📿 Shloka Collection

Shreyaan Svadharmo Vigunah

Gita 3.35 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3 — Karma Yoga
श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् ।
स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः ॥
Shreyaan svadharmo vigunah paradharmat svanushthitat
Svadharme nidhanam shreyah paradharmo bhayavahah
श्रेयान्
better
स्वधर्मः
one's own dharma (duty)
विगुणः
imperfect, lacking in quality
परधर्मात्
than the duty of another
स्वनुष्ठितात्
well performed
स्वधर्मे
in one's own dharma
निधनम्
death, destruction
श्रेयः
is better
परधर्मः
another's duty
भयावहः
is fraught with danger

A farmer who tends his own field, even clumsily, produces something real. A farmer who abandons his land to go practice someone else's craft produces nothing at all. That is the heart of this verse.

Svadharma means your own duty, shaped by your nature, your abilities, and the situation you find yourself in. It is not about perfection. It is about authenticity. Your imperfect effort in your own lane is worth more than a polished performance in someone else's. The koyal sings; the peacock dances. If the koyal tries to dance, it loses both its song and its dignity.

The verse ends with a striking line: even death in one's own dharma is auspicious, but walking another's path is dangerous. It is a call to courage. Stay on your own road, however rough it gets.

Arjuna's svadharma is that of a Kshatriya warrior. Krishna is telling him that abandoning the battlefield to take up a renunciant's life is not his path. The warrior's duty, even with its terrible cost, is where Arjuna belongs.

This verse appears almost identically in Gita 18.47, showing how central this idea is to Krishna's teaching.

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