यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य क्षयो वृद्धिश्च पाप्मनः ।
तदा तु भगवानीश आत्मानं सृजते हरिः ॥५६॥

yadÄ yadÄ hi dharmasya
ká¹£ayo vá¹›ddhiÅ› ca pÄpmanaḥ
tadÄ tu bhagavÄn Ä«Å›a
ÄtmÄnaá¹ sá¹›jate hariḥ

 yadÄ - whenever; yadÄ - when ever; hi - indeed; dharmasya - of the principles of religion; ká¹£ayaḥ - deterioration; vá¹›ddhiḥ - increasing; ca - and; pÄpmanaḥ - of sinful activities; tadÄ - at that time; tu - indeed; bhagavÄn - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; Ä«Å›aḥ - the supreme controller; ÄtmÄnam - personally; sá¹›jate - descends; hariḥ - the Supreme Personality of Godhead.


Text

Whenever the principles of religion deteriorate and the principles of irreligion increase, the supreme controller, the Personality of Godhead Śrī Hari, appears by His own will.

Purport

The principles by which an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead descends upon earth are explained in this verse. The same principles are also explained in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (4.7) by the Lord Himself:

yadÄ yadÄ hi dharmasya
 glÄnir bhavati bhÄrata
abhyutthÄnam adharmasya
 tadÄtmÄnaá¹ sá¹›jÄmy aham

“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.â€

In the present age, the Supreme Personality of Godhead has appeared as ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu to inaugurate the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. At the present time, in Kali-yuga, people are extremely sinful and bad (manda). They have no idea of spiritual life and are misusing the benefits of the human form to live like cats and dogs. Under these circumstances ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu has inaugurated the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, which is not different from Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one associates with this movement, he directly associates with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. People should take advantage of the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and thus gain relief from all the problems created in this Age of Kali.