Summary:
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 35: Svadharma (one's own duty) is determined by one's nature (svabhava/prakrti) and should be followed even if performed imperfectly, rather than adopting paradharma (another's duty) which creates frustration and dissatisfaction. Svadharma emerges naturally from understanding one's unique position and situation, requiring no external instruction. Paradharma manifests when imposing decisions on others, prioritizing personal feelings over duty, or imitating others due to unclear understanding of one's role. Taking another's path/duties (svadharma) demands traits and strengths incompatible with one's nature, leading to dissatisfaction and meaninglessness. Even pursuing moksha can become paradharma if one abandons responsibilities prematurely without allowing the mind to mature. Spiritual seeker's svadharma is correcting one's thinking processes. Spiritual seeker's paradharma is insulting or finding fault in teachers/teachings.
Revision
Chapter 3, Verse 33:
Everything governed by nature:
Every being acts in accordance with its inherent nature (svabhāva/prakṛti). Fire gives heat. Sandalwood has constant fragrance. Cow gives milk. Water always goes from mountain to ground. Heart beats.
Likewise, human beings act consistently with their nature (samskaras / childhood formed impressions).
Controversial question posed by Krishna:
“Then what use is control?” (nigrahaḥ kim kariṣyati?)
On the surface, such a question implies you're forever stuck with your nature – just as fire is always going to be hot. It implies that neither inner self-control, nor external instruction, nor guru’s command can fully suppress your nature.
Question of free will:
If everything is determined by nature, the role of free will comes into question.
Animals: Animals function solely by nature; but lack free will. Hence, don’t have scriptures or duties.
Humans: Also function solely by nature; but possess free will, which enables them to align to their “animal/survival/procreating nature” or pursue their higher nature (moksha). Because free will offers many choices, we need a compass of śāstra.
Initially, going against animal nature is hard. But through discipline, you rise above it.
What makes the journey of rising above your animal nature so difficult?…
Chapter 3, Verse 34:
Krishna says…
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- Likes/dislikes for things you were told by others (also guided by likes/dislikes) – what things are worthy/unworthy.
- The ease of comfortable and enjoyable-now, vs. hard and enjoyed-later.
- Past life impressions, and childhood formed ideas.
Kṛṣṇa says to them: tayoḥ vaśam na āgacchet – “Do not come under their sway” — else they become your enemies.
What is your sword against the enemies? Free will, which doesn’t control what arises in the mind, but determines how you respond, what you do or don't do with the thoughts. EG: You can’t stop feeling attracted to a person, but can stop not acting upon it, or enveloping your responses with ethical values.
Over time, choosing path of śreyaḥ (hard-right), weakens temptation of preyaḥ (easy-straight).
NEXT VERSE: What it means to follow your nature…
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 35:
Svadharma & paradharma
श्रेयान् स्वधर्मः विगुणः परधर्मात् स्वनुष्ठितात् ।
स्वधर्मे निधनम् श्रेयः परधर्मः भय-आवहः ॥ ३-३५॥
śreyān svadharmaḥ viguṇaḥ paradharmāt svanuṣṭhitāt ।
svadharme nidhanam śreyaḥ paradharmaḥ bhaya-āvahaḥ ॥ 3-35॥
Better is one’s own imperfectly performed dharma than the well performed dharma of another. Death in one’s own dharma is better. The dharma of another is fraught with fear.
1. Introduction: The Core Teaching
Your nature (svabhava / prakrti), as we've spoken of in the revision above, determines your svadharma (duty or roles you play). As you work to improve your nature, it modifies your svadharma.
Thus it’s better to do your svadharma poorly then another’s svadharma wonderfully. Because others svadharma is based on their nature. By taking their svadharma, it’ll be incompatible with your nature — since nature always corresponds with svadharma, and swadharma always reflects one's nature.
Put simply, you should NOT take on someone else's duty – because you’re forcing a duty/role/job onto yourself that is NOT compatible with your nature (your strengths, preferences, talents).
For example, someone's nature is being detailed and technical, and for this reason they're a web developer, and make a lot of money. Seeing this, you too want to make money — so you decide to imitate them, and also become a web developer. Soon enough you realize it's not going well, it's hard! You conclude it's because you don't have the entrepreneurial spirit. But the real reason is your nature (extroverted, communicator, negotiator) is incompatible with “web designer”.
In short: your nature determines your svadharma.
2. Understanding Svadharma (One's Own Duty)
You can only act from where YOU are placed. Wherever you're placed physically, certain responses are required of you, and this constitutes your personal responsibilities (svadharma).
