Shrimad Bhagavad-gita

by Narayana Gosvami | 2013 | 327,105 words

The Bhagavad-gita Verse 4.7, English translation, including the Vaishnava commentaries Sarartha-varsini-tika, Prakashika-vritti and Rasika-ranjana (excerpts). This is verse 7 from the chapter 4 called “Jnana-Yoga (Yoga through Transcendental Knowledge)”

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 4.7:

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर् भवति भारत ।
अभ्युत्थानम् अधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्य् अहम् ॥ ७ ॥

yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata |
abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṃ sṛjāmy aham
|| 7 ||

yadā yadā–whenever; hi–assuredly; dharmasya–of religion; glāniḥ–a decline; bhavati–there is; bhārata–O descendent of Bharata; abhyutthānam–an increase; adharmasya–of irreligion; tadā–then; ātmānam–My eternally perfect spiritual body; sṛjāmi–manifest (Myself in a body that looks like a created, material body); aham–I.

O descendant of Bharata, whenever there is a decline of religion and an increase in irreligion, at that time I manifest My eternally perfect form in this mundane world.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

When does Śrī Bhagavān appear? To answer this question, Bhagavān replies with this verse beginning with yadā. “Being unable to tolerate the decline of religion and the increase of irreligion, I appear for the purpose of reversing the situation.”

According to Śrīpāda Madhusūdana Sarasvatī, ātmānaṃ sṛjāmi means ‘I create the body’. “With the help of yogamāyā, I exhibit My eternally perfect spiritual body as if it were created by material nature.”

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

In each birth, a jīva who is bound by the result of his action takes a new body that is made from inert matter. But Śrī Bhagavān, by His own will and through the agency of His māyā-śakti, deludes the demons in such a way that they consider His body to be an object of the material creation.

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī has confirmed this in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (9.24.56):

yadā yadā hi dharmasya kṣayo vṛddhiś ca pāpmanaḥ
tadā tu bhagavān īśa ātmānaṃ sṛjate hariḥ

Whenever there is a decline of religion and an increase of sin, Bhagavān Śrī Hari manifests Himself in this world.

Various spiritual masters have explained the word dharma in this verse in different ways. Śrī Rāmānujācārya has accepted the word dharma to mean ‘the worship of Bhagavān’. Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa has explained dharma as ‘pure devotion characterized by the per-formance of arcana (formal worship), dhyāna (meditation) and other such practices, as well as varṇāśrama-dharma prescribed in the Vedas’.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has quoted Kṛṣṇa as follows: “The only reason for My appearance is that I desire it; I descend of My own free will. Whenever there is a decline in religion and a prevalence of irreligion, I appear of My own accord. My laws, which govern the activities of this material world, are unconquerable. However, when in due course of time, these rules become ineffective for some indefinable and indescribable reason, irreligion becomes prominent. No one except Me can put an end to this disorder. I thus appear in this mundane plane with the assistance of My spiritual potency and dispel the decline of religion.

“It is not true that I only appear in the land of Bhārata, India. According to necessity I appear, by My will, among demigods, animals, birds and all other species. Therefore, do not think that I do not appear among those outside the Vedic system, such as mleccha, antyaja and other outcastes. All those pitiable people also accept a certain degree of religiosity as their natural religion (sva-dharma). When their religion declines, I appear among them as an empowered incarnation (śaktyāveśa-avatāra) by investing a certain living entity with My potency, to protect their religion. In India, people regularly perform their religious duties in the form of varṇāśrama-dharma. I therefore make a special endeavour to establish this system of religion (dharma) among them. For this reason, all the charming incarnations, such as the yuga-avatāras (who appear in this world in every age so as to establish religious principles) and the aṃśa-avatāras (partial incarnations) are seen to manifest only in India. In places where there is no varṇāśrama-dharma, people cannot properly practise niṣkāma-karma-yoga or its goal, jñāna-yoga, and its highest fruit, bhakti-yoga. Still, any tinge of bhakti that manifests among those outside the varṇāśrama system can be attributed to the sudden appearance of faith generated by the mercy of My devotee.”

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