Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18, Verse 48

सहजं कर्म कौन्तेय सदोषमपि न त्यजेत् । सर्वारम्भा हि दोषेण धूमेनाग्निरिवावृताः

sahajaṃ karma kaunteya sadoṣamapi na tyajet | sarvārambhā hi doṣeṇa dhūmenāgnirivāvṛtāḥ

Translation

The duty born with oneself, O son of Kuntī, though faulty, one ought not to abandon; for, all undertakings are surrounded with evil, as fire with smoke.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

sahajam

congenital

karma

action

kaunteya

O Kaunteya

sadoṣam

with fault

api

even

na

not

tyajet

let (him) abandon

sarvārambhāḥ

all, undertakings

hi

indeed

doṣeṇa

by fault

dhūmena

by smoke

agniḥ

fire

iva

as

āvṛtāḥ

enwrapped

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

Born with oneself: born with the very birth of man. Faulty: as everything is composed of the three guṇas. All undertakings: whatever the duties are; both one's own as well as another's duties; for the reason here assigned is that they are all made up of the three guṇas. Though a man may perform another's duty, abandoning what is called his own duty, the duty born with himself, he is not free from fault; and another's duty brings on fear. Since it is not possible for any man who does not know the Self to give up action entirely, therefore he ought not to abandon action (karma).