Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Ramanujacharya 89

Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Ramanujacharya

Chapter-3 Karma Yogaḥ

niyataṃ kuru karma tvaṃ karma jyāyayo hy-akarmaṇaḥ | śarīra-yātrā’pi ca te na prasiddhayed akarmaṇaḥ || 8 || 8. You must perform your obligatory duties; for action is superior to non-action (meditation). For not even the maintenance of the body is possible by inaction. Commentary 'Obligatory' (niyatam) indicates 'concomitant' (vyaptam); for action is invariably concomitant (coincidental) with the state of being embodied. This conjunction [of the Self] with material Nature (Prakrti) has arisen due to beginingless subtle impressions (samskāras). You must act, because the performance of action is natural and may not cause misadventure by reason of its also being obligatory. Action is superior to the practice of meditation. Even in the case of one qualified for the practice of meditation, unmotivated action indeed is better, because meditation is difficult to perform and susceptible to misadventure, as it is not a natural process and one may not have practiced it previously. Consequently, we should understand that because Self-realisation is included in Karma Yoga — it is superior. This affirmation of the superiority of Karma Yoga (disinterested work) over Jñāna Yoga (meditation on the Self) remains valid even when one is competent to practice meditation. For, if one abandons all activities to practice meditation, then, while practicing meditation, even the basic maintenance of the body, which is essential even for a meditator will not be achieved. Performing the obligatory pañca-mahā-yajñas with the help of honestly earned wealth, the body should be sustained by consuming the remnants [of food offered] after such performances. This is clearly indicated in scriptural texts like;— " When the food is pure, the Sattva (mind) becomes pure; when the Sattva is pure, then the mindfulness (meditation) will be steady.” .