A complete guide to understanding karma vs dharma in the Bhagavad Gita — side-by-side comparison, definitions, how they interrelate, when they conflict, key verses, classical commentaries, and practical applications.
Dharma in the Bhagavad Gita represents one's sacred duty, moral law, and righteous path. Krishna explains that dharma includes personal duties (svadharma), universal ethics, and cosmic order. Following one's dharma, even imperfectly, is superior to perfectly performing another's duty.
Karma in the Bhagavad Gita means action performed with mindful intention. Lord Krishna teaches that karma encompasses all physical, mental, and verbal actions, and their inevitable consequences. True karma yoga involves performing duties without attachment to results, dedicating all actions to the Divine.
Karma means action and its consequences; dharma means righteous duty. In the Bhagavad Gita, dharma defines what you should do (BG 2.31, 3.35, 18.47) while karma is the act of doing and its results (BG 2.47, 4.17, 18.23-25). They are complementary: dharma is the compass, karma is the journey. When karma aligns with dharma, it leads to spiritual growth; when it violates dharma, it creates suffering.
| Aspect | Karma | Dharma |
|---|---|---|
| Sanskrit Root | "Kri" (to do, to act) | "Dhri" (to hold, to sustain) |
| Core Meaning | Action and its consequences | Righteous duty and cosmic order |
| Nature | Descriptive (explains what happens when you act) | Prescriptive (tells you what you should do) |
| Focus | The act and its results | The rightness of the act |
| Scope | Universal law applying to all actions | Varies by individual (svadharma) |
| Key Gita Verse | BG 2.47 (right to action, not fruits) | BG 3.35 (follow your own dharma) |
| Gita Chapters | Ch 3 (Karma Yoga), Ch 4, Ch 18 | Ch 1-2 (dharma crisis), Ch 18 (svadharma) |
| Types | Sanchita, Prarabdha, Kriyamana | Svadharma, Paradharma, Sanatana Dharma |
| Metaphor | The journey you take | The compass that guides the journey |
| Goal | Perform action without attachment (Nishkama Karma) | Discover and fulfill your unique duty |
Karma, from the Sanskrit root "kri" (to do), refers to the totality of human action and its results. In the Bhagavad Gita, karma operates at multiple levels: it is the physical act, the mental intention behind it, and the chain of consequences that follows. Read the complete guide to karma in the Gita.
The Gita revolutionizes the concept of karma by teaching that the quality of action — not just the action itself — determines its karmic result. In BG 18.23-25, Krishna classifies all action into three modes: sattvic (selfless, dutiful), rajasic (desire-driven, ego-based), and tamasic (careless, harmful). The same external action can produce vastly different karmic consequences depending on the inner attitude of the doer.
The Gita further teaches that karma is not merely a cosmic accounting system but a field of spiritual practice. Through Karma Yoga — selfless action offered to the Divine (BG 3.9) — karma itself becomes a means of liberation. The action that would normally bind the soul to the cycle of rebirth instead becomes a vehicle for transcendence when performed without attachment and with devotion.
Dharma, from the Sanskrit root "dhri" (to hold, to sustain), refers to the moral and cosmic order that sustains all of existence. It is simultaneously a universal principle and a personal calling. Read the complete guide to dharma in the Gita.
While karma describes the universal law of cause and effect, dharma provides the moral framework that determines which actions are right for each individual. Dharma operates at several levels: sanatana dharma (eternal universal principles like truth and compassion), samanya dharma (general ethical duties shared by all), and svadharma (the specific duty of each individual based on their nature, abilities, and circumstances).
The Gita's concept of svadharma is especially important in distinguishing dharma from karma. Svadharma is not about what produces the best results (that would be karma thinking) — it is about what is right for you given who you are. In BG 18.47, Krishna reinforces that performing one's own nature-born duty, even imperfectly, surpasses performing another's duty perfectly. This teaching prioritizes authenticity over efficiency, character over outcomes.
Karma and dharma are not opposing concepts — they are complementary aspects of a single spiritual reality. Understanding their relationship is key to understanding the Gita's practical message.
Think of dharma as the compass and karma as the journey. Dharma points you toward the right direction — what you should do based on your nature, role, and moral principles. Karma is the actual walking of the path — the actions you take and the consequences that follow. Without dharma, karma is blind action that may lead anywhere. Without karma, dharma is abstract principle never actualized in the world.
When karma is aligned with dharma — when you act in accordance with your righteous duty — the result is spiritual growth, social harmony, and personal fulfillment. This is precisely what Krishna urges Arjuna to do: perform his karma (fight the battle) in accordance with his dharma (his duty as a warrior defending righteousness). BG 2.31 makes this explicit: "Considering your dharma, you should not waver."
