A core teaching · grounding in mood · easy to enter
“Your imperfect duty is cleaner than a borrowed perfection.”
One's own duty, though imperfect, is better than another's duty well performed. Doing the work set by one's nature, a person does not incur wrongdoing.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Hover a word to focus on it.
Read literallybetter · one's own duty · without qualities, imperfect · than another's duty · well performed · fixed by one's own nature · action, work · doing · not · attains · wrongdoing, fault
It is better to do your own duty, even imperfectly, than to do someone else's duty well. Acting according to your nature does not lead you into wrongdoing.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Moksha Sanyasa Yoga" (Liberation through Renunciation).
Verse 47 sits in Chapter 18 of the Bhagavad Gita — Moksha Sanyasa Yoga, "Liberation through Renunciation". The chapter has 78 verses in total.
You are tempted to take the job that looks impressive, the role that earns praise, the life that belongs to someone else. This verse says the mismatch itself creates friction; your own work, even imperfectly done, keeps you clean.
Did you like this verse?
It shifts the mind from comparison to alignment: choose the work that matches your nature, not the work that flatters your ego.
What this verse means
It is better to do your own duty, even imperfectly, than to do someone else's duty well. Acting according to your nature does not lead you into wrongdoing.
Context & commentary
On Kurukshetra, Arjuna is frozen by doubt, and Krishna keeps returning him to action. After teaching sacrifice and devotion through work, Krishna now sharpens the point: the duty born of your own nature is safer than copying someone else's path.
Why this verse still matters
You are tempted to take the job that looks impressive, the role that earns praise, the life that belongs to someone else. This verse says the mismatch itself creates friction; your own work, even imperfectly done, keeps you clean.
“You can stop measuring yourself against other people's lives. Peace comes from doing what is actually yours.”
Explore related themes: karma yoga (55 verses)