Text 4811
Conclusion—The Perfection of Benunciation
817
Personality of Godhead. Anything done for personal sense gratification is a cause of bondage. The conclusion is that everyone should be engaged according to the particular mode of nature he has acquired, and he should decide to work only to serve the supreme cause of the Supreme Lord.
TEXT 48
सहजं कर्म कौन्तेय सदोषमपि न त्यजेत् । सर्वारम्भा हि दोषेण धूमेनाग्निरिवावृताः ॥४८॥
saha-jaṁ karma kaunteya  
 sa-doṣam api na tyajet  
 sarvārambhā-hi doṣeṇa  
 dhūmenāgnir ivāvrtāh
saha-jam —born simultaneously;  karma —work;  kaunteya —O son of Kuntī;  sa-doṣam —with fault;  api —although;  na —never;  tyajet —to be given up;  sarva-ārambhāḥ —any venture;  hi —is certainly;  doṣeṇa —with fault;  dhūmena —with smoke;  agniḥ —fire;  iva —as;  āvṛtāḥ —covered.
TRANSLATION
Every endeavor is covered by some sort of fault, just as fire is covered by smoke. Therefore one should not give up the work which is born of his nature, O son of Kuntī, even if such work is full of fault.
PURPORT
In conditioned life, all work is contaminated by the material modes of nature. Even if one is a  brāhmaṇa , he has to perform sacrifices in which animal killing is necessary. Similarly, a  kṣatriya , however pious he may be, has to fight enemies. He cannot avoid it. Similarly, a merchant, however pious he may be, must sometimes hide his profit to stay in business, or he may sometimes have to do business on the black market. These things are necessary; one cannot avoid them. Similarly, even though a man is a  śūdra  serving a bad master, he has to carry out the order of the master, even though it should not be done. Despite these flaws, one should continue to carry out his prescribed duties, for they are born out of his own nature.