Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 4

न कर्मणामनारम्भान्नैष्कर्म्यं पुरुषोऽश्नुते । न च संन्यसनादेव सिद्धिं समधिगच्छति

na karmaṇāmanārambhānnaiṣkarmyaṃ puruṣo'śnute | na ca saṃnyasanādeva siddhiṃ samadhigacchati

Translation

Not by abstaining from action does man win actionlessness, nor by mere renunciation does he attain perfection.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

na

not

karmaṇām

of actions

anārambhāt

from (by) non-commencement

naiṣkarmyam

inactivity

puruṣaḥ

man

aśnute

obtains

na

not

ca

and

saṃnyasanāt

from (by) renunciation

eva

only

siddhim

perfection

samadhigacchati

attains

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

'Action' refers to the acts of worship (Yajña) which, performed in this or a previous birth, conduce to the destruction of sins committed in the past and cause purity of mind (sattva, antaḥ-karaṇa); and by thus purifying mind, they cause knowledge to spring up and lead to the path of devotion to knowledge. Nobody can attain perfection — i.e., freedom from activity, or devotion in the path of knowledge — by mere renunciation, by merely abandoning action, without possessing knowledge.