Verse 18.11

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 18.11:

न हि देह-भृता शक्यं त्यक्तुं कर्माण्य् अशेषतः ।
यस् तु कर्म-फल-त्यागी स त्यागीत्य् अभिधीयते ॥ ११ ॥

na hi deha-bhṛtā śakyaṃ tyaktuṃ karmāṇy aśeṣataḥ |
yas tu karma-phala-tyāgī sa tyāgīty abhidhīyate || 11 ||

na–not; hi–certainly; deha-bhṛtā–by an embodied being; śakyam–possible; tyaktum–to renounce; karmāṇi–activities; aśeṣataḥ–com-pletely; yaḥ–who; tu–however; karma-phala-tyāgī–renounces the results of his activities; saḥ–he; tyāgī–a renunciant; iti–as; abhidhīyate–is said to be.

An embodied being cannot entirely renounce action, but he who gives up attachment to the results of his actions is said to be a true renunciant.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

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

Since it is impossible for the embodied jīva to completely renounce all activity, he should only perform the activities prescribed in the scriptures. Śrī Bhagavān speaks the verse beginning with na hi to emphasize this. To abandon all activity is impossible. Previously, in the Gītā (3.5), Śrī Bhagavān said, “na hi kaścit kṣaṇam api jātu tiṣṭhaty akarma-kṛt–one cannot exist for even a moment without performing work.”