Verse 4.18

कर्मण्यकर्म यः पश्येदकर्मणि च कर्म यः। स बुद्धिमान् मनुष्येषु स युक्तः कृत्स्नकर्मकृत्।।4.18।।

karmaṇyakarma yaḥ paśhyed akarmaṇi cha karma yaḥ sa buddhimān manuṣhyeṣhu sa yuktaḥ kṛitsna-karma-kṛit

Meaning

Whoever sees no action in action and action in no action, that person is a straight-up guru, a total yogi, and a boss at everything.

Commentary

Okay, so like, normal people think 'doing stuff' means, you know, moving your body, hands, feet, the whole shebang. But chill, inaction is just vibing, right? It's the whole 'I'm the one doing it' mindset that traps you in this endless cycle of, like, *samsara*. If you ditch that ego trip, then doing stuff isn't really *doing* anything, it's not gonna keep you stuck. That's inaction *in* action. It's like, you're watching nature do its thing, you're a bystander, you're not the main character. You're one with the universe, and it doesn't matter how much you're doing, it's all chill. That's inaction in action. This whole vibe makes doing stuff not a big deal. But if you're just sitting there, but still thinking 'I'm doing this sitting,' then you're still doing stuff, even if you're not moving. Your mind is going wild, that's action in inaction. Your brain never stops, even when you're chilling. No one can actually *not* do anything, we're all forced to do stuff by nature. Inaction can also make you feel all egotistical. Inactive people are like, 'I'm so chill, I do nothing.' But both action and inaction are wrongly attributed to the self. The person who gets this is the real MVP, they've mastered everything. It's like, a boat moves, and the trees look like they're moving backward. Faraway stuff looks still. It's the same with the self; inaction is mistaken for action, and action for inaction. The self is chill, it doesn't do anything. The body and senses do stuff. People who don't get it think, 'I'm doing this!' They think the self is the one doing it, but that's wrong. It's like, the trees aren't actually moving on the boat, right? Action doesn't belong to the self. This whole misunderstanding is why we're born and die. It disappears when you get self-realization.