7-verse reading plan
Bhagavad Gita on comparison and self-worth: 7 verses
For the scroll that leaves you feeling behind everyone you follow.
- 7 verses
- Gita, then the Mahabharata
- About 14 min to read
- Sanskrit, English, audio
Krishna says it twice, in chapter 3 and again in chapter 18: better your own path walked imperfectly than someone else's walked perfectly. Around that line sit verses on being your own friend (6.5), contentment free of envy (4.22), dropping the 'I' that keeps score (2.71) and doing your own work as worship (18.46). The last is from the Mahabharata: a half-golden mongoose and the smallest gift at an emperor's sacrifice.
The seven verses
- Verse 1See itAre you on your own side?Gita 6.5
- Verse 2What's underneathBorrowed lives are dangerousGita 3.35
- Verse 3SteadyContent, and free of envyGita 4.22
- Verse 4SteadyThe 'I' that keeps scoreGita 2.71
- Verse 5DoYour own path, againGita 18.47
- Verse 6DoYour work as worshipGita 18.46
- Verse 7A storyHalf a golden mongooseMahabharata
Are you on your own side?
आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ॥
Be on your own side. Lift yourself up, don't push yourself down. You can be your own friend.
Bhagavad Gita 6.5 · Krishna
Full translation
Lift yourself by yourself; do not let yourself fall. The true self is its own friend, and the true self is its own enemy.
अपने द्वारा अपना उद्धार करे, अपना पतन न करे क्योंकि आप ही अपना मित्र है और आप ही अपना शत्रु है ॥
What it means for you
Comparison is mostly a voice that pushes you down. Krishna says you can be your own friend or your own enemy, and asks you to lift yourself up. Start by noticing which one you've been lately.
Try this
Each time you compare yourself today, add one line of what you'd say to a friend in your place.
Borrowed lives are dangerous
स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः ॥
Better your own path done imperfectly than someone else's done perfectly. Borrowed lives are dangerous.
Bhagavad Gita 3.35 · Krishna
Full translation
Better is one's own duty, though imperfect, than another's duty well performed. Better death in one's own duty; another's duty is dangerous.
अच्छी तरह आचरणमें लाये हुए दूसरेके धर्मसे गुणोंकी कमीवाला अपना धर्म श्रेष्ठ है । अपने धर्ममें तो मरना भी कल्याणकारक है और दूसरेका धर्म भयको देनेवाला है ॥
What it means for you
Śreyān sva-dharmo viguṇaḥ: your own path, even done imperfectly, is better than another's done well. Comparison quietly swaps your path for someone else's and then grades you on theirs. Krishna calls that swap dangerous.
Try this
Write one thing you want for your life that you'd still want if nobody could see it.
The verse is about your own nature and calling, whatever role family or birth handed you.
Content, and free of envy
समः सिद्धावसिद्धौ च कृत्वापि न निबध्यते ॥
Content with what comes, beyond envy, steady in success and failure, you stay free even while working.
Bhagavad Gita 4.22 · Krishna
Full translation
Content with whatever comes by itself, beyond opposites, free from envy, equal in success and failure, such a person is not bound even while acting.
जो कर्मयोगी फल की इच्छा के बिना, अपनेआप जो कुछ मिल जाय, उसमें सन्तुष्ट रहता है और जो ईर्ष्यासे रहित, द्वन्द्वोंसे अतीत तथा सिद्धि और असिद्धिमें सम है, वह कर्म करते हुए भी उससे नहीं बँधता ॥
What it means for you
Krishna describes someone content with what comes, beyond envy (vimatsaraḥ), steady in success and failure, and free even while working hard. You can keep your ambition and drop the constant glance sideways.
Try this
Mute one account that reliably makes you feel behind, for this week.
The 'I' that keeps score
निर्ममो निरहंकारः स शांतिमधिगच्छति ॥
Drop the cravings, the sense of 'mine' and the 'I' that keeps score. That's where peace is.
Bhagavad Gita 2.71 · Krishna
Full translation
One who gives up all desires, moves without craving, without possessiveness, and without ego, attains peace.
