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Adhyāyas / Sāṅkhya Yogaḥ / verse 31

Mūla — the verse

Gita Press numbering
स्वधर्ममपि चावेक्ष्य न विकम्पितुमर्हसि। धर्म्याद्धि युद्धाछ्रेयोऽन्यत्क्षत्रियस्य न विद्यते
swa-dharmam api chāvekṣhya na vikampitum arhasi dharmyāddhi yuddhāch chhreyo ’nyat kṣhatriyasya na vidyate
Anuṣṭubh(!!) irregular in source

Translation

Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣya

Even considering your own duty, you should not waver, since there is nothing better for a Ksatriya than a righteous battle.

हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda

और स्वधर्म को भी देखकर तुमको विचलित होना उचित नहीं है, क्योंकि धर्मयुक्त युद्ध से बढ़कर दूसरा कोई कल्याणकारक कर्त्तव्य क्षत्रिय के लिये नहीं है।।

Pronunciation — Vaamshii

from Vaamshii
स्व धर्म मपि चा वेक्ष्य
न विकम्पि तुमर् हसि
धर्म्याद् धि युद्धाच् छ्रेयोऽन्यत् (!!)
क्षत्रियस् यन विद् यते
॥ ३१ ॥
Read each split group as one breath-unit; hyphens join pādas kept whole for the meter or a compound word. Symbols: # upadhmānīya (visarga before p/ph), % jihvāmūlīya (visarga before k/kh), ऽ avagraha (an elided a). Full method →

Word by word

padārtha
swa-dharmamone’s duty in accordance with the Vedas
apialso
chaand
avekṣhyaconsidering
nanot
vikampitumto waver
arhasishould
dharmyātfor righteousness
hiindeed
yuddhātthan fighting
śhreyaḥbetter
anyatanother
kṣhatriyasyaof a warrior
nanot
vidyateexists

Themes

from The Thematic Companion to the Bhagavad Gītā

Meaning — Questions & Solutions

from Q&A with KnA
2.31Svadharma and Kṣatriya.

Svadharma is the duty one has chosen — for a living and to serve society, keeping individual and collective well-being in mind — following one's own inclination towards certain qualities. A Kṣatriya, in the varṇa scheme, is a description into which a person fits when he carries qualities such as patriotism, generosity, valour, physical endurance, courage, a sense of responsibility and rulership, justice, fraternity, and leadership (see 18.43). Such a person may instead take up some other profession demanding other qualities — and then he is not truly a Kṣatriya. But when one's nature (svabhāva) and one's work (dharma-karma) align, one is a real Kṣatriya. Arjuna is one.