For example, being physically placed in your house, surrounded by family – that'll summon different responsibilities and traits out of you – compared to being physically placed inside the work cubicle, surrounded by different people.
Duty (svadharma) doesn't require external instruction – it becomes evident when you understand the situation clearly and what is called for.
Sometimes people ask for advice regarding duty because the mind lacks sufficient discerning skills or experience, making it non-evident what needs to be done.
3. Understanding Paradharma (Another's Duty)
Paradharma manifests in several ways:
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- When you impose a decision on someone else, thinking the other person has to behave as you want them to. This is equivalent to a jailor (you) holding onto a prisoner – in which case there's no freedom for either. Long as you're holding grudges towards others, world, family, etc – because they're not doing or saying what you think they should – you imprison yourself. The prisoner is always accompanied by the jailer (you). Neither are free.
- When personal feelings become more important then doing what is to be done, then you’ve stepped into paradharma.
- When, due to non-clarity about what needs to be done in your unique position, you take on someone else's duty just because your role seems less exciting and harder. Example: A goalkeeper starts running with other players because the ball rarely comes to him. Or a screw in machinery decides to detach itself and mingle with the gears.
4. The Danger of Imitating Others
When you observe someone else's apparently satisfying activities, you naturally want to imitate them.
But taking on another's svadharma is fraught with fear (bhayāvahaḥ), disappointment, frustration — because as we said earlier, it'll require a nature (traits, strengths) out of you which you haven't developed.
On one hand you'll be doing someone else's duty, but it'll be demanding traits out of you (such as patience, eye for detail) that is foreign to you. Thus it'll bring frustration, and dissatisfaction, meaninglessness, emptiness.
Therefore Krishna says, even if your svadharma appears viguṇa (lacking satisfactory features or is seemingly insignificant), it's still much better than taking on someone else's path/duty.
5. Arjuna's Dilemma as the Perfect Example
Arjuna had a unique position: He was a prince and a warrior whose family had been treated unfairly, with responsibility toward subjects in the kingdom. This was only Arjuna's place, not anyone else's.
If Arjuna started following paradharma (ie: pursuing moksha just when the world needs him most) — he would be ignoring his larger role (prince, responsibility toward subjects, warrior), operating from “what feels better, easier” — and what would bring him guilt, shame and weakness for not having the courage to do what was called for.
In otherwords, even if Arjuna discovered the only purpose of life is moksha and retreated to the mountains to pursue it, just because that's what the wise people do – that would still be paradharma because it dismisses Arjuna's total character, his present position in life, and the situation he is in. This means even pursuing moksha can be paradharma when you leave things prematurely, not giving the mind a chance to mature.
7. Modern Examples of Paradharma
The Overenthusiastic Junior: Juniors in a new company, full of ideas and energy, think they have great ideas that everyone needs to hear and implement. They act as if they've been in the company for years. This is paradharma. They eventually become complainers, always having an agenda for others (since they're so smart). Their productivity falls as they're not focusing on what they're specifically assigned to do.
The COVID Critic: During COVID, many people complained, focusing on what's problematic, what's not working, convincing themselves they had the right solutions while criticizing the government that was actually doing something. If you were working in the government, you'd see the reality – while the government thinks of solutions, no matter what you do, people hardly appreciate you. When complaining, ask: “What have I actually done to help this situation?”
8. The Practical Application
Do what needs to be done by you (svadharma), and drop the agenda for what others need to do, which is an act of paradharma.
Paradharma results in powerlessness which leads to complaining and dissatisfaction. To feel powerless is not natural. Ishvara doesn't create powerless beings.
Example: For a spiritual seeker – svadharma is to straighten out one's thinking processes. Whereas, it becomes paradharma when the spiritual seeker starts finding fault with teachers and teachings – which ironically creates dissatisfaction (something they wanted to remove in the first place).
Difference:
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- Svadharma is inside-out — ie. you act from what makes senses to you, despite outside pressure of what you SHOULD do.
- Paradharma is outside-in — for example, “Everyone goes to university, therefore, so will I!”.
9. Your Sphere of Influence
Do what you can in your sphere of immediate influence. Those who are not in your sphere of influence, let them be, else they enter your mind and disturb you.
Ask yourself: “What is important for me?” Then get busy with it.
10. The Perfect Student: Arjuna's Example
Arjuna is a perfect spiritual seeker because he only asked “What can I do?”. He didn't complain in a single verse about Duryodhana, Karna, the Kauravas, or the world — which would've been counter-productive as he has no control over others.
NEXT VERSE: Arjuna asks an interesting question…
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Course was based on Swami Dayananda (Arsha Vidya) home study course.
Recorded 14 Sept, 2025