18.47
श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः
परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् ।
स्वभावनियतं कर्म
कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम् ॥
śreyān svadharmo viguṇaḥ paradharmāt svanuṣṭhitāt
svabhāvaniyataṃ karma kurvann āpnoti kilbiṣam
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is still speaking, to Arjuna (अर्जुन).
The verse
Better is one's own dharma, though faulty, than another's dharma well performed; doing the work fixed by his own nature, he does not obtain a stain.
नेपालीमा
दोष भए पनि आफ्नै धर्म, राम्ररी गरिएको अर्काको धर्मभन्दा श्रेष्ठ हुन्छ। आफ्नै स्वभावले तोकेको कर्म गर्दा उसले दाग पाउँदैन।
Where it sits
Arjuna's (अर्जुन) choice is his own dharma, fault and all, and the work his nature fixes brings no stain.
Split: श्रेयान् + स्व-धर्मः + विगुणः + पर-धर्मात् + सु-अनुष्ठितात् + स्वभाव-नियतम् + कर्म + कुर्वन् + न + आप्नोति + किल्बिषम्
śreyān + sva-dharmaḥ + viguṇaḥ + para-dharmāt + su-anuṣṭhitāt + svabhāva-niyatam + karma + kurvan + na + āpnoti + kilbiṣam
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| श्रेयान् | śreyān | nominative masculine of śreyas (श्रेयस्) | better. A comparative. |
| स्व-धर्मः | sva-dharmaḥ | nominative | one's own dharma. |
| विगुणः | viguṇaḥ | nominative | faulty, missing its quality. vi (वि) here takes the quality away. Agrees with sva-dharmaḥ (स्व-धर्मः). |
| पर-धर्मात् | para-dharmāt | ablative | than another's dharma. para (पर) is the other. |
| सु-अनुष्ठितात् | su-anuṣṭhitāt | ablative | than one well performed. su (सु) is "well." anuṣṭhita (अनुष्ठित) is "carried out." Agrees with para-dharmāt (पर-धर्मात्). |
| स्वभाव-नियतम् | svabhāva-niyatam | accusative neuter | fixed by one's own nature. niyata (नियत) is "held to, ordained." |
| कर्म | karma | accusative of karman (कर्मन्) | the work. |
| कुर्वन् | kurvan | present participle, nominative | doing. From kṛ (कृ). |
| न | na | indeclinable | not. |
| आप्नोति | āpnoti | present, 3rd singular | he obtains. From āp (आप्). |
| किल्बिषम् | kilbiṣam | accusative | stain, guilt. |
The phrases
śreyān svadharmo viguṇaḥ paradharmāt svanuṣṭhitāt (श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात्) is the comparison. One's own dharma, even faulty, is better. The ablative is the thing it is better than: another's dharma, and that other one well performed.
svabhāvaniyataṃ karma kurvan (स्वभावनियतं कर्म कुर्वन्) is the man in the act. Doing the work his own nature fixes.
nāpnoti kilbiṣam (नाप्नोति किल्बिषम्) is what he does not pick up. A stain. The participle kurvan (कुर्वन्) is the subject of āpnoti (आप्नोति).
Sanskrit in this line
The ablative answers "than" in a comparison. para-dharmāt (पर-धर्मात्) is "than another's dharma," and su-anuṣṭhitāt (सु-अनुष्ठितात्) agrees with it. śreyān (श्रेयान्), "better," is the comparative that needs that ablative. सु + अनुष्ठितात् su + anuṣṭhitāt is recited svanuṣṭhitāt (स्वनुष्ठितात्), because उ + अ u + a becomes va (व).
Say it back
Cover the English. Say which dharma is better. If viguṇaḥ (विगुणः) is thrown out and only the well-performed other dharma remains, stay here.