A declaration · expansive in mood · builds on earlier teachings
“When dharma collapses, the divine steps into history.”
Whenever there is a decline of dharma and a rise of adharma, I manifest myself.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Hover a word to focus on it.
Read literallywhenever · indeed · of dharma · decline · becomes · O Bharata · rise · of adharma · then · myself · I create/manifest · I
Whenever righteous order declines and wrongdoing rises, Krishna says he manifests in the world to restore balance.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga" (Knowledge and Renunciation of Action).
Verse 7 sits in Chapter 4 of the Bhagavad Gita — Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga, "Knowledge and Renunciation of Action". The chapter has 42 verses in total.
A family, company, or community starts normalizing what once felt unacceptable. The slide feels slow, then sudden. This verse says the turning point is not invisible — the force that restores order is already at work.
Did you like this verse?
It shifts the mind from helplessness to confidence that disorder is not the final word.
What this verse means
Whenever righteous order declines and wrongdoing rises, Krishna says he manifests in the world to restore balance.
Context & commentary
On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna is frozen before the war. Krishna has already said he knows all births and is unborn. Now he explains why divine presence enters history: to answer the collapse of dharma and the rise of adharma.
Why this verse still matters
A family, company, or community starts normalizing what once felt unacceptable. The slide feels slow, then sudden. This verse says the turning point is not invisible — the force that restores order is already at work.
“Even in chaos, the world is not abandoned. Help arrives when the balance is most strained.”
Explore related themes: dharma (14 verses), adharma (12 verses)