Bhagavad Gita 4.15
एवं ज्ञात्वा कृतं कर्म पूर्वैरपि मुमुक्षुभिः । कुरु कर्मैव तस्मात्त्वं पूर्वैः पूर्वतरं कृतम् ॥
evaṃ jñātvā kṛtaṃ karma pūrvair api mumukṣubhiḥ | kuru karmaiva tasmāt tvaṃ pūrvaiḥ pūrvataraṃ kṛtam ||
Translation
Knowing this, the ancients also, desirous of liberation, performed action. Therefore do you also perform action, as it was performed by the ancients in olden times.
Reflection
Whose example were you reaching for that involved stepping back, when stepping in was what they did?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Four
Pūrvair api mumukṣubhiḥ. By ancients also, who sought liberation. The verse names the precedent: the people who wanted freedom did not stop acting. They acted with the knowledge from the previous verse. Kuru karma eva, do action only. Pūrvaiḥ pūrvataraṃ kṛtam, by ancients, in an even more ancient way. The chapter is repeating itself on purpose. The student keeps wanting to hear that action is the lesser path. The teacher keeps refusing. The ancients who wanted out of the cycle stayed in the work. Shankara: the only way to leave the wheel is to keep your hand on it without grabbing.