Bhagavad Gita 3.35 · Shreyan Svadharmo Vigunahश्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात्।स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः ॥
śhreyān swa-dharmo viguṇaḥ para-dharmāt
sv-anuṣhṭhitāt swa-dharme nidhanaṁ śhreyaḥ para-dharmo bhayāvahaḥ
Sanskrit recitation
Your work, not someone else’s · 3.30–3.35 · Teaching
Translation
Better is one's own duty, though devoid of merit, than the duty of another well discharged. Better is death in one's own duty; the duty of another is fraught with fear.
Hindi translation
अच्छी तरह आचरणमें लाये हुए दूसरेके धर्मसे गुणोंकी कमीवाला अपना धर्म श्रेष्ठ है। अपने धर्ममें तो मरना भी कल्याणकारक है और दूसरेका धर्म भयको देनेवाला है।
Meaning
It is indeed better for man to die discharging his own duty though destitute of merit than for him to live doing the duty of another though performed in a perfect manner. For the duty of another has its pitfalls. The duty of a Kshatriya is to fight in a righteous battle. Arjuna must fight. This is his duty. Even if he dies in the discharge of his own duty, it is better for him. He will go to heaven. He should not do the duty of another man. This will bring him peril. He should not stop from fighting and enter the path of renunciation. (Cf.XVIII.47).
After Swami Sivananda
Your work, not someone else’s· 3.30–3.35→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 3.30Renouncing all actions in Me, with the mind centered on the Self, free from hope and…
- 3.31Those who constantly practice this teaching of Mine with faith and without caviling, they…
- 3.32But those who criticize My teaching and do not practice it, deprived of all knowledge and…
- 3.33Even a wise man acts in accordance with his own nature; beings will follow their nature;…
- 3.34Attachment and aversion for the objects of the senses abide in the senses; let no one come…
3.35Better is one's own duty, though devoid of merit, than the duty of another well…
Word-by-word→
- nidhanam
- death
- śhreyān
- better
- swa-dharme
- in one’s personal duties
- śhreyaḥ
- better
- viguṇaḥ
- tinged with faults
- para-dharmāt
- than another’s prescribed duties
- swa-dharmaḥ
- personal duty
- para-dharmaḥ
- duties prescribed for others
- bhaya-āvahaḥ
- fraught with fear
- su-anuṣhṭhitāt
- perfectly done
Related verses
- 1.18Drupada and the sons of Draupadi, O Lord of the Earth, and the son of Subhadra, the…
- 11.34Drona, Bhishma, Jayadratha, Karna, and other brave warriors have already been slain by Me;…
- 18.8He who abandons action out of fear of bodily trouble (because it is painful), does not…
- 3.40The senses, the mind, and the intellect are said to be its seat; through these, it deludes…