श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात्। स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः॥

Bhagavad Gita 3.35 comes from the third chapter, Karma Yoga. Arjuna is still tempted to leave the battlefield and take up a life of renunciation, so Krishna tells him why his own prescribed duty, svadharma, matters. A near-identical verse is repeated in chapter 18, verse 47, which is a sign of how central the idea is to the text.

The vocabulary makes the argument plain. Shreyan is better or more beneficial, svadharma is one's own dharma, the duty belonging to one's own nature and station, and vigunah means lacking in merit, in other words performed imperfectly. Paradharma is the dharma of another, and svanushthitat means well carried out. The second line goes further and says that even death in one's own dharma is better, while paradharma is bhayavaha, bringing fear. The reasoning is that borrowing someone else's role breeds anxiety, since the person never actually fits it.

In the Gita's setting, svadharma was tied to Arjuna's role as a warrior, and some readers hear in it a defence of fixed social duties. Others, including many modern teachers, read it more widely as an appeal to be honest about one's own temperament and abilities and to do one's best within them instead of imitating others. Both readings circulate, and thoughtful teachers point out that the verse should be read with the rest of the chapter. It is often quoted in talks on vocation and on choosing a path in life.