5.8 I do nothing at all Krishna speaks

नैव किंचित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित्
पश्यन् श्रृणवन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपन् श्वसन्

naiva kiñchit karomīti yukto manyeta tattva-vit
paśhyañ śhṛiṇvan spṛiśhañjighrann aśhnangachchhan svapañśhvasan
pralapan visṛijan gṛihṇann unmiṣhan nimiṣhann api
indriyāṇīndriyārtheṣhu vartanta iti dhārayan

One who knows the truth thinks, “I do nothing at all” — while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving, sleeping, breathing,

Explanation

The one who knows thinks: I do nothing at all.

And then a list, almost comic in its thoroughness — seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving, sleeping, breathing.

The claim is not that nothing happens. Everything happens. What is denied is the doer in the middle of it, and the length of the list is the argument: there is no point in it where you can locate one.

Going further

Two verses that are almost comic in their thoroughness: seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving, sleeping, breathing, speaking, letting go, taking hold, opening and closing the eyes.

Thirteen ordinary activities, listed while the person doing them thinks I do nothing at all. The Gita is not describing a trance. It is describing someone fully in motion who has stopped signing their name to it.

Word by word

na: not
eva: certainly
kiñchit: anything
karomi: I do
iti: thus
yuktaḥ: steadfast in karm yog
manyeta: thinks
tattva-vit: one who knows the truth
paśhyan: seeing
śhṛiṇvan: hearing
spṛiśhan: touching
jighran: smelling
aśhnan: eating
gachchhan: moving
svapan: sleeping
śhvasan: breathing
pralapan: talking
visṛijan: giving up
gṛihṇan: accepting
unmiṣhan: opening (the eyes)
nimiṣhan: closing (the eyes)
api: although
indriyāṇi: the senses
indriya-artheṣhu: in sense-objects
vartante: moving
iti: thus
dhārayan: convinced