svadharma

[Anand Hudli]

On Thu, 20 Jan 2000 05:15:43 -0800, Ravisankar Mayavaram
<miinalochanii at YAHOO.COM> wrote:

>svadharma denotes one's dharma according to the varNa and Ashrama in
>life as laid down by shaastra-s.
>
>What is the recourse if one is unable to follow it?
>
>I think sharaNagati is an answer.  Unable to follow his svadharma,
>confused and helpless, does not arjuNa surrender to God saying maam
>tvaam prapannam! (verse kaarpaNya doshho ...). Sometime back I asked
>the list how advaita-vedanta perceives and understands sharaNaagati.
>The message of giitaa is God will come as guidance and rescue to those
>who surrender and enable them to do their svadharma and lead them to
>moxa.
>
>Please share your knowledge on this subject.

 The gItA also has the verse 3.35, "shreyAn.h svadharmo viguNaH para-
 dharmAt.h svanushhThitAt.h ..." (also 18.47). Even if one performs
 one's own dharma without proper completion of all the components
 of the relevant karmas, it is still better than the dharma of another
 which is performed well. The gist is it is better to perform the
 varNa-Ashrama duties to the best of one's ability rather than giving
 them up completely.

 Anand

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

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