श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् ।स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः ॥
śreyān svadharmo viguṇaḥ paradharmāt svanuṣṭhitāt |svadharme nidhanaṃ śreyaḥ paradharmo bhayāvahaḥ ||
- श्रेयान् · śreyān
- better
- स्वधर्मः · svadharmaḥ
- one's own duty
- विगुणः · viguṇaḥ
- imperfect, lacking merit
- परधर्मात् · paradharmāt
- than another's duty
- स्वनुष्ठितात् · svanuṣṭhitāt
- well performed
- निधनम् · nidhanam
- death
- भयावहः · bhayāvahaḥ
- bringing danger, perilous
“Better is one's own duty, though imperfect, than another's duty well performed. Death in one's own duty is better; another's duty brings peril.”
— Original plain-language translation
IN SHORT Do your own role imperfectly rather than copying someone else's path.
Nature (verse 33) makes each person's svadharma — Arjuna's warrior-duty — the fittest instrument of growth. Borrowing another's path, however glossy, estranges one from oneself. The verse returns climactically at 18.47, framing the whole Gita's ethic of authentic duty. Like wearing shoes of your own size rather than squeezing into someone else's larger pair.
— Reader's notes (original)