When karma violates dharma — when you act against your righteous duty — the result is negative karma, inner conflict, and social disorder. Arjuna's proposed inaction (refusing to fight) would have been karma against dharma: his duty as a warrior required him to fight for justice, and abandoning that duty, however noble his emotional reasons, would have been a dharmic violation.
This verse beautifully illustrates the relationship: your dharma (nature-born duty) determines your karma (the actions you should take), and the imperfections in that karma do not invalidate the dharma. Every fire produces smoke, but that does not mean you should not light the fire. Every duty has imperfections, but that does not mean you should abandon the duty.
The central dramatic tension of the Bhagavad Gita is a conflict between karma and dharma. Arjuna's accumulated karmic relationships (love for grandfather Bhishma, respect for teacher Drona, bonds with cousins) pull him toward inaction. His dharma as a Kshatriya warrior defending justice pushes him toward battle. Which should he follow?
Krishna's resolution is multifaceted:
In BG 2.31-33, Krishna tells Arjuna that his dharma as a warrior is clear and should not be abandoned due to emotional attachments formed through past karma. The emotional bonds that pull him toward inaction — however real and painful — are products of karmic conditioning, not of dharmic insight. True wisdom means seeing through karmic attachments to the dharmic truth beneath.
In BG 2.20, Krishna teaches that the Atman (Self) is eternal and beyond all karma and dharma. From this highest perspective, neither karma nor dharma ultimately applies to the Self, which is unborn, undying, and changeless. This realization does not abolish duty but transforms the attitude with which it is performed — the wise person acts from freedom, not from compulsion.
In BG 18.66, Krishna offers the ultimate resolution: "Abandon all dharmas and surrender unto Me." This does not mean abandoning morality — it means rising to a level of consciousness where action flows not from rules but from direct alignment with divine will. At this level, the apparent conflict between karma and dharma dissolves because the devotee acts spontaneously in accord with both.
Shankaracharya sees both karma and dharma as operating within the realm of maya (illusion). Both are valid at the conventional level (vyavaharika) but transcended in ultimate reality (paramarthika). For Shankara, the Self is beyond all action (karma) and all duty (dharma). The purpose of dharmic action is to purify the mind until it is ready to receive the knowledge that the Self was always free. He interprets BG 18.66 as pointing beyond all dharmic categories to the direct realization of Brahman.
Ramanujacharya views both karma and dharma as real and divinely ordained. Dharma is God's commandment, and karma is the mechanism through which God's justice operates. For Ramanuja, the proper relationship between karma and dharma is one of service: you perform karma (action) as an expression of dharma (duty), and you perform dharma as an expression of bhakti (devotion to God). When all three align — when your actions express your duty and your duty expresses your love for God — you are living the complete spiritual life.
Madhvacharya emphasizes the objective reality of both karma and dharma as established by Lord Vishnu. Karma is the divinely administered law of justice that ensures every action has its appropriate consequence. Dharma is the divinely revealed code of conduct that guides souls toward their highest good. For Madhva, violating dharma through wrong karma is a real offense against divine law with real consequences — not merely an error of perception as in Advaita. The path to liberation requires both right action (sattvic karma) and right duty (svadharma) performed with devotion to Vishnu.
When choosing a career, dharma asks: "What is my nature? What work aligns with who I truly am?" (BG 18.41). Karma asks: "What are the consequences of this choice? What will I create through this work?" (BG 18.23). The ideal career satisfies both — it aligns with your svadharma and produces positive karmic results. Learn more about finding your life purpose.
When facing a difficult moral choice, dharma provides the moral framework (what is right?), while karma helps you consider the consequences (what results will follow?). The Gita teaches that when these conflict — when doing the right thing might produce painful short-term results — dharma should take precedence. Act rightly and trust that right action ultimately produces right results, even if the timing is not immediately clear.
Every relationship involves both karma (the actions you take within it) and dharma (the duties and responsibilities it entails). A parent's dharma defines the obligation to nurture; the karma is the daily acts of care, discipline, and love. Understanding both helps navigate conflicts: "Am I acting from dharmic duty or from karmic habit? Is my response aligned with what this relationship truly requires?"
Karma Yoga (the path of selfless action) and dharma (the framework of righteous duty) unite in the Gita's vision of spiritual practice. Your dharma tells you what to do; Karma Yoga tells you how to do it — with full engagement, without attachment to results, as an offering to the Divine. Bhakti Yoga adds the dimension of devotion, transforming both karma and dharma into expressions of love. Together, these three streams form the Gita's complete path to liberation.
Read all 700 verses with Sanskrit text, translations, and commentary. Understand karma, dharma, and all the Gita's teachings.