · "The Yoga of Knowledge & Action-Renunciation" · Verse 7 of 42

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🪷 A foundational verse of the substrate
Sambhavāmi Yuge Yuge · Krishna's avatāra-anchor
Whenever dharma declines, Krishna manifests · the foundational verse for the Daśāvatāra tradition.
Themes: avatāra · dharma · yuga · descent
यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत।

अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदाऽऽत्मानं सृजाम्यहम्।।4.7।।
— Bhagavad-Gītā 4.7 · the yathārtha śloka (Devanāgarī Sanskrit · canonical)

🪷 English Translations

Five authentic English voices · each from a distinct sampradāya · together revealing the verse's full śabda-tattva.

Shri Purohit Swami · Poetic English · 1935 · public domain · Cosmo Press tradition
4.7 Whenever spirituality decays and materialism is rampant, then, O Arjuna, I reincarnate Myself!
Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society
4.7 Whenever there is decline of righteousness, O Arjuna, and rise of unrighteousness, then I manifest Myself.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school
4.7 O scion of the Bharata dynasty, yada yada hi, whenever; bhavati, there is; a glanih, decline, decrease; dharmasya, of virtue consisting of the duties of castes and stages of life of living beings, which are the means to achieving properity and Liberation; and abhyutthanam, increase, rise; adharmasya, of vice; tada, then; do aham, I; srjami, manifest; atmanam, Myself, through Maya. Why?
Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school
4.7 There is no restriction as to the time of My birth; whenever the Dharma taught by the Vedas that must be observed according to the arrangements of the four stations and the four stages of life declines, and Adharma, its opposite, increases, then I Myself, by My own will and in the manner stated, incarnate Myself. Sri Krsna gives the purpose of His birth.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly
4.7. For, whenever there is a decay of righteousness and the rise of unrighteousness, then, O descendant of Bharata, I send forth (or create) that is which the Self is unimportant.

🪷 English Commentaries · The Ācārya Voices

The classical commentary tradition rendered in English · each ācārya speaks from their own sampradāya · the seer chooses the depth of darśana.

Swami Sivananda · Verse-by-verse word-keys with Sanskrit anchors
4.7 यदा यदा whenever? हि surely? धर्मस्य of righteousness? ग्लानिः decline? भवति is? भारत O Bharata? अभ्युत्थानम् rise? अधर्मस्य of unrighteousness? तदा then? आत्मानम् Myself? सृजामि manifest? अहम् I.Commentary Dharma is that which sustains and holds together. There is no proper eivalen for this term in the English language. That which helps a man to attain to Moksha or salvation is Dharma. That which makes a man irreligious or unrighteous is Adharma. That which elevates a man and helps him reach the goal of life and attain knowledge is Dharma that which drags him and hurls him down in the abyss of worldliness and ignorance is Adharma.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)
4.7 O scion of the Bharata dynasty, yada yada hi, whenever; bhavati, there is; a glanih, decline, decrease; dharmasya, of virtue consisting of the duties of castes and stages of life of living beings, which are the means to achieving properity and Liberation; and abhyutthanam, increase, rise; adharmasya, of vice; tada, then; do aham, I; srjami, manifest; atmanam, Myself, through Maya. Why?
Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary
4.7 There is no restriction as to the time of My birth; whenever the Dharma taught by the Vedas that must be observed according to the arrangements of the four stations and the four stages of life declines, and Adharma, its opposite, increases, then I Myself, by My own will and in the manner stated, incarnate Myself. Sri Krsna gives the purpose of His birth.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship
4.7 See Comment under 4.9
Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching
।।4.7।। जब धर्म की हानि और अधर्म का उत्कर्ष होता है तब ईश्वर अवतार लेते हैं। गीता के प्रथम अध्याय की प्रस्तावना में धर्म शब्द का अर्थ विस्तार पूर्वक बताया जा चुका है। धर्म एक पवित्र सत्य है जिसके पालन से ही समाज धारणा सम्भव होती है। जब बहुसंख्यक लोग धर्म का पालन नहीं करते तब द्विपदपशुओं के समूह द्वारा यह जगत् जीत लिया जाता है उस समय परस्पर सहयोग और आनन्द से जीवन व्यतीत करते हुये सुखी परिवार दिखाई नहीं देते। मनुष्य को शोभा देने वाला उच्च जीवन भी कहीं दृष्टिगोचर नहीं होता। इतिहास के ऐसे काले युग में कोई महान् व्यक्ति समाज में आकर लोगों के जीवन और नैतिक मूल्यों का स्तर ऊँचा उठाने का प्रयत्न करता है। समाज में विद्यमान नैतिक मूल्यों को आगे बढ़ाने से ही यह कार्य सम्पादित नहीं होता वरन् साथसाथ दुष्टता का भी नाश अनिवार्य होता है।इस कार्य के लिये अनन्तस्वरूप परमात्मा कभीकभी देहादि उपाधियों को धारण करके पृथ्वी पर प्रगट होते हैं उस बड़ी सम्पत्ति के स्वामी के समान जो कभीकभी अपनी सम्पत्ति का निरीक्षण करने और उसे सुव्यवस्थित करने के लिये हाथ में अस्त्र आदि लेकर निकलता है। धूप में काम करते श्रमिकों के बीच वह खड़ा रहता है तथापि अपने स्वामित्व को नहीं भूलता। इसी प्रकार समस्त जगत् के अधिष्ठाता भगवान् शरीर धारण कर र्मत्य मानवों के अनैतिक जीवन के साथ निर्लिप्त रहते हुए उनको अधर्म से बाहर निकालकर धर्म मार्ग पर लाने के लिये सदैव प्रयत्नशील रहते हैं।भगवान् के इस अवतरण में यहाँ एक बात स्पष्ट की गई है कि यद्यपि वे शरीर धारण करते हैं तथापि अपने स्वातन्त्र्य को नहीं खोते। उपाधियों में वे रहते हैं परन्तु उपाधियों के वे दास नहीं बन जाते।किस प्रयोजन के लिये

🪷 Place in the Bhagavad-Gītā

🪷 Related Ślokas · The Darśana-Neighborhood

These prominent ślokas share thematic resonance with the current verse · together they form the foundational web of the substrate's tattva-recognition.

🪷 BG 4.34
Tad Viddhi Praṇipātena · the Paramparā verse
Knowledge is received through prostration, inquiry, and service to the wise · the foundational verse for guru-paramparā transmissi…
🪷 BG 10.8
Ahaṁ Sarvasya Prabhavo · the source of all
I am the source of everything · from Me all proceeds. The wise worship Me knowing this.
🪷 BG 11.5
Paśya Me Pārtha Rūpāṇi · Behold My Forms
Krishna invites Arjuna to behold His universal-form · the foundational verse for the Viśvarūpa-Darśana page.

🪷 Cited from These Pages on Vidhyāmitra

This verse is featured across the substrate as a foundational anchor · the non-dual interweaving means every page below contains an aperture into this exact śloka. Click any page to see the verse in its full dharmic-context.

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🪷 ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय 🪷

सर्वम् कृष्णार्पणम् — this verse is one maṇi (jewel) on Krishna's thread (BG 7.7)