Bhagavad Gita 4.7

yadā yadā hi dharmasya

glānir bhavati bhārata

abhyutthānam adharmasya

tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham

 

“Whenever righteousness fades away,

And unrighteous forces hold their sway,

Then, O Bharata, I take my birth,

To restore justice upon the earth.”

 

My dear Lord, you have arranged this world in such a way that your divinity is not easily perceived. Nonetheless, that does not mean that you are absent. It just means that you let human beings take center stage at the visible level, and you want us to take responsibility to ensure that the world runs in alignment with your plan. But whenever things become excessively disrupted, especially when disruptive elements unscrupulously grab power, you, my Lord, don’t hesitate to intervene. Metaphorically speaking, you get your hands dirty, though, of course, your hands never actually become dirty, for you remain transcendental to everything, including material impurity. 

Yet, you personally descend to fix things when the worst among us humans have messed them up and when the best among us are unequipped to fix them. Bless me, my Lord, so that I may always choose to stand in the ranks of those who are trying to assist you in restoring dharma and never join the ranks of those who are disrupting it. By your divine descent, you show that you are on my side. Please, O Lord, by my readiness to serve and assist in your plan, help me to show that I am on your side.

***

04.07 Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion – at that time I descend Myself.