18th Chapter: verse 45, 46, 47, 48, 49

45th verse: “By engaging in one’s own swadharma, man attains perfection and the highest inner fulfillment.”

Swadharma, is work that naturally comes to us “unasked”, by virtue of our samskaras and natural traits. We feel such work is our calling/duty. When we do our Swadharma, we find contentment and a sense of fulfillment.

Sometimes the work that we are trained for is the same as our swadharma. But sometimes it is not. It is important to engage our mind in some activity that gives us a sense of fulfillment – by doing so, we engage in our swadharma, which helps cultivate a friendly mind.

Mind is our friend when it instinctively guides us on the spiritual path and gives us warning signals when undesirable thoughts emerge. The mind which has moved us away from our natural tendency to do what is good for us, and which creates stumbling blocks when we want to implement a change for the good – such a mind is our enemy.

Whatever we do, if we do with total dedication and with a sense of sanctity and sacredness, we get a sense of fulfillment. This way we can spiritualize all secular activities.

A verse in Mahabharata says: “Our body, mind, intellect – all can be used to attain something immortal. These are non-eternal, but they can be used as resources to attain spiritually everlasting fulfillment.”

The 46th verse refers to the highest concept of Truth and how we can attain that highest Truth by doing our Swadharma. This highest concept is a spiritual reality that is all-pervading, immanent and transcendental.

As we evolve in spiritual life, our idea of God evolves. In the beginning, we think of a creator God, confined to a place of worship and a book. At the highest level, we see it as the spiritual reality that is all-pervading, immanent and transcendental.

In the beginning, there is a line of demarcation between the secular and spiritual. At the highest level, every secular activity is given a spiritual orientation – the line of demarcation between secular and spiritual disappears. We look upon every act as an act of worship. We look upon every living being and the whole phenomenal world as an expression of the divine. Such a person attains the highest inner fulfillment.

47th verse: “There are certain types of work that are determined by our samskaras, that we want to do and that gives us contentment. That alone is our chosen role (swadharma). Even if doing one’s own chosen role is filled with difficulties or imperfection, one should stick to that. One should avoid the temptation to do other people’s duty.”

Vedanta believes in the law of karma and the doctrine of reincarnation. Every action that we do is determined by our swabhava and samskaras.

Swabhava is our inherent nature that determines our outlook to life and our actions. Swabhava is based on our samskaras.  Every action leaves a residual effect (vritti) in our mental system. Many identical vrittis – from similar, repeated actions – solidify a distinct memory block called Samskara. Samskaras express through our determination to act in a certain manner, called Sankalpa. Sankalpa leads to further actions. This wheel continues, and it shapes our Swabhava.

In spiritual life, we are all individual travelers gathering samskaras in each life and shaping our Swabhava. Our journey comes to an end when we experience and realize our true identity as the Atman.

48th verse: “Fire is invariably mixed with smoke. Similarly, every kind of work is invariably mixed with some imperfection and inconvenience. Sometimes the results of the activity are favorable and sometimes not. Therefore, one should never give up one’s swadharma despite the challenges.”

Rajarshi is a person who has the dual qualities of a king (Rajatvam) and a saint (Rishitvam). As a king, he has great prosperity, dynamism...