โศลก 3.43.13.23.33.43.53.63.73.83.93.103.113.123.133.143.153.163.173.183.193.203.213.223.233.243.253.263.273.283.293.303.313.323.333.343.353.363.373.383.393.403.413.423.43

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

A person does not reach freedom from action by not starting actions, nor does he attain perfection by mere renunciation.

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.