Bhagavad Gita 18.47श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात्।स्वभावनियतं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम् ॥
śhreyān swa-dharmo viguṇaḥ para-dharmāt
sv-anuṣhṭhitāt svabhāva-niyataṁ karma kurvan nāpnoti kilbiṣham
Sanskrit recitation
Honor your own dharma · 18.41–18.48 · Teaching
Translation
Better is one's own duty, even if it is destitute of merits, than the duty of another well performed. He who does the duty ordained by his own nature incurs no sin.
Hindi translation
अच्छी तरहसे अनुष्ठान किये हुए परधर्मसे गुणरहित अपना धर्म श्रेष्ठ है। कारण कि स्वभावसे नियत किये हुए स्वधर्मरूप कर्मको करता हुआ मनुष्य पापको प्राप्त नहीं होता।
Meaning
Just as a poisonous substance does not harm the worm born in that substance, so he who does his Svadharma (the duty ordained according to his own nature) does not incur any sin.What is poison to the whole world is sweet to a worm and yet sugarcane juice that is sweet causes its death. So a mans appointed duty which frees him from bondage must, therefore, be practised however difficult it may seem to be. If you try to do the duty of another it will bring,danger. He who has no knowledge of the Self cannot remain even for a moment without doing action. (Cf.III.35)
After Swami Sivananda
Honor your own dharma· 18.41–18.48→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 18.41Of Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras, O Arjuna, the duties are distributed…
- 18.42Serenity, self-restraint, austerity, purity, forgiveness, and uprightness, as well as…
- 18.43Prowess, splendor, firmness, dexterity, and not fleeing from battle, generosity, and…
- 18.44Agriculture, cattle-rearing, and trade are the duties of the Vaisya (merchant), born of…
- 18.45Each person devoted to their own duty attains perfection. How they attain perfection while…
- 18.46He from whom all the beings have evolved and by whom all this is pervaded, worshipping Him…
18.47Better is one's own duty, even if it is destitute of merits, than the duty of another well…
- 18.48One should not, O Arjuna, abandon the duty to which one is born, though it may be faulty;…
Word-by-word→
- karma
- duty
- kurvan
- by performing
- śhreyān
- better
- na āpnoti
- does not incur
- kilbiṣham
- sin
- viguṇaḥ
- imperfectly done
- para-dharmāt
- than another’s dharma
- swa-dharmaḥ
- one’s own prescribed occupational duty
- svabhāva-niyatam
- according to one’s innate nature
- su-anuṣhṭhitāt
- perfectly done
Read this when you feel
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