Yadá yadá hi dharmasya glánirbhavati Bhárata;
Cábhyutthánamadharmasya tadátmánaḿ srjámyáham.

[O Bhárata, at a time when dharma is distorted and adharma is ascendant, I create myself out of my own fundamental factors.]

Some 3500 years ago, Krśńa was born. His ávirbháva (advent) was just at a crucial time – humanity was suffering then. He removed the suffering of humanity by creating Mahábhárata. He gave an assurance to the entire world that there would not be degradation of dharma, that He would come and save it.

Try to understand the utterance of Krśńa. He addresses Arjuna as “Bhárata”. What is the meaning of “Bhárata”? Bhar plus al means “the supplier of food”. Ta means “all-round development”. One who seeks to provide human beings with food, so that they can maintain their existence and attain psychic development, is “Bhárata”.

Up to thirty-nine years the physical body develops, then it decays. On a psycho-spiritual level, one develops up to the end of one’s life. Where development can happen, that part of the land is bháratavarśa – indicating a country. Varśa means a part of the globe. It must be added to bhárata, as bhárata itself does not indicate a country.

Until the Aryans reached India, they had to wander to maintain their lives. Reaching here, the problems of both their physical maintenance and psychic development were solved. Therefore the country was called “Bháratavarśa”.

Krśńa addresses Arjuna as “Bhárata”. Krśńa wanted people to take the responsibility of physico-psycho-spiritual development. Therefore He addresses him as “Bhárata”.

What is gláni [in the shloka (couplet)]? It is a lower state, beneath the generally-accepted standard. When dharma goes lower than its accepted standard, it is said to suffer gláni. For instance, the commonly-accepted place for a crown is the head; if someone wears it on his foot, it can be considered to have suffered degradation. So Krśńa says that where there is degradation in dharma and adharma rises – when people’s hats decorate their feet, and their sandals, their heads – He comes as Táraka Brahma [Liberating Brahma] to reinstate dharma to its original status. Under such circumstances, the actions of ordinary people cut no ice. Then He creates tat átmá – tadátmá [in the shloka], that is, Táraka Brahma. Táraka Brahma polarizes dharma and adharma. He makes them prepared to fight.

Whenever dharma comes into a secondary position, a degraded position, a depraved position; that is, dharma is being defeated by adharma in that temporary phase of the war – finally dharma wins, but you know, a war is divided into several phases, and each and every phase is known as a battle. So in one battle, adharma may win, in another battle, dharma may win, but finally, as a result of the final fight of the war, dharma wins. Hence, O human beings, do not get scared, light is sure to come after darkness.