Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 - Karma Yoga - Sloka 8

The entire content of this mail is from Swami Chidbhavananda's translation of The Bhagavad Gita, published by Ramakrishna Mission.

Jnana Yoga & Karma yoga are complementary - 3-8

1 Gita Sloka every day - Chapter 3 - Karma Yoga - Sloka 8

Niyatam kuru karma tvam karma jyayah hi akramanah I

Sharir yatrapi  cha te na prasiddhayed akarmanah II sloka 8

नियतं कुरु कर्म त्वां कर्म ज्यायः हि अकर्मणः ।

शरीर यात्रापि च ते न प्रसिद्धयेद अकर्मणः ।। श्लोक ८ 

Engage yourself in obligatory work; for action is superior to inaction, and if inactive, even the mere maintenance of your body would not be possible.

Bathing, eating, sleeping - activities such as these are classified as nitya karma  or obligatory work. These are indispensable for a robust living. No new merit is acquired by performing an obligatory work; but if one fails to perform it then one incurs demerit. Eating,for example, is an obligatory work. By regularly nourishing, oneself, one doesnot emerge as a a better person, but if one neglects it, one becomes weak and emaciated, which is a demerit.

Bodily existence is required to achieve the several ideals in life. Keeping the body fit is therefore accepted as an aid in making the pilgrimage of life. If the body is not perfect, life gets frustrated. Action is the means to maintain it well. 

One ought not to be satisfied with discharging the obligatory duties alone. For, they can only maintain man in the excellences he has so far acquired. But there are yet other excellences to acquire. New endeavours are the sure means to it. Crawling is a necessary step in a baby's life. But in remaining satisfied with it, the baby cannot evolve. He has further to stand, walk and run. Even so man progresses through new enterprises. There are those who hold that doing any new karma amounts to the creation of additional bondage. The seeming progress on one side is nothing but bondage to karma on the other, is the view of these people. They advocate the avoidance of the chimera of action and its dreadful consequence in the shape of slavery to action.  But this negative position is untenable. Man can make endless ethical and spiritual progress in life adn at the same time remains untethered to karma. The Lord provides the meaning to it in the next sloka.