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MS Dhoni, Greg Chappell and the Geeta

July 4, 2012

Imagine my surprise when I found a link to this article on Mahendra Singh Dhoni by Greg Chappell in the Hindu. Clearly neither needs introduction, yet since I am not a huge follower of cricket, I can vouch for this remarkable line in the article:

It was clear to me that Dhoni was a captain in the making. Whenever I thought of Dhoni, I was reminded of the quote from Bhagavad Gita, ‘It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of someone else's life with perfection.'

For those who want to know the shloka referred to in that quote:
श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् |
स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः ||३-३५||
shreyaansvadharmo viguNaH paradharmaatsvanushhThitaat.h .
svadharme nidhana.n shreyaH paradharmo bhayaavahaH .. 3\-35..
Better is one's own 'duty' , though devoid of merit, than the 'duty' of another well discharged. Better is death in one's own 'duty' ; the 'duty' of another is fraught with fear (is productive of positive danger).

Swadharma is a fascinating, yet controversial topic in the Bhagavad Geeta. Hope to cover it at some point.

Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post

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  1. MananJuly 9, 2012 at 8:42 PM

    When swami Mitrananda was in town I asked him about how does one ascertain his/her swadharma. He mentioned that you should look back in your life and identify moments that gave you immense happiness and revolve your understanding of swadharma around actions performed during those moments. Always an intriguing topic swadharma ..somehow though you always know your dharma at any given moment whether you abide by it or not is a different question.thoughts ?

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