Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya, Krishna’s Promise
यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ।
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥
Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata
Abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṃ sṛjāmy aham
“Whenever righteousness declines, O Bharata, and unrighteousness rises up, then I bring myself forth.”
Bhagavad Gītā 4.7
Word by word
A shloka a child understands is a shloka they keep. Here is what each word is actually doing.
On Janmashtami and Gita Jayanti, and when studying the Gita or the Mahabharata.
- Introduces the ideas of dharma and adharma memorably
- One of the two or three most famous verses in the Gita
- A strong, declarative rhythm children enjoy chanting
- Opens naturally into the epic stories
The word to spend time on is dharma. Rather than translating it once as “righteousness” and moving on, ask a child what the right thing to do is in three situations they actually face. Dharma is closer to “what is genuinely yours to do here”, and children grasp that far better through examples than definitions.
Bhagavad Gita for Kids
Reading a shloka and chanting it correctly are different things. In our live online classes a mentor corrects your child’s pronunciation in the moment, teaches the meaning alongside the sound, and builds a repertoire verse by verse. Ages 7-15 · 45 min · Weekly.
Questions parents ask
Whenever righteousness declines and unrighteousness rises, then I bring myself forth. It is Krishna’s promise in Bhagavad Gita 4.7, and it is followed by the verse explaining why.
Learn these next
All 28 shlokas
Teach your child Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya, properly
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