Chapter 3, Verse 35 of the Bhagavad Gita reads:
श्रेयान् स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात् स्वनुष्टितात् स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः
Roughly translated, this says that performing one’s prescribed duty (svadharma) imperfectly is better than performing another’s perfectly. Krishna tells Arjuna this in the context of Arjuna’s concerns about war. He tells Arjuna that it is his duty to fight the war, and that he cannot achieve freedom by renouncing his duties and activities; the path of action also leads to realizing God. Thus, this verse says that Arjuna should carry out his own duty of fighting, instead of becoming a renunciate like Krishna.
It’s one thing to say that I should perform my duty, but how am I supposed to know what is my duty? Even Arjuna is unclear as to what his duty is, and he requires God to guide him properly. This verse doesn’t answer the question directly, and nor do the following verses in Chapter 3.
In a world where we have so many choices for everything ranging from where we live, to what brand of juice we drink, to what profession we choose, determining one’s duty is not always straightforward. I have duties towards my family, towards my friends, towards my schoolwork, and towards my employer. And then there are duties in a much grander sense. Are these duties related to finding one’s calling in life? And in the context it’s used in this verse, what does duty mean? Is it your role as a father or mother, sister or brother, and son or daughter? Is it your profession, or role in society? Is one’s duty spiritual or worldly in nature? Does your duty change over the course of your life? Or is it merely the means you use to fulfill that duty that change?
When I’m at a crossroads in life, and need to make a tough decision, like Arjuna did, what principles should I use to guide that decision? How can I find out what my duty is?
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“In a world where we have so many choices for everything ranging from where we live, to what brand of juice we drink, to what profession we choose, determining one’s duty is not always straightforward.”
So true.
Perhaps this is pointing out the obvious, but there is a great loss of meaning when “dharma” is translated to “duty”. Many of our scriptures, and certainly the Mahabharata, are concerned with the difficult question of what one’s dharma is. It seems that dharma is not only your “duty”, but also what your “natural” state of being is, what your roles in life/society are (as you pointed out), what your training and upbringing have made you suitable for, etc. To take two random examples that come to mind: the ocean, in the Ramayana, refuses to part to allow Rama and the vanaras through, as that would be breaking its dharma, and instead suggests building a bridge. Also, it is said e.g. that those with a predominantly rajasic state of mind are best suited for Karmayoga — that is their dharma?
Thanks for this post… the question is worth pondering throughout one’s life.
(P.S.: I have been reading this blog for a few months now, and many of the posts are thought-provoking, but this is my first comment. Having to register just to make a comment is a (mild, but effective) deterrent. If this is intended, and you want to discourage casual commenters, that’s fine, but in case you want comments it would be great if you enabled an OpenID plugin (say) or even anonymous comments.)
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