Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Verse 8
भगवद् गीता अध्याय 4 श्लोक 8

परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्।
धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय संभवामि युगे युगे।।4.8।।



हिंदी अनुवाद - स्वामी तेजोमयानंद
।।4.8।। साधु पुरुषों के रक्षण दुष्कृत्य करने वालों के नाश तथा धर्म संस्थापना के लिये मैं प्रत्येक युग में प्रगट होता हूँ।।


Brahma Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary





Actually there is no mandate that for the protection of  the  righteous  and
virtuous Lord Krishna must descend and  save  them.  But  by  His  causeless
mercy and in some circumstances for sport He manifests Himself  by  His  own
sweet will. In the Rig Veda it is described that this will itself is  as  an
inclination of the Lord. A comparison in human terms it is  like  the  bliss
that comes with spontaneous creativity. The Supreme Lord is complete  within
Himself so there is nothing to be gained for Him  by  any  action;  yet  and
still He still performs unlimited  activities.  Therefore  those  expert  in
bhagavat tattva or knowledge of the Supreme Lord Krishna  declare  that  His
impulses are all sublime and transcendental to prakriti or material  nature.
The word glanir in the previous verse does not  mean  decline  as  is  often
translated but glanir means obscure. If dharma meaning eternal righteous  is
a perennial principle  then  it  must  be  devoid  of  any  modification  of
decline. It has to exist eternally in pristine purity. What happens is  that
dharma becomes obscure to the masses  due  to  material  influences  on  the
mind, agitated by the effects of sense gratification  by  the  onslaught  of
maya or illusion.  When such times arise  the  purpose  of  human  existence
becomes distorted and consequently the activities of humans become more  and
more degenerated and humans become degraded.  At this  time  the  dharma  of
human beings is said to be glanir or obscured.











Therefore as far as dharma is concerned there is  no  possibility  of  their
being any decline even as darkness is unable to hide sunlight. However  even
as large clouds are able to obscure the light of the sun from  human  vision
in the same way non-awareness of the independent supremacy  of  the  Supreme
Lord and the human beings total dependency on the Supreme Lord  consequently
obscures the faith in the Supreme Lord as well  as  any  perception  of  the
Supreme Lord in human beings. So the sense is that glanir  is  referring  to
obscurity.





The Supreme Lord Krishna is also designated as Brahman which  means  eternal
in time and dynamic in creativity and is the  all  pervading  luminosity  of
His effulgence. It is not inert  or  passive.  The  word  Brahman  which  is
derived from the root brh  means  to  grow,  to  burst  forth  which  infers
constant, continuous creativity,  perpetually  manifesting.  That  which  is
dynamic  and  creative  cannot  remain  static  and  passive.  The  dynamic,
spontaneous, creative  impulse  is  what  is  known  as  the   Supreme  Lord
Krishnas lila or divine pastimes. The complete material  creation  and  all
its embodied beings is the result of one such impulse of  the  Supreme  Lord
Krishna and this is also known  as  lila.  The  reality  of  Lord  Krishnas
avatars or incarnations such as Rama or  Buddha  and  the  understanding  of
Lord   Krishnas   divine   lilas   has   often   been   misconstrued   and
misinterpreted. But here in this verse He explicitly reveals that  he  comes
to protect the righteous and  to  vanquish  the  sinful  miscreants  and  to
personally re-establish dharma or eternal righteousness.





Sam-sthapana-arthaya- ca infers  to  establishing  ones  true  nature.  The
Lords divine nature assumes His divine form. Because  prakriti  or  material
nature is understood as svabhava the word sam has  been  used  referring  to
that.  The  word  sva  also  refers  Lord  Krishnas  essential  svarupa  or
transcendental form as svabhava refers to the innate  form  or  essence  and
creation is manifested by this essence being the impulse of His will.  There
is no difference between the form of Krishna and Himself  neither  is  there
any difference between the name of Krishna  and  Himself.  In  the  Narayana
Sruti is states that : the Supreme Lord Krishna  is  immutable  yet  through
the course of creation He manifests Himself in inconceivable  many  ways  in
unlimited forms.