Verse 3.5

न हि कश्चित्क्षणमपि जातु तिष्ठत्यकर्मकृत् ।

कार्यते ह्यवशः कर्म सर्वः प्रकृतिजैर्गुणैः ॥

3.5

Transliteration

na hi kaścitkṣaṇamapi jātu tiṣṭhatyakarmakṛt |

kāryate hyavaśaḥ karma sarvaḥ prakṛtijairguṇaiḥ ||

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

Translation

Verily none can ever remain for even a moment without performing action; for everyone is made to act helplessly indeed by the alities born of Nature.

From the owner's sheet · +1 more

Word by word

not
indeed
anyone
a moment
even
ever
remains
without acting

is made to do
for
helplessly
action
everyone
born of nature
by the gunas

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

Explanation

Krishna explains why total inaction is impossible. Every living being is moved by the qualities (guṇa) that arise from nature (prakṛti), the material world in its constant activity. Breathing, thinking, even sitting still are forms of action. So the real choice is not between acting and not acting, but between acting in bondage and acting freely. This verse introduces prakṛti and the guṇas, ideas that become central later in the Gita. Here they serve a practical point: since action cannot be avoided, it must be transformed.