Bhagavad Gita 3.4
न कर्मणामनारम्भान्नैष्कर्म्यं पुरुषोऽश्नुते । न च संन्यसनादेव सिद्धिं समधिगच्छति ॥
na karmaṇām anārambhān naiṣkarmyaṃ puruṣo 'śnute | na ca saṃnyasanād eva siddhiṃ samadhigacchati ||
Translation
A man does not attain freedom from action by not engaging in action; nor does he attain perfection by mere renunciation.
Reflection
What have you stopped doing and called it discipline, when it was avoidance?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Three
Two nots, stacked. By not starting, you do not reach not-doing. By renouncing alone, you do not reach perfection. Naiṣkarmya is not no-action. It is freedom from being bound by action. The distinction is the whole verse. Shankara is firm here: stopping is not the goal because stopping is itself an action, and an unhonest one if it is taken to avoid the work. The first false escape is the one most readers reach for: if action is the problem, drop action. The teacher cuts it down before the student can finish the thought. Renouncing for the look of renouncing buys nothing.