Krishna delivers a crushing blow to the fantasy of 'inaction.' He states an absolute, inescapable law of biology and physics: No one (na hi kaścit), not even for a single split-second (kṣaṇam api), can ever remain completely inactive (tiṣṭhaty akarma-kṛt). Why? Because absolutely everyone (sarvaḥ) is forced to act helplessly (kāryate hy avaśaḥ) by the Gunas (qualities) born of material nature (prakṛti-jair guṇaiḥ).