Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that He will come to save sadhus and also vanquish the wicked. He says He will thus establish dharma. But what exactly does dharmasamsthApnArthAya mean? It means that through His avataras, He shows His auspicious qualities, said M.A. Venkatakrishnan in a discourse. The Ramayana speaks thus of Lord Rama — ramO vigrahavAn dharmah — Rama is the embodiment of dharma. When He comes to save His devotees, He shows that He is always on the side of the righteous. When you hear of how He came to save His devotees, you gain the confidence that He will come to your rescue too if you put your trust in Him. Did He not come in such haste to save the elephant Gajendra? And who was the one He had to face? It was a crocodile, which can only be compared to a worm when one considers His greatness. It was not an enemy worthy of a personal attack by Him. It survives by eating creatures weaker than itself. And yet He came in person to tackle the crocodile. He came in answer to Gajendra’s cries, to show the world that He heeds the cries of His devotees.
The Lord has many auspicious qualities, like sauseelya, saulabhya etc. But when He comes to the rescue of His devotees, He shows that His anger is one of His many auspicious qualities. How can anger be a kalyana guna? It becomes auspicious in His case because it is directed against those who harm His devotees. Since the crocodile has hurt His bhakta Gajendra, He wants to kill the crocodile with His own hands. When Prahlada was tormented, He came in person to save him. Sita, miserable because of Her separation from Lord Rama, makes no effort to save Herself. Nor does She accept Hanuman’s offer to help Her, for She knows that Lord Rama will come in person to save Her.
