Incarnation

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत । 

अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥४-७॥ 

परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् । 

धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥४-८॥

These two shlokas from the Gita are very popular. There is often a misconception that the God sitting somewhere up in the heavens will descend on the earth when evil raises in the society, to crush adharma and establish dharma.

This much is clear, Gita has a lot of aphorisms which have a hidden meaning; or one many say each shloka can be understood in a different. Today I found a different meaning to these popular shlokas.

It is the nature of human being to be lazy. Lazy in the sense, there is always a pull to be cushioned in the comfort zone. As "alasya" (tamasic power / laziness) increases, life becomes more and more disturbing. The 4 purusharthas fail and moksha (liberation) among them is a remote possibility. 

Unless a stick is used, the body is not ready for the run. Unless discipline is imposed, the mind is not ready to focus or direct itself for productive work. 

Likewise, even in a society people ignore the evils and get adjusted to it. People react or think of a solution only when the problems or evils are no longer bearable. 

Whenever there have been peaks of evils/problems in the society, we see a man or a group that rise to the occasion, having witnessed the lows and tough situations of the time.

Chanakya came during the time of misrule of the Nandas and infighting among Kingdoms. Veda Vyasa came to enlighten us when the Bharatiya knowledge treasure seemed to become tough to digest for the masses. Swami Vivekananda came when the entire population of the country had lost their self confidence/belief. So essentially when dharma is becoming less, there emerges man to reset the equation. Or in other words, that avatar can be any one of us, who having witnessed the fall in Dharma and ill-treatment of wise/good people by the evil ones, who rises to the occasion to fulfill the needs of the society or humanity. 

Essentially it is the same consciousness that emerges from within that can be seen among great personalities who sacrifice their entire lives to establish Dharma, and protect the good from the evil. This strife of Dharma over adharma, good over evil happens every yuga/century. The one who strives for it becomes the avatar.