Bg 3.5

na hi kaścit kṣaṇam api
jātu tiṣṭhaty akarma-kṛt
kāryate hy avaśaḥ karma
sarvaḥ prakṛti-jair guṇaiḥ

Word for word:

na — nor; hi — certainly; kaścit — anyone; kṣaṇam — a moment; api — also; jātu — at any time; tiṣṭhati — remains; akarma–kṛt — without doing something; kāryate — is forced to do; hi — certainly; avaśaḥ — helplessly;karma — work; sarvaḥ — all; prakṛti–jaiḥ — born of the modes of material nature; guṇaiḥ — by the qualities.

Translation:

Everyone is forced to act helplessly according to the qualities he has acquired from the modes of material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment.

‘Na hi kaścit kṣaṇam api,’ even for a kṣaṇa or kascit, for anyone,

‘jātu tiṣṭhaty akarma-kṛt,’ so one cannot be situated by doing karma. (3.4a & c started with na and 3.5a is also starting with na)

And why? Because…

‘kāryate hy avaśaḥ karma,’ one is helplessly forced to act,

‘sarvaḥ prakṛti-jair guṇaiḥ,’ born of modes of material nature, everyone is forced to act; one cannot refrain from action.

So here Krishna is making an important point that action is natural for us.

‘Avaśaḥ,’ we are helplessly forced to act.

Now somebody may argue that because we are under the influence of modes, we are forced to act, and once you become free from modes, you may no longer have to act.

So that is the point that Srila Prabhupada counters in the first sentence of the purport itself, which says, ‘It is not a question of embodied life, but it is the nature of the soul to be always active.’

What does it mean?

Somebody can argue that because the body will be influenced by the modes of nature, it will act, but actually, because of the presence of the soul, the body acts. While material natures are present, its modes are present, but when we are acting, it is not only because of modes; we are acting because of the presence of the soul. The soul’s energy is diverted, perhaps towards materialistic things due to the influence of lower modes, but the point is it is the soul’s energy. The modes are simply directing where the energy will go. Thus, energy and actions are not produced by the modes; energy and action are intrinsic to the soul. Their direction is determined by modes. So when the soul is embodied, it is active, and when it is liberated, it is even more active in a sense. For the soul, the body is a burden. For the soul, which is transcendental and spiritual, the body is a burden. For example, a tracker will run even faster when the bags are removed from him. So the soul is active; most of its actions are materialistic. Therefore, the source of energy and activity are not the modes. The modes direct the activities. The source of energy and activity is the soul itself. In Srila Prabhupada’s purport, it is advised to engage in devotional activities, and even if one falters during such activities, there is no loss.