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Chapter 18 · Verse 47 · Moksha Sanyaas Yoga

Bhagavad Gita 18.47

empowering Dharma & Duty Self & Identity Karma & Action

Sanskrit

श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात्।स्वभावनियतं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम्।।18.47।।

Transliteration

śhreyān swa-dharmo viguṇaḥ para-dharmāt sv-anuṣhṭhitāt svabhāva-niyataṁ karma kurvan nāpnoti kilbiṣham

Word by Word

śhreyān better
swa-dharmaḥ one’s own prescribed occupational duty
viguṇaḥ imperfectly done
para-dharmāt than another’s dharma
su-anuṣhṭhitāt perfectly done
svabhāva-niyatam according to one’s innate nature
karma duty
kurvan by performing
na āpnoti does not incur
kilbiṣham sin
Simplified Perspective

Krishna dissolves the ancient tension between perfection and authenticity in these words—better to stumble along your own sacred path than walk another's flawlessly. Your dharma is woven into your very nature, your temperament, your gifts; when you honor this truth and act from your genuine self, sin cannot touch you.

In our modern scramble to become someone else or chase borrowed dreams, we forget that liberation lives in returning to who we already are.

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Bhagavad Gita 18.47 — BG 18.47

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Sanskrit text from the Bhagavad Gita (public domain). Commentary © Mahakatha.

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