Verse 3.8

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 3.8:

नियतं कुरु कर्म त्वं कर्म ज्यायो ह्य् अकर्मणः ।
शरीर-यात्रापि च ते न प्रसिध्येद् अकर्मणः ॥ ८ ॥

niyataṃ kuru karma tvaṃ karma jyāyo hy akarmaṇaḥ |
śarīra-yātrāpi ca te na prasidhyed akarmaṇaḥ || 8 ||

niyatam–continuously; kuru–perform; karma–duties such as chanting of the gāyatrī-mantra and other forms of worship; tvam–you; karma–action; jyāyaḥ–better; hi–because; akarmaṇaḥ–than not working; śarīra–bodily; yātrā–maintenance; api–even; ca–and; te–your; na prasidhyet–can not be effected; akarmaṇah–without performing inaction.

Perform your prescribed duties, such as the chanting of the gāyatrī-mantra, because action is better than inaction. If you refrain from action, you will not even be able to maintain your body.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

“Therefore, O Arjuna, perform your regulated duties, such as your morning, noon and evening mantras (sandhyā) and your worship (upāsanā). It is better to do this than to renounce your prescribed duty (karma). If you give up all karma, you will not even be able to maintain your body.”

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

The above statement is verified in Chāndogya Upaniṣad (7.26.2):

āhāra-śuddhau sattva-śuddhiḥ / sattva-śuddhau dhruvā smṛtiḥ
smṛti-lambhe sarvagranthīnāṃ vipramokṣaḥ

It is by the purity of food that one’s mind becomes purified. When the mind is purified, one attains a stable memory. When the memory is stable, all the knots of the heart are untied.

Furthermore it is stated in the Gītā (3.13):

bhuñjate te tv aghaṃ pāpā ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt

Those who cook grains and other foodstuffs for their own sake are sinful and certainly partake of sin.

It is understood from this and other statements that for the perfection of one’s practice (sādhana), it is necessary to maintain and protect the body, and for this, it is imperative to follow the scriptural injunctions for the performance of one’s prescribed duties. However, those who impetuously give up all action by taking sannyāsa do not receive the light of knowledge in their impure hearts. Moreover, if they perform no work at all, they can even leave their bodies because they have not maintained them.