Shankaracharya's commentary, trans. Alladi Mahadeva Sastry (1897)
[1]Better is one's own duty though destitute of merits, than the duty of another well performed. Doing the duty ordained according to nature one incurs no sin.
BG 18.47
श्रेयान् स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात् स्वनुष्ठितात् । स्वभावनियतं कर्म कुर्वन् नाप्नोति किल्बिषम् ॥
śreyān sva-dharmo viguṇaḥ para-dharmāt sv-anuṣṭhitāt | svabhāva-niyataṃ karma kurvan nāpnoti kilbiṣam ||
"One's own dharma even imperfectly done is better than another's well done; svabhāva-ordained karma incurs no sin."
All public-domain translations
4 translations · all pre-1928 or released to public domain · sources
Swami Swarupananda, Srimad Bhagavad Gita (1909)
[4]Better is one's own Dharma, (though) imperfect than the Dharma of another well-performed. He who does the duty ordained by his own nature incurs no evil.
K.T. Telang, Sacred Books of the East Vol. 8 (1882)
[9]MISSING from index.
K.M. Ganguli, The Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva (1883–96)
[13]Better is one's own duty though performed faultily than another's duty well-performed. Performing the duty prescribed by one's own nature, one incurs no sin.