Chapter-18, Verse 58

Ashtavakra Gita Verse 18.58 

अकुर्वन्नपि संक्षोभाद्व्यग्रः सर्वत्र मूढधीः ।

कुर्वन्नपि तु कृत्यानि कुशलो हि निराकुलः ॥ ५८ ॥

Even when doing nothing the fool is agitated by restlessness, while a skilful man remains undisturbed even when doing what there is to do. 

The meaning of this verse is that the state of mind of a person determines his or her bondage or liberation, not the actions that he or she performs. A fool is always restless and distracted by the objects of the senses, even when he or she is not engaged in any activity. Such a person is ignorant of his or her true nature as Pure Awareness, and is attached to the false notion of being the doer and the enjoyer of the results. 

A skilful man, on the other hand, is calm and composed even when he or she is performing the duties of his or her life. Such a person is aware of his or her true nature as the Witness of everything, and is detached from the identification with the body and the mind. He or she does not have any desire or aversion for the outcomes of the actions, and is free from anxiety and sorrow.

This verse teaches us that the key to Realization is not to renounce the world and its activities, but to renounce the ego and its attachments. It is not the action that binds us, but the attitude with which we perform it. If we act with the sense of doership and ownership, we create karma and suffer its consequences. If we act with the sense of surrender and service, we dissolve karma and attain peace. The wise man is not affected by the dualities of pleasure and pain, success and failure, honor and dishonor, because he or she knows that they are transient and illusory. He or she remains in the state of equanimity and bliss, which is his or her true nature.

Similar Vedic Verses:

- In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says to Arjuna:

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।

मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥ २.४७ ॥

You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty. 

- In the Isha Upanishad, the seer says:

कुर्वन्नेवेह कर्माणि जिजीविषेच्छतँ समाः ।

एवं त्वयि नान्यथेतोऽस्ति न कर्म लिप्यते नरे ॥ २ ॥

Performing action here, one should desire to live a hundred years. Thus it is in your case; there is no other way than this by which action will not cling to a man. 

- In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the sage defines the practice of non-attachment as:

वैराग्यमेव च निरोधकारणं चित्तस्य ॥ १.१५ ॥

Non-attachment is the Mastery of Consciousness, when the desire for both the seen and the unseen is extinguished.