Whenever piety declines, O Prince! And impiety is raised, I loose Myself forth into birth
The avatara doctrine--God incarnates when dharma declines--is the Gita's most theologically consequential claim, and every word choice carries weight. For 'dharmasya glanih,' Arnold gives 'whenever piety declines,' Telang says 'piety languishes,' Wilkins writes 'a decline of virtue,' and Swarupananda alone preserves the untranslated 'dharma.' This single decision reveals everything: the first three domesticate dharma into Christian/Enlightenment moral vocabulary, while Swarupananda insists on the concept's untranslatability. For 'srijamy aham' (I create myself), Swarupananda gives the striking 'I body Myself forth'--a coinage that captures the Sanskrit's reflexive creation better than Arnold's 'I loose Myself forth into birth' or Wilkins's tamer 'I make myself evident.' The phrase 'yuge yuge' (age after age) echoes identically across all four translators--one of the rare moments of total convergence.
Krishna reveals that this teaching is ancient — he taught it to the sun god at the dawn of time. Arjuna asks how this is possible. Krishna reveals his divine nature: he is born by his own will, age after age, to restore dharma and protect the good.
The doctrine of the avatara: God incarnates whenever righteousness declines. Foundation of Hindu theology and Vaishnavism.
