3.35
श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् ।
स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः ॥
śreyān svadharmo viguṇaḥ paradharmāt svanuṣṭhitāt
svadharme nidhanaṃ śreyaḥ paradharmo bhayāvahaḥ
śrībhagavān (श्रीभगवान्) is speaking, and the stretch ends on whose dharma the action is.
The verse
Better one's own dharma, imperfect, than another's well performed; death in one's own dharma is better; another's dharma brings fear.
नेपालीमा
अपूर्ण भए पनि आफ्नै धर्म, राम्ररी गरिएको अर्काको धर्मभन्दा राम्रो हो। आफ्नै धर्ममा मृत्यु राम्रो हो, र अर्काको धर्मले भय ल्याउँछ।
Where it sits
The action he was told to do from 3.8 on is not interchangeable with a finer action that belongs to someone else: the wheel, Janaka (जनक), and Kṛṣṇa's (कृष्ण) own work come down to his dharma, even poorly stood in. The next stretch asks what drags a person off even that.
Split: श्रेयान् + स्व-धर्मः + विगुणः + पर-धर्मात् + सु-अनुष्ठितात् + स्व-धर्मे + निधनम् + श्रेयः + पर-धर्मः + भय-आवहः
śreyān + sva-dharmaḥ + viguṇaḥ + para-dharmāt + su-anuṣṭhitāt + sva-dharme + nidhanam + śreyaḥ + para-dharmaḥ + bhaya-āvahaḥ
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| श्रेयान् | śreyān | nominative masculine of śreyas (श्रेयस्) | better. Agrees with svadharmaḥ (स्वधर्मः). |
| स्व-धर्मः | sva-dharmaḥ | nominative | one's own dharma. |
| विगुणः | viguṇaḥ | nominative | lacking its quality, imperfect. |
| पर-धर्मात् | para-dharmāt | ablative | than another's dharma. |
| सु-अनुष्ठितात् | su-anuṣṭhitāt | ablative | than one well performed. |
| स्व-धर्मे | sva-dharme | locative | in one's own dharma. |
| निधनम् | nidhanam | nominative neuter | death. |
| श्रेयः | śreyaḥ | nominative neuter of śreyas (श्रेयस्) | better. Agrees with nidhanam (निधनम्). |
| पर-धर्मः | para-dharmaḥ | nominative | another's dharma. |
| भय-आवहः | bhaya-āvahaḥ | nominative | bringing fear. |
The phrases
śreyān svadharmaḥ viguṇaḥ paradharmāt su-anuṣṭhitāt (श्रेयान् स्वधर्मः विगुणः परधर्मात् सुअनुष्ठितात्) is the comparison. Better one's own dharma, lacking quality, than another's dharma well performed. svadharmaḥ (स्वधर्मः) before viguṇaḥ (विगुणः) is svadharmo (स्वधर्मो). paradharmāt (परधर्मात्) keeps its t (त्) before s (स्).
स्वधर्मे निधनम् श्रेयः svadharme nidhanaṃ śreyaḥ narrows the same judgment to death. Death in one's own dharma is better. śreyaḥ (श्रेयः) is neuter here, because nidhanam (निधनम्) is neuter. śreyān (श्रेयान्) in the first line was masculine, with dharmaḥ (धर्मः).
paradharmaḥ bhayāvahaḥ (परधर्मः भयावहः) is the last clause, with no comparative. Another's dharma brings fear. paradharmaḥ (परधर्मः) before the voiced bh (भ्) is paradharmo (परधर्मो).
Sanskrit in this line
svanuṣṭhitāt (स्वनुष्ठितात्) is one sound with two splits. सु + अनुष्ठितात् su + anuṣṭhitāt, उ + अ u + a becoming va (व), is "well performed." स्व + अनुष्ठितात् sva + anuṣṭhitāt would be "performed as one's own," and the sound is the same. viguṇaḥ (विगुणः), "lacking its quality," is the word that picks the first. The contrast is imperfect against well performed. Teach su-anuṣṭhitāt (सु-अनुष्ठितात्).
Say it back
Whose dharma is better, and what the other one brings. If viguṇaḥ (विगुणः) is polished into "excellently," the comparison has been turned around.