Verse 1.2.18

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.2.18:

পরিত্রাণায সাধূনাং বিনাশায চ দুষ্কৃতাম্ ধর্ম-সংস্থাপনার্থায সম্ভবামি যুগে যুগে ॥ ১৮ ॥

परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् धर्म-संस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥ १८ ॥

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṃ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām dharma-saṃsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge || 18 ||

paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge (18)

English translation:

(18) To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

Do not suspect that the Lord is cruel because He annihilates the miscreants. As a mother’s fondling and chastisement of her children are not displays of cruelty but exhibitions of her affection, it should be understood that the killing of demons and protection of devotees are similar exhibitions of the mercy of the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu, who is the maintainer of both pious and sinful persons. (Śrīdhara Svāmī’s Subodhinī commentary)

One may argue that the great sages and devotee kings are qualified to counteract the decline of religious principles and check the increase of irreligious practices, so what is the need for Your appearance? This is true. But delivering the sadhus, destroying the miscreants, and reestablishing the principles of religion are impossible for others to

perform, therefore I personally appear. Delivering the sadhus means to deliver the unalloyed devotees from the misery of their intense desire to see Me. The word duṣkṛtām refers to demons like Rāvaṇa, Kaṃsa, and Keśī, who are invincible to others and who give distress to My devotees. The word dharma-saṃsthāpana refers to supreme occupational duties in the form of meditating on, worshiping, serving, and glorifying Me, which cannot be propagated by anyone other than Me. The word yuge yuge refers to every millenium or kalpa. One should not doubt the Lord’s impartiality when He kills the demons, because the demons who are killed by the hand of the Lord are delivered from hellish material life, which has been awarded to them due to their sinful activities. This punishment awarded to the demons by the Lord is also His mercy. (Śrīmad Viśvanātha Cakravartī)

Delivering the sadhus means that the Lord delivers His devotees from the distress of intense eagerness to see the Lord. Because the devotees are constantly engaged in remembering the Lord’s form and qualities, they have a strong desire to see the Lord, who thus manifests His enchanting form before them. The word duṣkṛtām refers to demons such as Rāvaṇa and Kaṃsa, who are averse to the devotees and who cannot be killed except by the Lord. The word dharma refers to the pure devotional process of worshiping the Lord and meditating on His form. Although this process of devotional service is performed on the basis of regulative principles, it cannot be propagated by others. The word saṃsthāpana indicates preaching properly. These three purposes are the cause of the Lord’s appearance. No one should doubt the Lord’s impartiality when He kills the demons, because the demons who are killed by the Lord attain liberation. This chastisement of the demons is a display of the Lord’s mercy. (Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa)

I establish varṇāśrama-dharma by appearing as an empowered incarnation amongst My devotees, who are sages amongst the brāhmaṇas and kings, but actually I appear to deliver My great devotees who are afflicted by the distress born of intense longing to see Me. Thus, in the

form of a yuga-avatāra, I deliver My devotees from this distress and I deliver demons like Rāvaṇa and Kaṃsa by killing them. I reestablish the living entities’ eternal religious principles by preaching the devotional processes like hearing and chanting. When I say, “I appear in every millenium,” it is to be accepted that I also appear in the age of Kali. The incarnation for Kali-yuga will distribute the rarely attained benediction of love of God through the process of chanting. Although this incarnation is the best of all, He is hidden to the common person. My great devotees will naturally be attracted by this incarnation. You also (O Arjuna) can see this incarnation when you appear as His assistant. The great mystery of this confidential incarnation for Kali-yuga is that He will destroy only the sinful mentality of the demons, not the demons themselves. (Śrīmad Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura)