Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18, Verse 3

त्याज्यं दोषवदित्येके कर्म प्राहुर्मनीषिणः । यज्ञदानतपःकर्म न त्याज्यमिति चापरे

tyājyaṃ doṣavadityeke karma prāhurmanīṣiṇaḥ | yajñadānatapaḥkarma na tyājyamiti cāpare

Translation

That action should be abandoned as an evil, some philosophers declare; while others (declare) that acts of sacrifice, gift and austerity should not be given up.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

tyājyam

should be abandoned

doṣavat

full of evil

iti

thus

eke

ones (some)

karma

action

prāhuḥ

say

manīṣiṇaḥ

the wise

yajñadānatapaḥkarma

acts of sacrifice, gift, and austerity

na

not

tyājyam

to be abandoned

iti

thus

ca

and

apare

others

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

Some philosophers, following the doctrine of the Sāṅkhyas etc., declare that all action should be given up as an evil, even by those who are fit for Karma-Yoga. As an evil: either because it involves evil since it is the cause of bondage, or because it should be given up like passion and other such evil tendencies. With regard to the same class of persons, others say that the acts of sacrifice, gift and austerity ought not to be abandoned. It is the Karma-Yogins that form the subject of discussion here, not the jñāna-niṣṭhas who have risen above all worldly concerns.