Sanskrit
यदि ह्यहं न वर्तेयं जातु कर्मण्यतन्द्रितः । मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः ॥
yadi hy ahaṃ na varteyaṃ jātu karmaṇy atandritaḥ mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ
Translation
For if I mingled not ever in action unwearied, men all around would follow My path, O son of Prithâ.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The counterfactual continues, spelling out the stakes of verse 21’s imitation principle applied at cosmic scale: if Krishna disengaged from action, humanity would follow his path into disengagement. Verse 24 pushes this to its most severe conclusion.