Summary:
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, Verse 7: When the majority refuses to follow rules, life's game cannot be played or enjoyed, and natural order of progress is denied. The moment dharma stops flowing through family, community, or nation, adharma replicates like bacteria in stagnant water. When this reaches dangerous levels, making it nearly impossible for seekers to pursue mokṣa, people's collective prayers result in Īśvara's manifestation of Avatara through immaculate conception (tadā ātmānam aham sṛjāmi). A jīva is born due to karma under the sway of ignorance (avidyā) and doership, mistakes the body-mind-sense complex as self. An avatāra is not a kartā, not subject to avidyā, not bound by karma.
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, Verse 8: The threefold purpose of divine manifestation is protecting those committed to dharmic life, converting those following adharma by showing selfish quick-and-expedient ways lead to psychological discomfort, and re-establishing dharma so future generations can progress. Krishna's interventions demonstrate different types of confusion: Bhishma's rigid loyalty despite adharmic king; Karna's misplaced loyalty due to emotional starvation for validation; Draupadi's revenge clouding larger cosmic purpose; Duryodhana's freedom to choose despite Krishna's counsel (Krishna wasn't disturbed when dismissed); Yudhishthira's people-pleasing and conflict-avoidance leading to dangerous rigidity; Arjuna's blind obedience to authority and emotional overwhelm despite his warrior nature. All characters are confused to different degrees (Duryodhana 9/10, Arjuna 3/10). Living intelligently requires interpreting each unique situation rather then going by rigid rules. Dharma lives through people, not institutions. You become what surrounds you – choose your environment deliberately because it shapes whether you gravitate toward hard-right (shreya) over easy-wrong (preya).
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, Verse 7:
yadā yadā hi dharmasya glāniḥ bhavati bhārata ।
abhyutthānam adharmasya tadā ātmānam sṛjāmi aham ॥ 4-7॥
yadā yadā hi dharmasya glāniḥ bhavati bhārata ।
abhyutthānam adharmasya tadā ātmānam sṛjāmi aham ॥ 4-7॥
Bhārata (Arjuna)! Whenever there is a decline in right living and an increase in wrong living (everywhere), I bring Myself into being (assume a physical body).
When Dharma Collapses, Avatar is Born
Consider a football game where players dispose of referees and blow their own whistles whenever losing – no game exists, only chaos. Similarly, when the majority refuses to follow rules, life’s game cannot be played or enjoyed. Natural order of progress is denied.
The real destroyer of dharma is not merely one's failure to follow it, but the automatic increase in its opposite; adharma. You're never not acting, speaking and thinking. The moment guiding principles lose their place in your daily rituals and life in general – you might notice how adharmic ways gradually grow on you, initially so subtle and innocent.
Like a stream of water, the moment it stops flowing, it remains stagnant, allowing nutrients to settle, upon which algae and bacteria can feed and replicate. Similarly, the moment dharma stops flowing through the family, community, political party, nation — adharma replicates.
When this happens at a dangerously high level within a certain region – it makes it nearly impossible for those few seeking to fulfill their true potential, to advance society, and to pursue mokṣa.
Consequently, people suffering under adharmic rule, engage in collective prayers – which results in Īśvara’s manifestation of Avatara. So Avatara isn’t Īśvara’s decision.
Kṛṣṇa states “tadā ātmānam aham sṛjāmi” – then I bring myself into being. This entry into physical form represents “immaculate conception”.
Summary of Difference Between Jiva and Avatara:
- A jīva is born due to karma, under the sway of ignorance and doership.
- An avatāra is not a doer (kartā), not subject to ignorance (avidyā), and not bound by karma.
- Jīva mistakes body-mind-sense complex as self; Avatara/jnani doesn’t.
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, Verse 8:
परित्राणाय साधूनाम् विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।
धर्म-संस्थापन-अर्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥ ४-८॥
paritrāṇāya sādhūnām vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām ।
dharma-saṃsthāpana-arthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge ॥ 4-8॥
For the protection of those who are committed to dharma and the destruction (conversion) of those who follow adharma, and for the establishment of dharma, I come into being in every yuga.
The Threefold Purpose of Divine Manifestation
- Paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ – Avatar's purpose is to protect those committed to dharmic life. By protecting them, they in turn help those who are confused, misguided and under the influence of sense gratification as the highest end of life.
- Vināśāya duṣkṛtām – Avatar's purpose is destruction or conversion of those following adharma. Meaning avatar points out through their repetitive public discourses, that your quick-and-expedient ways don't serve you. Though tempting, easy and instantly gratifying – your selfish ways lead you deeper into psychological discomfort.
- Dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya – Avatar's purpose is to re-establish dharma throughout society, so future jiva generations (which includes you of today) to get a chance to progress.
Example showing how Krishna intervened – attempting to straighten people’s incorrect thinking processes:
Bhisma:
Krishna say, “Wonderful that you’re protecting Hastinapur, provided the king is dharmic. Otherwise, you have no obligation to protect.” Bhisma’s rigidity caused him to dismiss this wisdom, leading to many subsequent mistakes – demonstrating the confusion that can befall even a good human being.
Modern example is starting out with pure intentions, care and love. And slowly that gets mixed up with supervision, monitoring, surveillance – wanting to know every detail what significant other is doing.
Another mistake Bhishma made was he justified not intervening in the dice game, despite having the power to do so. Whereas if Krishna intervened, he would’ve said, “Pandavas, you’re not obligated to participate in a cheated game.”
