Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 18, verse 47
A key verse on svadharma, one's own duty: it is better to follow one's own path, even imperfectly, than to copy another's.
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श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् ।स्वभावनियतं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम् ॥
śreyānsvadharmo viguṇaḥ paradharmātsvanuṣṭhitāt |svabhāvaniyataṃ karma kurvannāpnoti kilbiṣam ||
Better is one's own dharma, even done imperfectly, than another's dharma done well. Doing the work that fits one's own nature, one incurs no sin.
दूसरे का धर्म अच्छी तरह निभाने से अपना धर्म, कमियों के साथ भी, बेहतर है। अपने स्वभाव के अनुसार कर्म करने से मनुष्य को पाप नहीं लगता।
दुसऱ्याचा धर्म उत्तम पाळण्यापेक्षा आपला धर्म, उणिवांसह असला तरी, श्रेयस्कर आहे. स्वभावानुसार नियत कर्म करताना माणसाला पाप लागत नाही.
In Sanskrit, sounds at word edges merge (sandhi), so a line looks like one long word. Split it to see each word and its meaning.
श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् ।स्वभावनियतं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम् ॥
यतः प्रवृत्तिर्भूतानां येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ।
By worshipping, through one's own work, the One from whom all beings arise and by whom all this is pervaded, a person attains perfection.
18.48सहजं कर्म कौन्तेय सदोषमपि न त्यजेत् ।
One should not abandon the work one is born to, Arjuna, even if it has faults; for every undertaking is covered by some fault, as fire is by smoke.
The Yoga of Liberation through Renunciation
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