4.8 Age after age Krishna speaks
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्
धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय संभवामि युगे युगे
paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśhāya cha duṣhkṛitām
dharma-sansthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge
To protect the good, to undo those who do harm, and to set what is right on its feet again, I come age after age.
Explanation
Three purposes, and one of them is not gentle.
- to protect the good
- to undo those who do harm
- to set what is right on its feet again
The middle one is the reason this verse is quoted on battlefields. Placed here, in a chapter answering why must I fight, it is doing argumentative work and not only devotional.
Word by word
- paritrāṇāya
- to protect
- sādhūnām
- the righteous
- vināśhāya
- to annihilate
- cha
- and
- duṣhkṛitām
- the wicked
- dharma
- the eternal religion
- sansthāpana-arthāya
- to reestablish
- sambhavāmi
- I appear
- yuge yuge
- age after age
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