The Giitá says: Svadharme nidhanaḿ shreyah paradharmo bhayávahah. Even if svadharma [humans’ “own dharma”] is without merit and paradharma [the dharma of other beings] is pleasant and delightful, “it is better to perish in svadharma; paradharma is terrifying.” What does the Giitá mean by svadharma? Does it mean the different religions – Vaeśńava Dharma, Shákta Dharma, Hindu Dharma, etc? No, it does not mean that. Svadharma means manuśya dharma [human dharma].

Trees and plants also have a sort of dharma; they are also guided by certain principles. In fact, all living beings do have a dharma common to all of them. But in addition to that common dharma, plants and trees have a specific dharma as well; that is their svadharma. Similarly birds and animals have a specific dharma; that is their svadharma. And humans have their own specific dharma; that is their svadharma. What then is that specific svadharma of humans? It is mánava dharma [human dharma], Bhágavata dharma [divine dharma], whose fundamental pillars are vistára [the principle of expansion], rasa [the principle of total surrender to Parama Puruśa], sevá [selfless service to Parama Puruśa and His creation], and tadsthiti [the final ensconcement in Parama Puruśa]: to expand, to spread out; to be lost in the endless flow of divine feelings; and to derive bliss from that [vistára], rasa and sevá. And the supreme goal of tadsthiti is to attain permanent ensconcement in Parama Puruśa. This indeed is manuśya dharma.

The svadharma of human beings, then, is this manuśya dharma, this Bhágavata dharma. What has been stated is that even if the practice of Bhágavata dharma brings pain and sorrow and the practice of paradharma (that is to say, the dharma of animals and plants) brings pleasure, humans will have to stick firmly to their svadharma, their mánava dharma. Humans should never allow themselves to descend to paradharma, the dharma of birds and beasts, of trees and plants. On no account should animal dharma be encouraged. The flag of mánava dharma must always be held high under all circumstances. This is exactly what Shrii Krśńa means when He says: Svadharme nidhanaḿ shreyah paradharmo bhayávahah – “It would be better to die upholding human dharma, upholding the ideal of humanity; one should never allow oneself to fall back into a state of animality.”