Even while always performing every kind of action, one who takes refuge in me reaches, by my grace, the eternal, imperishable state.
Explanation
Krishna continues from the previous verse, where devotion (bhakti) leads to knowing him truly. Here he says that taking refuge in him (madvyapāśraya) means action need not be given up: a person can keep working and still reach the eternal, imperishable state (śāśvataṁ padam avyayam) through his grace (prasāda). Traditions differ on what that state is: some read it as union with the personal God, others as liberation (mokṣa) in the Absolute.