CH 3, Verse 35

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Chapter 3

Verse 35

 

Shreyaan svadharmo viguNaH para-dharmaat

svanushhThitaat /

svadharme nidhana.n shreyaH para-dharmo bhay'aavahaH

//

 

Better is one’s own Dharma, (duty based on the law of

one’s own nature,) though lacking in merits, than that

of another, even though well observed. Better is

death in one’s own dharma (Svadharma;) but another’s

Dharma (Paradharma) is fraught with fear.

 

LESSONS FROM BHAGAVAD GITA – 27

As taught by Parama Pujya Sri Swamiji

Compiled by: Swami Dattananda

Bhakti Mala, February 1995

 

Arjuna’s duty was to fight the battle to establish

Dharma (righteousness) in the land. But he hesitated

to do that, as he would kill his own relations who

were on the enemy’s side. Every man has his own

duties to perform. But he never likes all of them.

Some he likes and some he hates. This love and hatred

are the greatest enemies that prevent a man from doing

his duties properly. So he should not yield to these

two enemies.

 

“Better is one’s own Dharma, (duty based on the law of

one’s own nature,) though lacking in merits, than that

of another, even though well observed. Better is

death in one’s own dharma (Svadharma;) but another’s

Dharma (Paradharma) is fraught with fear” (Chapter 3,

Verse 35).

 

Svadharma may mean the duties that devolve on people

according to their birth as Brahmana, Kshatriya,

Vaisya and Sudra. The mental capacities of all men

are not alike. A man may be very intelligent, another

may have an average intelligence, and the third one

may be dull in mind. In the same way, one may possess

all noble qualities and he may also have a strong

inclination to lead a life of austerity, whereas

another one may be selfish with a tendency to lead a

life of selfish actions. The Varnashrama code of duty

prescribed in the scriptures has given due thought to

this factor of the difference in the mental capacity

of one man and another. People’s birth in the

different classes of Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaisya and

Sudra was supposed to be determined by their past

lives’ mental make-up or development. Each class

prescribes its own duty as means of livelihood to its

people and that duty is their Svadharma or one’s own

duty of each individual of that class.

 

But in a classless society or a society where classes

have lost their prominence, Svadharma cannot be

determined on a class basis. In such a context,

Svadharma can be described as duty determined by one’s

mental constitution or inclination. As a general

statement, we can describe Svadharma as the work that

falls to one’s lot as duty.

 

Man should continue to do his duty undeterred by any

apprehension of misery or calamity. Arjuna was a

Kshatriya and his duty was to fight for a just cause.

But he was going to abandon it, as he had to kill his

own relations in the war. He was going to take to the

life of a Sanyasi or a recluse. But such a life

needed self-control and discipline. It was a life

full of austerities and penance for which Arjuna was

not prepared. Therefore, he had to perform his

Svadharma, the duty fallen to his lot by virtue of his

birth as well as inclination. The idea is that

Arjuna’s thought of withdrawing from the fight, and

going in for the peaceful life of a recluse, is

prompted by man’s natural tendency to give up what is

disagreeable to the senses. He should not yield to

this weakness.

 

In fact, Arjuna was being exhorted to adopt Karma Yoga

as his way of spiritual development, because his

nature would not allow him to renounce a life of

action and resort to seclusion for penance. Though

another’s duty would appear easy to perform, it would

prove to be a delusion in the long run. If one

abandon’s one’s duty and takes to another’s, it is

certain that one would meet with failures. Hence it is

said that death while performing one’s own duty is

preferable to the acceptance of another’s duty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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