17. karmao hy api boddhavyam
boddhavyath ca vikarmanah
akarmanas ca boddhavyam
gahana karmano gatih
(17) One has to understand what action is, and likewise one has to understand what is wrong action and one has to understand about inaction. Hard to understand is the way of work.
What is the right course is not generally obvious. The Ideas of our time, the prescriptions of tradition, the voice of conscience
get mixed up and confuse us In the midst of all this, the wise man seeks a way out by a reference to immutable truths, with the insight of the highest reason
18 karmany karma yeah payed
akarmavi ca karma yeah
sa buddhiniãn nianusyeu
sa vuktah krsnakarmakri
(18) He who in action sees inaction and action in inaction, he is wise among men, he is a yogi and he has accomplished all his work.
So long as we work in a detached spirit our mental balance is not disturbed. We refrain from actions which are born of desire and do our duties, with a soul linked with the Divine. So true non-activity is to preserve inner composure and to be free from attachment. karma means the absence of bondage resulting from work because it is done without attachment. He who works without attachment is not bound. We are acting even when we sit quiet without any outward action. Cp. A A stavakragite . The turning away from action my fools due to perversity and ignorance amounts to action. The action of the wise (that is their desire action) has the same fruit as that of renunciation.[1]
S. explains that in Batman there is no action; in the body however there is no rest, even when there seems to be rest.
R holds that akarma is atmaj nana . The wise man is he who sees nana in the true performance of karma. For him juna and karma go together.
According to Madhva, akarma is the inactivity of the self and the activity of Visnu. Therefore the wise man is he who sees the activity of the Lord whether the individual is active or not.
