Author: DAIV
The Gita is direct: "Shreyan sva-dharmo vigunah para-dharmat sv-anushthitat" (3.35), better is one’s own duty, even if imperfectly done, than another’s, even if well performed. Each of us carries a different nature, a different task and a different timing.
A familiar story is told of the sage Narada, who believed he was Lord Vishnu’s dearest devotee. Vishnu smiled and sent him to a simple farmer, who remembered God only twice a day, morning and night.
Narada was puzzled. Vishnu then gave him a cup filled to the brim with oil and asked him to walk around the city without spilling a drop. Narada did so, carefully. When Vishnu asked how many times he had remembered God on the way, Narada admitted he had not, because his attention was on the cup. Vishnu said: "The farmer carries a whole household, children, field and burdens, and still remembers me twice every day."
Narada learned that each person’s load is different, and no devotion can be fairly ranked by one yardstick. The farmer was not competing, and neither was he.
Today, each time you catch yourself comparing, silently ask what your own task is, and do it a little better than yesterday. Let your own earlier self be the only person you try to surpass, and give thanks for the path that is yours alone.