Lesson: In following dharma rigidly, we become black-and-white thinkers, unable to perceive the subtle intricacies that each situation demands. For instance, one if often told a common black-white statement, “don't lie”. But in truth, this is impossible in its entirety throughout the work place, family, friends, etc.
Karna:
Karna was emotionally starving for validation, thus cognitively compromised, thus psychologically vulnerable. His narrative was, “Nobody else recognized my worth; only Duryodhana did, thus my loyalty belongs to him alone.” Krishna attempted to correct him by saying while loyalty is noble, it becomes ignoble when directed toward someone who acts unrighteously.
Draupadi:
She didn’t want Krishna to negotiate one final time to prevent the war, lest she be denied her revenge of witnessing Duryodhana’s death. Krishna explained, “This war isn’t merely about your personal revenge; it must consider the larger cosmic purpose.”
Duryodhana:
Krishna pointed out Duryodhana's unfairness and urged him to at least return a small portion of Indraprastha to the Pandavas. Even after offering his insightful counsel, knowing ahead what the cost will be for Duryodhana if he doesn't take it — Krishna still granted Duryodhana the freedom to choose. Krishna wasn't disturbed, nor lost his composure when dismissed, nor called Duryodhana an ignorant fool who's bound to reincarnate in naraka if he doesn't listen.
Yudhishthira:
Yudhishthira represents an archetype who constantly seeks to please and avoid confrontation. For instance, he accepted the barren desert without a push-back, allowed the wax house burning incident to pass, and couldn’t say no to Duryodhana’s suggestion for Shakuni to play instead.
Then again, he didn't say anything while Draupadi was humiliated by Dushasan and Duryodhana. Whereas Krishna would've intervened, claiming it's inhuman to humiliate helpless Draupadi who had nothing to do with the game.
Yudhishthira demonstrates how even a fundamentally good human being can become dangerously rigid.
Arjuna:
Arjuna was prepared to fight the Kauravas during their forest exile. Yet at the actual moment of war, he couldn’t face the situation, revealing his own confusion about righteous action, doubt in his abilities, concerned he'll got to naraka if he kills so many warriors. Krishna job was to remind Arjuna that he wasn’t an ordinary citizen who could afford to be overwhelmed by emotions, but must act according to his essential nature as a warrior. Similarly, given a human body, a thinking brain, and comforts of the modern age – Krishna reminds you – do your duty, finish this life's journey, there's zero excuse not to.
Arjuna’s other significant error was his blind obedience to authority (his mother Kunti) when he accepted her directive to share Draupadi among the brothers. He could have respectfully said, “Mother, I’m not speaking of an object, but of my wife.”
Another mistake occurred when he remained silent, along with his three brothers, while watching Yudhishthira lose everything in the dice game. This again illustrates the problem of following dharma in black-and-white terms without situational wisdom.
Conclusion:
All characters are confused, but to different degrees. For example, Duryodhana represents confusion at 9/10, while Arjuna represents 3/10 on this scale.
Even when Krishna offers correction, it doesn’t guarantee that one will follow it. Most people, by the time they reach adulthood, become rigid and deeply set in their patterns. Living authentic dharma requires developing nuanced wisdom in interpreting each unique situation.
Example Showing Even Today People Are Confused – Lacking Nuanced Thinking
Mahabharata (or any book of wisdom) is seen in black-white perspective – which corrupts the entire message…
Exalting (in psychology called Halo Effect): We tend to exalt figures like Bhisma and Karna as ideals. The problem with this approach is that we fail to recognize their human flaws. The Mahabharata deliberately shows us that even fundamentally good people make significant mistakes that carry enormous consequences.
Overly critical: Criticizing characters harshly: “How could Yudhishthira make such a grave error!” In doing so, we miss the deeper teaching: “This story isn’t about Yudhishthira’s life, but about my own life. Yudhishthira serves as a mirror in which I can recognize and understand my own inherent tendencies and limitations.”
Dharma Lives Through People, Not Institutions
Buildings don't preserve dharma – people do. Without practitioners, even the grandest structures will be destroyed or repurposed.
For instance, a library without scholars becomes a pizza shop. The building doesn't save the scholarship – but the scholars save the building. Similarly, when teachers become the lowest paid in society, they naturally migrate to other vocations; in which case there's few good teachers left to teach. This happened when California's Silicon Valley attracted many university teachers.
Another instance showing how dharma is spread by the power of people — according to Swami Dayananda, in Rishikesh's past, when only sādhus studying śāstra lived there, newcomers would begin studying too. Today the reverse happens – a sādhu arriving where others avoid study may end up running ashrams or learning musical instruments, instead of pursuing his original purpose.
This show that physical grandeur does not equal spiritual strength. Dharma or spirituality only thrives when dharmīs (those choosing hard-right over easy-wrong) find support through an environment conducive to dharmic living. That's the original intention behind cultural performances, cultural music, performing arts, and fine arts – continuing the dissemination of dharma. But like anything – majority of music, arts, etc – has become a commercial venture devoid of dharmic presence.
What this means for you: You become what surrounds you. If you surround yourself with people who choose the hard-right over the easy-wrong, you'll naturally gravitate toward dharmic choices. If you place yourself among those who cut corners and chase shortcuts, that becomes your normal. The company you keep, the content you consume, the conversations you have daily —these shape your trajectory far more than any temple you visit or book you own. Choose your environment deliberately, because your environment is consequently choosing you.
NEXT VERSE: So far Krishna has spoken of Avatara and Jiva. He introduces a third category – the jnani.
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Course was based on Swami Dayananda (Arsha Vidya) home study course.
Recorded 7 Dec, 2025