Verse 12

In plain words

Now he praises the letting go of the fruit of every action —

Knowledge is better, truly more worthy of praise, than mere practice grounded in discrimination. And better still than that knowledge is meditation that grows out of knowledge. And better even than that knowledge-grounded meditation is letting go of the fruit of your actions altogether — the same word, 'is superior', simply carries over here too, even though the verse does not repeat it. So from this letting go, this final renunciation that already carries knowledge and meditation within it, peace, real cessation, of saṃsāra, roots and all, comes immediately. Not eventually. Not on some later occasion. Immediately.

Picture someone still caught up in doing — active, but not yet awake to who he really is. When he simply cannot manage the deeper practice already shown to him, the teaching offers him this instead: let go of the fruit of everything you do. That is taught as a way to the good — though never as the very first step for everyone. And here is why it earns such praise. The verse itself ranks things by degrees, 'better than mere practice is knowledge,' and inside that same ladder, giving up every fruit gets its own high place, because scripture says that even someone who already has better tools should practice this simpler renunciation when the better ones are out of reach. But on what grounds does it deserve such praise? Because the Upaniṣad already says it: when all desires are let go, immortality follows. That much is established fact. And what are desires, if not the fruits of every rite a person performs? So when someone wise, settled deep in meditation, gives all of that up, peace arrives at once, with no gap at all. That very letting-go of every desire is present, too, when someone still unawakened gives up the fruit of their actions. Because the two share that one thing, the praise stretches to cover this simpler case as well — not to claim they are equal, but to encourage. Think of Agastya, the sage who drank the whole ocean. Brahmins living now cannot do that, and yet they are still honored, simply for sharing his brahminhood. In the very same way, by giving up the fruit of action, the path of karma-yoga is declared to be a genuine means to the highest good.

Close to the Sanskrit

Now he praises the renunciation of the fruit of all actions —

Better, indeed more praiseworthy, is knowledge. Than what? Than practice preceded by discrimination. Than that knowledge too, meditation preceded by knowledge is superior. Than the meditation of one possessing knowledge too, the abandonment of the fruit of action [is superior] — '[is] superior' is carried over [from the earlier clause]. Thus, from the abandonment of the fruit of action, qualified by the preceding qualifiers, peace — the cessation — of saṃsāra together with its cause, would occur immediately following; it does not, however, require [waiting for] another time.

For one who is ignorant and engaged in action, when there is incapacity for practicing the means previously taught, renunciation of the fruit of all actions is taught as the means to the good — not as the very first step. And therefore, by the teaching of successive superiority in 'better indeed is knowledge than mere practice,' renunciation of the fruit of all action is praised, because, when there is incapacity for practicing even an already-acquired means, it is heard in scripture as something to be practiced. By what common property is this a case of praise? Because from 'when all desires are relinquished' (Kaṭha Up. 2.3.14), immortality is declared to follow from the relinquishing of all desire; that is well established. And desires, all of them, are the fruits of Śrauta and Smārta rites. And in the renunciation of that, for the wise one established in meditation, peace comes immediately; thus this general feature of renouncing all desire is present also in the ignorant one's renunciation of the fruit of action. And from that commonality, this praise of renouncing the fruit of all action exists in order to encourage. Just as, when it is said 'the ocean was drunk by Agastya the brahmin,' present-day brahmins too are praised on the ground of shared brahminhood, so, from renunciation of the fruit of action, the status of karma-yoga as a means to the good is declared.

In plain words

“Do you say that not one of these is possible to do easily? Do you say you cannot do it? Then your course and your state are for you alone to know,” He said, and fell silent. When one looks closely at this sacred teaching, it becomes clear that those who wish to become a ‘devotee’ must keep their attention on the work alone, and not on the time. That is why Gopāla also declared that Jñāna is better than abhyāsa, dhyāna better than Jñāna, and the renunciation of the fruit of karma far better than dhyāna.