। ॥ ८४ ॥
In plain words
An axe cuts only when a living hand raises it. Food satisfies, yet the eater must make an effort. Past Karma likewise brings unequal and equal results, but the perishable embodied person has no complete independence in this process. Antarātma, the inner Self, is the one that sets it in motion.
Close to the Sanskrit
An axe can cut a tree when lifted by a living being. Food is generally the cause of satisfaction, yet the eater's effort too is named a cause. In the same way past Karma causes the reception of unlike and like results, yet independence cannot belong to this perishable embodied one; Antarātma—the inner Self—is its impeller.