न हि कश्चित्क्षणमपि जातु तिष्ठत्यकर्मकृत् | कार्यते ह्यवशः कर्म सर्वः प्रकृतिजैर्गुणैः ||५||
na hi kaśhchit kṣhaṇam api jātu tiṣhṭhaty akarma-kṛt kāryate hy avaśhaḥ karma sarvaḥ prakṛti-jair guṇaiḥ
Translation
Everyone is forced to act helplessly according to the qualities he has acquired from the modes of material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment.
Interpretation
Action is inescapable. The three gunas of nature are always in motion within us — driving thoughts, impulses, reactions. Even 'not acting' is itself a form of action (the action of restraint or refusal). Since action is unavoidable, the question is not whether to act but how to act — with wisdom or with ignorance, with attachment or with freedom.