Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.50.10
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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dharma-rakṣāyai
—
for the protection of religion
Dative of purpose. Dharma here is sanātana-dharma, the eternal jīva-Kṛṣṇa relation, not merely social order. Gauḍīyas read 'protection of dharma' ultimately as the protection of bhakti.
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dehaḥ
—
body
Crucial doctrinal word: Kṛṣṇa's deha is sac-cid-ānanda, not material (Brahma-saṁhitā 5.1). When He 'assumes another body,' it is a śuddha-cit form, not a karma-bound śarīra. Avatāras share His own substance.
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adharmasya
—
of irreligion
Adharma is not merely vice; it is the inversion in which the jīva forgets Kṛṣṇa as its source. Kālayavana, Jarāsandha, Kaṁsa are personalised forms of this inversion. Their destruction is the surface; restoration of remembrance is the inward work.
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kāle
—
in the course of time
Locative of kāla — Kṛṣṇa's own potency (Gītā 11.32, kālo'smi). The Lord descends in time but is the controller of time, not its subject. He chooses the kāla; the kāla does not choose Him.
"I also assume other bodies such as Varaha to protect religion and destroy irreligion."
Other bodies also (api) are manifested (saṁbhriyate). This means that the form of Kṛṣṇa is the full manifestation of all powers. The same is said Gītā 4.7.
This is done in other avatāras as well. It is necessary. I manifest other forms to protect dharma and destroy adharma when at some time it becomes strong. The same is said Gītā 4.7. Or I manifest other forms at some time (kale). By protecting dharma devotees are protected, and by stopping adharma, the wicked are killed.
Like the same flame leaping from lamp to lamp, the Lord assumes whatever form the age requires. Rāma's bow, Nṛsiṁha's claws, Kṛṣṇa's flute — one Personality, many bodies, one dharma-rakṣā.
In Bhagavad-gītā 4.7–8 Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna: whenever religion declines and irreligion rises, I send Myself forth. SB 10.50.10 is the same śloka rendered in the third person, spoken now as inner reflection at the gates of Mathurā.
Gauḍīya tradition treats this as one of the clearest textual welds between the Gītā and the Bhāgavatam: same speaker, same vow, only the audience has changed — from Arjuna on the chariot to Balarāma at the city gate.
My note
Source: vedabase.io