偈颂 3.53.13.23.33.43.53.63.73.83.93.103.113.123.133.143.153.163.173.183.193.203.213.223.233.243.253.263.273.283.293.303.313.323.333.343.353.363.373.383.393.403.413.423.43

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.

No one can remain even for a moment without acting, for everyone is made to act, helplessly, by the qualities born of nature.

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.