स्वधर्म

Svadharma (स्वधर्म) joins sva, "own", with dharma, "duty". In the Gita it is the work that fits the qualities born of one's own nature (18.41).

The best-known statement is in 3.35: one's own duty, even imperfectly done, is better than another's duty well performed, for another's duty brings fear. The same line returns in chapter 18 (18.47), with the added point that one who does the work ordained by nature incurs no fault. And 18.46 says that by worshipping the Lord through one's own work a human being attains perfection.

Common misreading: svadharma does not mean the family trade, a duty fixed by birth, or whatever the mind prefers. Verse 3.34 warns against coming under the sway of attraction and aversion, and in the fourth chapter the fourfold order is said to follow the division of quality and action (4.13).

For more, see the topic One's Own Duty.