Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 3: The Path of Action

Bhagavad Gita 3.24

utsīdeyurime lokā na kuryāṃ karma cedaham | saṅkarasya ca kartā syāmupahanyāmimāḥ prajāḥ ||

If I did not act, these worlds would fall into ruin. I would be the cause of disorder and would destroy these people.

Modern context

Krishna pictures what would follow if the one who upholds the world stopped: disorder and ruin. On a human scale the same holds for anyone whose steady work others rely on. Order in a home, a team or a city does not maintain itself. It rests on people who keep doing their part when no one is thanking them.