Through my duties, I recognise the present of Īśvara. That is why there is so much joy and satisfaction in such actions, because I invoke my nature which is fullness. Perform this worship, a person gains success - purity of the mind, and therefore, qualification for knowing one’s own nature which is the fulfilment of a human life. Therefore Lord Krsna says that doing one’s own duty is better than the duty of another.
śreyān svadharmo viguṇaḥ paradharmāt svanuṣṭhitāt । svabhāvaniyataṁ karma kurvannāpnoti kilbiṣam ॥ 18-47॥ One’s own duty, devoid of merit, is better than the duty of another, well done. Doing action enjoined according to one’s nature, one does not gain any blemish.
Here the context of varnāśrama is taken into account. śreyān svadharmaḥ - for inner growth one’s own duty is the best means. One’s own duty is determined by the societal group into which one is born - varna, and the particular stage of life - aśrama, that one is at. We need to understand the whole system is for the purpose of one’s inner growth. When we are talking about inner growth, it is not just to deal with any better living conditions or intellect growth, but the most important is emotional maturity. The mind has to grow, not only in terms of knowledge, but also in terms of its capacity to properly interpret and respond to different situations. Even though the way of living, technology, values in the society etc. are different now, but, the needs of emotional maturity have always been the same for a Stone Age man as well as a modern man. If the modern man’s smartphone doesn’t work, he gets upset, in the same way the Stone Age man’s stone tool broke. The problem is the same. We have to deal with the mind, where any amount of information does not really alter the situation. Emotion has to be mastered which involves growth.
Even though now we are not following the varnāśrama system, we still have to see this spirit in our duty when relating to others in family, work place, society, etc. Why even if your duty is not well done, it is better than doing the duty of somebody else? The word viguṇaḥ can also be understood as something which is not pleasant. Even if your duty is not liked by you, or not very remunerative or respected, it is better than the duty of another, which is well performed.
How is it better? According to the proportion of sattva, rajas, or tamas, which practically accounts for one’s psychological make-up, certain karma was mentioned by śāstra. Doing that, one does not incur any fault - kurvannāpnoti kilbiṣam. The idea is that when one expresses oneself according to the composition of one’s guna in one’s own duty, one is at ease and has no conflict. Therefore one can do one’s duty with karma-yoga attitude, whereby one become free from the hold of likes and dislikes. Once that is recognised, any job is a good job and anything we do is not binding. It is better to like what you do than to always look for something that you like. Even if you find something you like, it will not take much time for you to find it monotonous and begin to look for something else. This goes on and on. Therefore Lord Krsna says in the next verse.
sahajaṁ karma kaunteya sadoṣamapi na tyajet ।
sarvārambhā hi doṣeṇa dhūmenāgnirivāvṛtāḥ ॥ 18-48॥ The karma that is natural (according to one’s birth), Kaunteya (Arjuna)! Though defective, one should not give up, because all undertakings are covered with fault, like fire (is covered) with smoke.
Every karma is inherently defective because it is within the three guna and therefore perpetuates a life of becoming - samsāra. However, even though karma, into which one is born - sahajaṁ, is fraught with defect - sadoṣam, one should not give it up - na tyajet. Since all karma are defective, there is no point jumping from one defect to another one.
What is the defect of karma? It produces result which are in the form of punya or pāpa, neither of which is a solution to the problem. The idea is that even though karma binds, giving up one’s karma does not give freedom from karma - naiskarmya. Freedom from karma is there only by giving up one’s ignorance. On the other hand, by doing karma or svadharma, with the proper attitude, one is free from the hold of likes and dislike, and therefore Lord Krsna says here, do not give up karma enjoined upon you by birth - sahajaṁ karma na tyajet. Even our duty in the family, towards any people and society in any given place and situation are prarabdha, which comes with this birth alone.
Try to see the connection of this verse with the title of this chapter called moksa-sannyāsa-yogah - topic of freedom and renunciation. It amounts to say that freedom from karma (and its result) is not gained by formal renunciation, but the sannyāsa here is sarva-karma-sannyāsa where one is free because of self-knowledge. Especially for the audience whose moksa is the only pursuit, he may choose to take sannyāsa which lifestyle will give more time to pursue knowledge. But it will be fruitless if one is not ready for it. In formal sannyāsa, one reduces the number of roles played, from parent, spouse, son, daughter etc. but then, there is no socialising, no outlet and that can be very difficult if he is not ready.
The inherent defect in karma can partially be gotten rid of by karma-yoga and then, karma can finally be given up totally by knowing that in reality there is no karma at all. When fire is covered with smoke, the only way to completely eliminate the smoke is to extinguish the fire by removing the fuel. Here, the fuel which was supplied to the fire of karma is taken away purely by knowing that I am free from doership - aham akarta. The fuel here is ignorance or being a non-doer. Since karma cannot be given up totally by one who is ignorant, it is said here that one should not give up the karma that is his duty. The reason that the ignorant person should not give up karma because giving up one type of action is only going to be followed by taking up another, which is equally defective, because it cannot release you from punya-pāpa. It is important to understand that we do not become free from karma, because we have always been free from karma. We only need to convert every action into yoga, a means for self-purification which is preparedness to abide in the fact that I am not a doer.
After all, what is success? If success is being able to fulfil your likes and dislikes, you are bound for failure because it is not possible to fulfil all of them. Gaining mastery over our likes and dislikes through karma-yoga is successful living. one type of action is only going to be followed by taking up another, which is equally defective, because it cannot release you from punya-pāpa.
It is important to understand that we do not become free from karma, because we have always been free from karma. We only need to convert every action into yoga, a means for self-purification which is preparedness to abide in the fact that I am not a doer.
After all, what is success? If success is being able to fulfil your likes and dislikes, you are bound for failure because it is not possible to fulfil all of them. Gaining mastery over our likes and dislikes through karma-yoga is successful living.