75. Dharma is One

Krishna says that swa-dharma (own-nature or reality) is superior to well accomplished para-dharma (other’s nature or reality) even when the former is devoid of merit. It’s better to die in swa-dharma than to be fraught with fear in para-dharma (3.35). This intricate verse creates more doubts than clarity in our minds.

This verse is purely contextual for Arjuna in the Kurukshetra war. Arjuna has warrior dharma till that moment and desires to be a saint in the next one. The chances for this change are bleak, and Krishna is indicating the same in this verse.

While dharma or reality is One, we perceive it in different ways like how the proverbial blind men perceive the same elephant differently through their touch. If one perceives it as a tusk, then that becomes their reality or swa-dharma. In the contemporary context, it is called paradigm or frame of reference.

The verse further indicates that one who perceives it as a tusk should keep pursuing his path rather than trying to adopt the beautifully presented version of the one (para-dharma) who perceives it as a leg or a tail.

The question that arises is whose perception is correct. All of them are correct in their own way and that’s why Krishna doesn’t encourage comparison when he advises us to follow swa-dharma even if it’s devoid of merits. 

Dharma is like electricity that enters our homes and manifests differently depending on the appliance it powers. Each appliance has its own nature and a fan can’t dream of being a TV.

Krishna earlier indicated that suppression doesn’t lead us anywhere (3.33). Adopting other’s reality is suppressing one’s own reality. Suppression leads to exclusion whereas reality is the sum of all the individual perceptions as in the case of the blind men and the elephant. It is a journey starting with swa-dharma, assimilating para-dharma through awareness and compassion to finally drop all dharmas (18.66).