Then the Self is always unattached (and) the unwise are attached to action;
The wise are not stuck to action thus (thinking), "I act, I do not act."
Commentary
The wise are not attached to action and realize that the Self is free from action. The Self is a non-attached Witness, being the seer of all action and inaction. The wise man is never stuck to action, but is spiritually free as the Bhagavad Gita (V. 10) declares. The Avadhuta Upanishad (verse 8) has this to say, "He does not hold back nor bring forth; he is not bound and has no harsh discipline; he does not desire liberation because he is already liberated." Even when the wise man is acting he does not feel any egotistical participation in the action he is involved in. The same is true when he is not acting.