BG 3.4

न कर्मणामनारम्भान्नैष्कर्म्यं पुरुषोऽश्नुते । न च सन्न्यसनादेव सिद्धिं समधिगच्छति ॥

na karmaṇām anārambhān naiṣkarmyaṃ puruṣo 'śnute | na ca saṃnyasanād eva siddhiṃ samadhigacchati ||

"Freedom from karma's bonds does not come from inaction. Perfection does not come from mere renunciation."

All public-domain translations

5 translations · all pre-1928 or released to public domain · sources

Shankaracharya's commentary, trans. Alladi Mahadeva Sastry (1897)

[1]
Not by abstaining from action does a person reach the actionless state; nor does he attain perfection by mere renunciation.

Swami Swarupananda, Srimad Bhagavad Gita (1909)

[4]
Not by abstaining from action does a man reach the state of non-action; nor by mere renunciation does he attain to perfection.

William Quan Judge, The Bhagavad Gita (1890)

[6]
Not by refraining from action does a man attain freedom from action; and not by mere renunciation does he arrive at perfection.

Sir Edwin Arnold, The Song Celestial (1885)

[7]
Not doing, O Arjuna! avails not; Not inaction wins to peace; Not by renouncing world is bliss achieved, But by strong deeds nobly done.

K.T. Telang, Sacred Books of the East Vol. 8 (1882)

[9]
Not by avoiding actions does a man obtain freedom from action; nor does he reach perfection by mere renunciation.