Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 20

कर्मणैव हि संसिद्धिमास्थिता जनकादयः । लोकसङ्ग्रहमेवापि सम्पश्यन्कर्तुमर्हसि

karmaṇaiva hi saṃsiddhimāsthitā janakādayaḥ | lokasaṅgrahamevāpi sampaśyankartumarhasi

Translation

By action only, indeed, did Janaka and others try to attain perfection. Even with a view to the protection of the masses thou shouldst perform (action).

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

karmaṇā

by action

eva

only

hi

indeed

saṃsiddhim

to perfection

āsthitāḥ

attained

janakādayaḥ

Janaka, the beginning, whose, they

lokasaṅgraham

of the world, welfare

eva

even

api

also

sampaśyan

looking to

kartum

to do

arhasi

thou shouldst

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

The wise kṣatriyas of old, such as Janaka and Aśvapati (vide Chhāndogya Up. v.11.4 et seq.), tried by action alone to attain mokṣa (saṃsiddhi). If they were persons possessed of right knowledge, then we should understand that, since they had been engaged in works, they tried to reach mokṣa with action — i.e., without abandoning action, with a view to set an example to the world. As subject to your prārabdha-karma (the karma which has led you to this birth as a kṣatriya), and having regard also to the purpose of preventing the masses from resorting to a wrong path, you ought to perform action.