Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 18: Freedom through Renunciation
Bhagavad Gita 18.11
न हि देहभृता शक्यं त्यक्तुं कर्माण्यशेषतः ।
यस्तु कर्मफलत्यागी स त्यागीत्यभिधीयते ॥
na hi dehabhṛtā śakyaṃ tyaktuṃ karmāṇyaśeṣataḥ | yastu karmaphalatyāgī sa tyāgītyabhidhīyate ||
No one who lives in a body can give up actions entirely. But one who gives up the fruit of action is called a true relinquisher.
Modern context
No one living in a body can give up action entirely. Breathing, eating, thinking: these never stop. So the question is not whether to act but how. The one who gives up the fruits of action is the true renouncer. This removes the false choice between a busy worldly life and a spiritual one. The spiritual life is a way of doing, not a way of not doing.