यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ।
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदाऽऽत्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदाऽऽत्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥
Hindi · हिन्दी
हे भरतवंशी अर्जुन जबजब धर्मकी हानि और अधर्मकी वृद्धि होती है, तबतब ही मैं अपनेआपको साकाररूपसे प्रकट करता हूँ ॥
English
Whenever there is a decline of dharma and a rise of adharma, I manifest myself.
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.
The takeaway
Even in chaos, the world is not abandoned. Help arrives when the balance is most strained.
Word-by-word translation
यदा यदा (whenever) / हि (indeed) / धर्मस्य (of dharma) / ग्लानिः (decline) / भवति (becomes) / भारत (O Bharata) / अभ्युत्थानम् (rise) / अधर्मस्य (of adharma) / तदा (then) / आत्मानम् (myself) / सृजामि (I create/manifest) / अहम् (I)
This verse is part of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4: Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga — Knowledge and Renunciation of Action, which contains 42 verses.
Explore related themes: dharma (14 verses), adharma (12 verses)