4.8
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् | धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ||८||
paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśhāya cha duṣhkṛtām dharma-sansthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge
Translation
To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.
Interpretation
The three purposes of divine incarnation: (1) protection of the righteous ('paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ'); (2) destruction of evil ('vināśhāya duṣhkṛtām'); (3) reestablishment of dharma ('dharma-sansthāpanārthāya'). These three purposes are not separate — they are one act of cosmic restoration. 'Yuge yuge' — age after age — the divine appears as needed.