जो मनुष्य सम्पूर्ण कामनाओंका त्याग करके स्पृहारहित, ममतारहित और अहंकाररहित होकर आचरण करता है, वह शान्तिको प्राप्त होता है ॥
What it means for you
Nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ: without 'mine', without the ego that measures. Peace, Krishna says, comes to the one who moves through life without that scorekeeper. Comparison is the scorekeeper, running all day.
Try this
Notice one moment today when you felt better because someone else did worse. Just notice it.
Your own path, again
स्वभावनियतं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम् ॥
Better your own path, imperfectly walked, than someone else's done perfectly.
Bhagavad Gita 18.47 · Krishna
Full translation
One's own duty, though imperfect, is better than another's duty well performed. Doing the work set by one's nature, a person does not incur wrongdoing.
अच्छी तरहसे अनुष्ठान किये हुए परधर्मसे गुणरहित अपना धर्म श्रेष्ठ है । कारण कि स्वभावसे नियत किये हुए स्वधर्मरूप कर्मको करता हुआ मनुष्य पापको प्राप्त नहीं होता ॥
What it means for you
Krishna repeats 3.35 almost word for word near the end of the Gita, so it can't be missed. Work that fits your nature counts, even done imperfectly.
Try this
Spend 30 minutes on something you're good at that doesn't impress anyone.
Your work as worship
स्वकर्मणा तमभ्यर्च्य सिद्धिं विन्दति मानवः ॥
Doing your own work well can be your worship of the source of all life.
Bhagavad Gita 18.46 · Krishna
Full translation
By worshipping the one from whom all beings arise and by whom this whole world is pervaded, a person attains perfection through their own work.
जिस परमात्मासे सम्पूर्ण प्राणियोंकी उत्पत्ति होती है और जिससे यह सम्पूर्ण संसार व्याप्त है, उस परमात्माका अपने कर्मके द्वारा पूजन करके मनुष्य सिद्धिको प्राप्त हो जाता है ॥
What it means for you
Sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarcya: by doing your own work, you can worship the source of all life and find fulfilment. Your work needs no ranking to be an offering. It needs to be yours, done with care.
Try this
Do one ordinary task today slowly and well, as an offering.
Work as worship never means overwork or putting up with exploitation.
Half a golden mongoose
दद्यादपश्च यः शक्त्या सर्वे तुल्यफलाः स्मृताः ॥
A hundred from a thousand, or a glass of water from nothing: given honestly, it counts the same.
Mahabharata, Ashvamedhika Parva
The mongoose and the handful of flour
At the end of Yudhishthira's grand horse sacrifice, a mongoose appeared with one side of its body made of gold. It declared that the whole sacrifice was worth less than a handful of flour. Once, it said, during a famine, a poor gleaner and his family each gave their last share of flour to a hungry guest. When the mongoose rolled in the flour that had spilled, half its body turned gold. It had gone to many great sacrifices since, hoping to turn the other half, and none had done it.
A small gift, honestly earned and given from little, outweighs the grandest show.
What it means for you
The emperor's ceremony had everything. The family's handful had more. What you do has its own worth, whatever it sits next to.
Try this
Give something small today, time, food or help, that nobody will count.
That's all seven.
Come back to the one that stayed with you, or let Wisdom pick seven verses for your own situation.
Your situation is your own
Seven verses picked for your comparison & self-worth.
Everyone gets the same seven on this page. Tell Wisdom what you're facing in a sentence or two, and it picks verses for you.
Week 1 is free. A few questions, about two minutes.
On iPhone, Wisdom gives you one verse each morning, read aloud. Get the app →
Common questions
What does the Bhagavad Gita say about comparing yourself to others?
What is svadharma in the Gita?
Which Gita verse helps with low self-worth?
Should I read one verse a day or all seven at once?
More Gita verses on comparison & self-worth
- Bhagavad Gita 6.6For one who has mastered the mind, the mind is a friend.
- Bhagavad Gita 2.47The work is yours. The result is not a measure of you.
