tvam–You; kuru–perform; niyatam karma–prescribed duties; hi–since; karma–the performance of duty; jyāyaḥ–is superior; akarmaṇaḥ– to renouncing duty. akarmaṇaḥ cha–By becoming inactive; te śarīra yātrā api–even your bodily sustenance; na prasiddhyet–will not be accomplished. [8]

Perform your prescribed duties, since to be active is better than idleness. Inactive persons cannot even maintain their existence. (By giving up fruitive action and performing your obligatory duties, your heart will be purified. Surpassing the plane of renunciation, you will attain pure devotion, transcendental to the mundane plane.)