Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 11
भगवद् गीता अध्याय 18 श्लोक 11

न हि देहभृता शक्यं त्यक्तुं कर्माण्यशेषतः।
यस्तु कर्मफलत्यागी स त्यागीत्यभिधीयते।।18.11।।



English Translation - Swami Gambirananda
18.11 Since it is not possible for one who holds on to a body to give up actions entirely, therefore he, on the other hand, who renounces results on actions is called a man of renunciation.


English Translation of Ramanuja's Sanskrit Commentary
18.11 It is impossible for one who has a body and has to nourish it. to abandon action entirely; for eating, drinking etc., reired for nourshing the body and other acts connected therewith are unavoidable. And for the same reason the five great sacrifices etc., are also indispensable. He who has given up the fruits of the five great sacrifices, is said to have renounced; this is referred to in the Srutis such as:  Only through renunciation do some obtain immortality (Ma. Na., 8.14). Renunciation of fruits of actions is illustrative; it implies much more. It implies one who has renounced the fruits, agency and attachment to works, as the topic has been begun with the declaration: For abandonment (Tyaga) is declard to be of three kinds (18.4).

This statement may be estioned in the following manner: Agnihotra, the full moon and new moon sacrifices, Jyotistoma etc., and also the five great sacrifices are enjoined by the Sastras only for the attainment of their results like heaven. They are not purposeless. Even the injunction with regard to obligatory and occasional ceremonies is enjoined because they yield results, as implied in the following passage:  For householders, Prajapatya ceremony (V.P., 1.6.37). Therefore, as the performance of actions has to be understood as a means for attaining their respective results, the accruing of agreeable and disagreeable results is inevitable, even though they are performed without any desire for fruits, just as a seed sown must grow into a tree and bear fruit. Hence, actions ought not to be performed by an aspirant for release, because the results are incompatible with release. Sri Krsna answers such objections:


Transliteration Bhagavad Gita 18.11Na hi dehabhritaa shakyam tyaktum karmaanyasheshatah;
Yastu karmaphalatyaagi sa tyaageetyabhidheeyate.


Word Meanings Bhagavad Gita 18.11na—not; hi—indeed; deha-bhṛitā—for the embodied being; śhakyam—possible; tyaktum—to give up; karmāṇi—activities; aśheṣhataḥ—entirely; yaḥ—who; tu—but; karma-phala—fruits of actions; tyāgī—one who renounces all desires for enjoying the fruits of actions; saḥ—they; tyāgī—one who renounces all desires for enjoying the fruits of actions; iti—as; abhidhīyate—are said