Perform your prescribed action, for action is superior to inaction. Not even could you maintain the body without acting.

Here the obligation of action is established. Niyata-karma — action prescribed by the śāstra and by one’s own dharma — is not optional.

Inaction (akarman) is impossible; even to maintain the body (śarīra-yātrā) requires action. The cell breathes, the heart beats, food is digested. What Krishna proposes is not inaction but transformation of the attitude toward inevitable action. Jyāyaḥ — superior — refers to spiritual effectiveness, not moralism.