To Act or Not to Act!

To Act or Not to Act!

We encountered the concept of "non-action" once before in The Way of Lao-Tzu. In that context, non-action was essential to preserving a harmony with all things. One who acted "unnaturally" or "with force" upset this harmony, and for this reason, the followers of Lao-Tzu strove to act only in a way "flowing with the moment." In The Bhavagad-Gita, we encounter a different understanding of "action" v. "non-action". Early on in the poem, Krishna explains to Arjuna that:

The worlds would collapse 

if I did not perform action; 

I would create disorder in society, 

living beings would be destroyed. 

(3.24) 

While action upset universal harmony in The Way of Lao-Tzu, action preserves harmony in The Bhavagad-Gita. This point is elaborated upon later on in the poem when Arjuna asks Krishna which is more appropriate, action or renunciation of action. In response to this question, Krishna explains: 

Renunciation and discipline is action

both effect good beyond measure; 

but of the two, discipline in action

surpasses the renunciation of action. 

(5.2) 

Krishna clearly advocates action over renunciation of action because it is through action that one fulfills his duty, or dharma. Than again, Krishna does not condemn the renunciation of action. In regards to the renunciation of action, Krishna comments:

Armed with discipline, he purifies

and subdues the self, masters his senses, 

united himself with the self of all creatures; 

even when he acts, he is not defiled. 

Seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, 

eating, walking, sleeping, breathing, 

the disciplined man who knows reality 

should think, "I do nothing at all."

(5.8-5.9)

Krishna acknowledges that there is value in the renunciation of action. In what way, if any, is the renunciation of action in The Bhavagad-Gita related to the concept of "non-action" found in The Way of Lao-Tzu? What does the inclusion v. omission of action as the stabilizing force of the universal harmony tell us about each text's worldview/goal for humanity? Does the presence of a worshipped divinity in The Bhavagad-Gita at all have to do with why action is advocated so strongly?