Action According to One’s Own Svabhava and Svadharma

People who take up spiritual life frequently believe that they should change their line of work and focus in the exte
al world. In some cases, this is a recognition of the inner being’s guidance as the individual awakens to his true calling. In other cases, however, this is a mistaken belief that certain lines of work or action are ‘more spiritual’ and thus, one should abandon what was a natural calling for one that the mind has determined is the ‘more spiritual’ activity.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna advises Arjuna that it is better to follow one’s own law of living, even if it appears to be faulty in some way, than to try to follow some other law of action no matter how lofty or beneficial it appears. In Chapter III, Verse 35, Sri Krishna states: “Better is one’s own law of works, svadharma, though in itself faulty, then an alien law well wrought out; death in one’s own law of being is better, perilous is it to follow an alien law.” and he continues in Chapter XVIII, Verse 47: “Better is one’s own law of works, though in itself faulty, than an alien law well wrought out. One does not incur sin when one acts in agreement with the law of one’s own nature.” [citations translated by Sri Aurobindo from Bhagavad Gita and Its Message.]

Arjuna asks in Chapter II, Verse 54: “What is the sign of the man in Samadhi whose intelligence is firmly fixed in wisdom? How does the sage of settled understanding speak, how sit, how walk?” Sri Krishna responds, not with outward signs or actions, but with the inner standpoint and subjective basis that drives the action forward.

There are legends from the traditions of ancient India that speak of individuals who act from true humility, caring for their elders, working at jobs that are considered mean or low, but who have the inward attitude of consecrated action. They are accorded respect in the teachings versus those who put on a show of knowledge and who then look down on those with lesser outward signs of attainment of spiritual realization.

Sri Aurobindo observes: “There is no need for you to change the line of life and work you have chosen so long as you feel that to be the way of your nature (svabhava) or dictated to you by your inner being or, for some reason, it is seen to be your proper dharma. These are the three tests and apart from that I do not know if there is any fixed line of conduct or way of work or life that can be laid down for the yoga of the Gita. It is the spirit or consciousness in which the work is done that matters most; the outer form can vary greatly for different natures….”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Looking from Within, Chapter 3, Action and Work, pg. 62