Shloka 22
The Lord’s Apology to the Kumāras and the Fall of Jaya and Vijaya
धर्मस्य ते भगवतस्त्रियुग त्रिभि: स्वै: पद्भिश्चराचरमिदं द्विजदेवतार्थम् । नूनं भृतं तदभिघाति रजस्तमश्च सत्त्वेन नो वरदया तनुवा निरस्य ॥ २२ ॥
dharmasya te bhagavatas tri-yuga tribhiḥ svaiḥ padbhiś carācaram idaṁ dvija-devatārtham nūnaṁ bhṛtaṁ tad-abhighāti rajas tamaś ca sattvena no varadayā tanuvā nirasya
O Bhagavān, You are dharma personified. In three yugas You manifest with Your three steps and protect this universe of moving and unmoving beings for the sake of the devas and the twice-born. By Your boon-giving grace, pure in sattva, please drive away rajas and tamas.
The Lord is addressed in this verse as tri-yuga, or one who appears in three millenniums, namely the Satya, Dvāpara and Tretā yugas. He is not mentioned as appearing in the fourth millennium, or Kali-yuga. It is described in Vedic literature that in Kali-yuga He comes as channa-avatāra, or an incarnation, but He does not appear as a manifest incarnation. In the other yugas, however, the Lord is a manifest incarnation, and therefore he is addressed as tri-yuga, or the Lord who appears in three yugas.
FAQs
In this verse the sages address the Lord as Triyuga—He who is prominently manifest in three yugas—while in Kali-yuga He is not openly revealed in the same way, yet still protects dharma through His arrangements and incarnations.
Because passion and ignorance disturb the dharmic order meant to support brāhmaṇas and devas; the Kumāras therefore appeal to the Lord’s boon-giving presence to restore sattva and harmony.
Seek sattva by cultivating devotion, purity, truthfulness, and regulated habits, and by remembering the Lord as the ultimate protector of dharma when confusion, anger, or lethargy (rajas/tamas) rise.