3.8 Even keeping your body Krishna speaks

नियतं कुरु कर्म त्वं कर्म ज्यायो ह्यकर्मणः
शरीरयात्रापि च ते न प्रसिद्ध्येदकर्मणः

niyataṁ kuru karma tvaṁ karma jyāyo hyakarmaṇaḥ
śharīra-yātrāpi cha te na prasiddhyed akarmaṇaḥ

Do the work that falls to you. Action is better than inaction. Even the keeping of your body would fail without it.

Explanation

Even keeping your body alive would fail.

śarīra-yātrāpi — the mere journey of the body. Do the work that falls to you; action is better than inaction.

The argument has come down from metaphysics to metabolism. Whatever else is true, the body has to be fed, and feeding it is action.