Word meanings
- śreyān
- better
- swa-dharmaḥ
- personal duty
- viguṇaḥ
- tinged with faults
- para-dharmāt
- than another’s prescribed duties
- su-anuṣṭhitāt
- perfectly done
- swa-dharme
- in one’s personal duties
- nidhanam
- death
- śreyaḥ
- better
- para-dharmaḥ
- duties prescribed for others
- bhaya-āvahaḥ
- fraught with fear
Translations
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.
It is better to do one's own duty, however lacking in merit, than to do that of another, even though efficiently. It is better to die doing one's own duty, for doing the duty of another is fraught with danger.
One's own duty, though defective, is superior to another's duty well-performed. Death is better while engaged in one's own duty; another's duty is full of fear.
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।Commentary
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).