3.4 Refusing to act frees no one Krishna speaks
न कर्मणामनारम्भान्नैष्कर्म्यं पुरुषोऽश्नुते
न च संन्यसनादेव सिद्धिं समधिगच्छति
na karmaṇām anārambhān naiṣhkarmyaṁ puruṣho ’śhnute
na cha sannyasanād eva siddhiṁ samadhigachchhati
No one reaches freedom from action by refusing to act, nor perfection merely by renouncing.
Explanation
Neither refusing nor renouncing does it.
No one reaches freedom from action by not acting, and no one reaches perfection merely by renouncing.
Both halves matter. The first closes the exit; the second concedes that renunciation is a real road while denying that the gesture alone is one.
Word by word
- na
- not
- karmaṇām
- of actions
- anārambhāt
- by abstaining from
- naiṣhkarmyam
- freedom from karmic reactions
- puruṣhaḥ
- a person
- aśhnute
- attains
- na
- not
- cha
- and
- sannyasanāt
- by renunciation
- eva
- only
- siddhim
- perfection
- samadhigachchhati
- attains
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