Verse 3.4

न कर्मणामनारम्भान्नैष्कर्म्यं पुरुषोऽश्नुते ।

न च संन्यसनादेव सिद्धिं समधिगच्छति ॥

3.4

Transliteration

na karmaṇāmanārambhānnaiṣkarmyaṃ puruṣo'śnute |

na ca saṃnyasanādeva siddhiṃ samadhigacchati ||

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3

Translation

Not by non-performance of actions does man reach actionlessness; nor by mere renunciation does he attain to perfection.

From the owner's sheet · +1 more

Word by word

not
of actions
by not beginning
freedom from action
a person
attains

not
and
by renunciation
merely
perfection
attains

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08

Explanation

Krishna clarifies a key point. The goal he called freedom from action, naiṣkarmya, is not reached simply by not acting. Nor is perfection gained merely by renunciation (sannyāsa), the formal giving up of worldly duties. The freedom he means is inner: freedom from the binding effects of action, not the outward absence of activity. This directly answers Arjuna's assumption that knowledge requires withdrawal. Whatever path one follows, Krishna suggests, the mere refusal to act is not the same as liberation.