Bhagavad Gita 3.5
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 5 of 43
न हि कश्चित्क्षणमपि जातु तिष्ठत्यकर्मकृत् । कार्यते ह्यवशः कर्म सर्वः प्रकृतिजैर्गुणैः ॥
na hi kaścit kṣaṇam api jātu tiṣṭhaty akarma-kṛt | kāryate hy avaśaḥ karma sarvaḥ prakṛti-jair guṇaiḥ ||
No one can be truly inactive even for a moment — the gunas of Nature drive all beings to act.
Word by word (3)
- na kaścit kṣaṇam api
- — not anyone even for a moment · Kṣaṇa = a moment (the smallest unit of time). Api = even. The absolute nature of this verse: not a single person, not for a single moment, can remain in true inaction. The body breathes, the heart beats, the mind processes — all are action. Inaction is physically impossible.
- avaśaḥ prakṛti-jair guṇaiḥ
- — helplessly by the qualities born of Prakriti · Avaśa = helpless, without control (a+vaśa). Prakṛti-ja = born of Prakriti (Nature). The three gunas (tamas, rajas, sattva) are the engines of all natural activity. Even the person who 'does nothing' is being driven by these forces — digesting, thinking, sleeping. The choice is not action or inaction but conscious or unconscious action.
- kāryate hy avaśaḥ karma sarvaḥ
- — is made to act (kāryate = causative passive of kṛ = to do; one is CAUSED to act) — avaśaḥ = helplessly (a + vaśa = without control/will); sarvaḥ = all/every person; kāryate is the key verb: not 'acts' but 'is made to act' — nature compels action from within, making enforced inaction impossible
No one can remain without action even for a single moment. Everyone is helplessly driven to act by the three qualities (gunas) born of Prakriti — Nature itself.
A modern analogy
Even in deep sleep your body digests, your heart pumps, your neurons fire. The meditator sitting still is breathing, thinking, and metabolizing. 'Doing nothing' is doing something. The question is never action or no action — it is conscious action or unconscious action.
Take with you
- The choice before you is never 'act or don't act' — it is 'act consciously or act automatically.'
- Understanding that you are always being driven by the gunas (tamas/inertia, rajas/passion, sattva/clarity) helps you choose which guna guides your actions.
- This verse dismantles the spiritual escape: there is no inaction refuge — only the quality of action changes.
- The practice is raising the quality of action from tamas/rajas toward sattva, not escaping action entirely.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
Verily, no one can remain for even a moment without performing action; for everyone is helplessly driven to action by the gunas born of Prakriti. [1]
Verily, none can ever remain for even a moment without performing action; for everyone is helplessly driven to action by the qualities born of Prakriti. [4]
Verily, no one can remain for a single moment really actionless, for the qualities born of nature compel all beings to act. [6]
None may stand still a moment, none can pause From working, not the weakest: Nature's Law Compels all into work. [7]
For no one ever remains even for an instant without doing some act; for all are compelled helplessly to act by the qualities born of nature. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Freedom from karma's bonds does not come from inaction. Perfection does not come from mere renunciation.
Seeing the Lord equally everywhere, one does not harm the Self through the self — and reaches the highest.
Sattva, rajas, tamas — three guṇas born of Prakṛti — bind the indestructible ātman in every body.
Tamas — born of ignorance — deludes all beings and binds through carelessness, laziness, and sleep.
Sattva, rajas, or tamas — each can become dominant over the others, alternating in every mind.
One's own dharma even imperfectly done is better than another's well done; svabhāva-ordained karma incurs no sin.
Verse 5 of 43 · back to Chapter 3