naiskarmyam puruso ‘snute

na ca sannyasanad eva

siddhim samadhigacchati

na—without; karmaṇām—of the prescribed duties; anārambhāt—non-performance; naiṣkarmyam—freedom from reaction; puruṣah—man; aśnute—achieve; na—nor; ca—also; sannyasanāt—by renunciation; eva—simply; siddhim—success; samadhigacchati—attain.

श्चित्क्षणमपि जातु तिष्ठत्यकर्मकृत्‌ ।

jatu tisthaty akarma-krt

karyate hy avasah karma

sarvah prakrti-jair gunaih

na—nor; hi—certainly; kaścit—anyone; kṣaṇam—even a moment; api—also; jātu—even; tiṣṭhati—stands; akarma-kṛt—without doing something; kāryate—is forced to do; hi—certainly; avaśaḥ—helplessly; karma—work; sarvaḥ—everything; prakṛti-jaiḥ—out of the modes of material nature; guṇaiḥ—by the qualities.

All men are forced to act helplessly according to the impulses born of the modes of material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment.

ya aste manasa smaran

indriyarthan vimudhatma

mithyacarah sa ucyate

karma-indriyāṇi—the five working sense organs; saṁyamya—controlling; yaḥ—anyone who; āste—remains; manasā—by mind; smaran—thinking; indriya-arthān—sense objects; vimūḍha—foolish; ātmā—soul; mithyā-ācāraḥ—pretender; saḥ—he; ucyate—is called.

One who restrains the s