Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 31
स्वधर्ममपि चावेक्ष्य न विकम्पितुमर्हसि।
धर्म्याद्धि युद्धाछ्रेयोऽन्यत्क्षत्रियस्य न विद्यते।।
धर्म्याद्धि युद्धाछ्रेयोऽन्यत्क्षत्रियस्य न विद्यते।।
swa-dharmam api cāvekṣya na vikampitum arhasi
dharmyāddhi yuddhāc cchreyo ’nyat kṣatriyasya na vidyate
also searched as "swadharmam api chavekshya na vikampitum arhasi"
Translation
Further, considering also your own duty, it does not befit you to waver. For, to a Kshatriya, there is no greater good than a righteous war.
Vāṇi's rendering
Look at your own dharma and do not waver. For a warrior, nothing is higher than a righteous fight.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| स्वधर्मम्sva-dharmam | your own duty, the work that is yours to do |
| अपिapi | also, further |
| चca | and (joined by sandhi with the next word) |
| अवेक्ष्यavekṣya | having looked at, having considered |
| नna | not |
| विकम्पितुम्vikampitum | to tremble, to waver |
| अर्हसिarhasi | you ought, it befits you |
| धर्म्यात्dharmyāt | than one that is righteous, in accord with dharma |
| हिhi | indeed, for |
| युद्धात्yuddhāt | than a fight, than battle |
| श्रेयःśreyaḥ | better, higher good |
| अन्यत्anyat | another thing, anything else |
| क्षत्रियस्यkṣatriyasya | for a warrior, for one born to protect |
| नna | not |
| विद्यतेvidyate | exists, is found |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 31 mean?
It means the duty that belongs to you is the one to look at, not the duty you wish you had. Arjuna is a warrior facing a righteous fight; for him there is no higher good than standing in it. Krishna removes the option of trembling by removing the option of being someone else.
What does swadharmam api chavekshya na vikampitum arhasi teach?
It teaches that steadiness comes from clarity about your own work. Once you have truly looked at sva-dharma — not another's role, not an imagined cleaner one — the shaking has nowhere to stand. Krishna does not tell Arjuna the fight will be painless. He tells him it is his.
Is this verse saying war is good?
No. Krishna says that for a kṣatriya, a fight undertaken for dharma is the highest thing available — not that violence is good, but that abandoning the field you were placed on is worse. The measure is dharmya, righteous. A fight without that word attached earns none of this praise.
How do I know what my own dharma is?
It is usually the thing already in front of you that you are trying to trade for something more admirable. Sva-dharma has a cost attached and your name on it. Look at what is yours — the parent to be cared for, the work that fell to you — and stop scanning the horizon for a better assignment.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna has just spoken of the deathless self; now he drops to the ground Arjuna is standing on. Not the eternal — the immediate. You are a warrior, and the fight in front of you is a just one. Sva-dharma is not the grandest duty available; it is the one that has your name on it. Arjuna keeps looking for a better role, a cleaner path, some other man's work that would not cost him his cousins. Krishna refuses him the escape. The task that is yours will rarely look noble from inside. Do it anyway, without the tremor.