It is impossible for one who has a body and has to nourish it, ‘to abandon action entirely’; for eating, drinking etc., required for nourishing the body and other acts connected therewith are unavoidable. And for the same reason the five great sacrifices etc., are also indispensable. He who has given up the fruits of the five great sacrifices, is said to have renounced; this is referred to in the Shrutis such as: ‘Only through renunciation do some obtain immortality’ (Ma.Na., 8.14). Renunciation of fruits of actions is illustrative; it implies much more. It implies one who has renounced the fruits, agency and attachment to works, as the topic has been begun with the declaration: ‘For abandonment (Tyaga) is declared to be of three kinds’ (18.4).

This statement may be questioned in the following manner: ‘Agnihotra, the full moon and new moon sacrifices. Jyotishtoma etc., and also the five great sacrifices are enjoined by the Shastras only for the attainment of their results like heaven. They are not purposeless. Even the injunction with regard to obligatory and occasional ceremonies is enjoined because they yield results, as implied in the following passage: “For householders, Prajapatya ceremony” (V.P., 1.6.37). Therefore, as the performance of actions has to be understood as a means for attaining their respective results, the accruing of agreeable and disagreeable results is inevitable, even though they are performed without any desire for fruits, just as a seed sown must grow into a tree and bear fruit. Hence, actions ought not to be performed by an aspirant for release, because the results are incompatible with release. Shri Krishna answers such objections: