Now Krishna will give one more reason why Arjuna should do his duty:

Bg 3.8

niyataṁ kuru karma tvaṁ
karma jyāyo hy akarmaṇaḥ
śarīra-yātrāpi ca te
na prasidhyed akarmaṇaḥ

Word for word:

niyatam — prescribed; kuru — do; karma — duties; tvam — you; karma — work; jyāyaḥ — better; hi — certainly;akarmaṇaḥ — than no work; śarīra — bodily; yātrā — maintenance; api — even; ca — also; te — your; na — never; prasidhyet — is effected; akarmaṇaḥ — without work.

Translation:

Perform your prescribed duty, for doing so is better than not working. One cannot even maintain one’s physical body without work.Here’s your text with corrected punctuation:

“niyataṁ, prescribed.

kuru karma tvaṁ, do your prescribed duty.

karma jyāyo hy akarmaṇaḥ,

karma jyāyo is superior or better.

Karma is better than akarma.

śarīra-yātrāpi ca te.

śarīra-yātrā, so the soul is on a yatra of Sharira in one lifetime.

na prasidhyed akarmaṇaḥ.

One will not be able to do that, one will not be able to survive, if one does not do one’s prescribed duty.

So here, Krishna is saying what the other reason for bodily maintenance is.

So Krishna has till now given three reasons that Akarma, inactivity, renunciation, is not to be done by Arjuna.

Reasons given by Krishna for doing Karma Yoga than a renounced order of life:

Unnatural – > won’t lead to purification or advancement.

Disrupt social order as people will become misled, as people will become hypocrites.

One will not be able to maintain one’s body also.

Therefore, we have to do the prescribed duty.

What do we mean by maintaining the body?

Actually, in Vedic culture, varna is for the body, ashram is for the soul in a broader sense.

Varna, which means Brahman, Kshetriya… So, according to one’s varna, if one does activity, then he is able to make a contribution to society according to one’s psycho-physical nature and thereby also earn one’s living. Thus, prescribed duties of a person is svadharma. There is a material duty and there is a spiritual duty. When one does a proper svadharma, he can also earn his livelihood. For a Kshetriya, the svadharma is ruling. So everyone has their svadharma. Accordingly, by doing one’s karma as per one’s svadharma, one earns one’s living. In today’s society, we don’t have the varnashram system, so we may be having different prescribed duties. We may have to do our worldly duties, and by that, we are able to maintain ourselves. For bodily maintenance, for personal purification, and for the sake of setting up a good example, we need to act according to our prescribed duties. In this way, Krishna tells Arjuna, do not give up your prescribed duties, and by doing this, you will make spiritual advancements.”