यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ।अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदाऽऽत्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥
yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānirbhavati bhārata |abhyutthānamadharmasya tadā''tmānaṃ sṛjāmyaham ||
Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises up, O Bharata, then I send myself forth.
Explanation
Krishna has just said that he is unborn and yet comes into the world through his own nature (prakṛti). Here he says when this happens: whenever dharma, the moral and cosmic order, weakens and its opposite, adharma, grows strong. Traditions differ on this "sending forth" (sṛjāmi): Advaita readings take it as an appearance through māyā, while devotional traditions take it as the Lord's real descent (avatāra).