Verse 4.8

Verse 4.8: “For shielding the good and destroying the evil-doers, as well as for setting the Dharma firmly afoot, I incarnate myself age after age. (51)

Commentary called Jnaneshwari by Jnaneshwar:

Espousing the cause of the pious souls who are my devotees I appear as incarnate in bodily form and then destory all darkness in the form of ignorance. Then I demolish irreligion even to the last citadel, and also tear to pieces the scriptures of evil doers, and unfurl the flag of the reign of bliss at the hands of the good pious souls. So, whole races of evil-doers are uprooted, and saints are reinstated in their honour and dignity; piety and virtue meet in a happy marriage. I shake off unreason and unfaith, which soot the flame of Spirit: I brighten the flame of spiritual vision: and at this, the Yogins hail the advent of the age of the eternal Diwali Festival. The whole world swells with the bliss of the self-vision, for nothing but piety and religion fills its life. The life of devotees overflows with the exuberance of piety. Oh, son of Pandu, mountain-high heaps of sins get melted and the dawn of a good life breaks in on the world, when I appear incarnate (in a bodily form). It is for this purpose alone, that I incarnate myself from age to age. But he alone is said to be a saint of true vision who can realize this.