Answer
When it is said that the soul does not do anything, it refers to material activities in this material world. Every material action actually involves three doers. This is explained in the fifth chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, especially in verses 13, 14, 15, and 16. Briefly, the first doer is the individual living entity, who initiates the action through desire. For example, if I desire to lift my hand, that desire becomes the starting point of the action. The second doer is the Paramatma, the Supersoul, who is situated within the heart. The Paramatma sanctions the action. Without that sanction, the activity cannot proceed. The third doer is material nature, which actually carries out the action through the three gunas. Thus, the hand appears to move, and we think, “I am lifting my hand,” but in reality the action is being executed by material nature under the sanction of Paramatma because the jiva desired it.
So this is the complete mechanism behind material activity.
Now regarding chanting and spiritual activity — spiritual activities are different. Spiritual activity is fundamentally the activity of the soul. Of course, during chanting the tongue, mind, and other bodily parts may be externally engaged, but the essence of the activity is spiritual, not material.
The material body may assist externally as an instrument, but chanting Hare Krishna and engaging in devotional service are actually activities of the soul. The soul is participating in its natural spiritual function of serving and connecting with Krishna.
