Upanishads state that work or knowledge alone by itself is not sufficient to attain Moksa or liberation. A bird cannot fly by one wing only. Karma and Jnana are the two wings with which an aspirant can fly to heaven.

3.4: Neither because man does not start an action, he gains Niaskarmyam (abandonment of action), nor because he renounces action, he gains Siddhim (perfection).

Noninitiation of action does not mean freedom from action. Renunciation of action does not mean attainment of perfection.

As mentioned above in my comments, a true "renouncer" (Sannyasin) is the one who relinquishes fruits of an action without relinquishing the action itself. It is like the doctor who sees patients without expectation of fees, salary or any kind of remuneration. He accepts whatever fees given to him voluntarily. (That will be the day when heaven will be on earth.)  Desirelessness (vairāgya) is one of the cardinal signs of a yogi. Yogi’s qualities are eight in all: abstention, observance, postures, breath-control, withdrawal of senses, fixed attention or concentration, contemplation or meditation, and superconsciousness or samādhi.

    Exemplary behavior consists of “ahimsa, truth, honesty, continence, and rejection of gifts.” Yogi climbs all five steps, before he can gain samādhi; inaction is as much a dereliction of duty, as performance of action with expectation of a reward in the mind. Duty is work according to caste by birth, or that performed in conformance with one’s training, or that one agreed to perform, or that in a religious setting.

3.5: No one, (for sure) even for a moment, remains without doing some action. All people surrender against their free will (avasah) to the gunas of nature, which induce them to action.

Gunas of Prakriti: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas or Virtue, Passion and Darkness)

Each one of us is a body of our biological processes; biological functions go on with or without our knowledge. Read commentary on Verse 12 Chapter 2 for more information on prakriti and gunas. Men fall into three classes according to their gunas: The one with goodness or Sattva guna is a Sura; the one with passion or Rajas is an Asura and one with Tamas (ignorance or Avidya) is a Raksasa. Sura is god or godlike, Asura is demonic, and Raksasa is devilish. Man has one dominant guna with varying amounts of the other two gunas; for example, perfected yogi is mostly Sattvic with little Rajas or Tamas.

3.6: The foolish man (vi-mūdha-atma), who curbs his sense organs for outward show, but thinks about the sense objects in his mind, is a (mithya-acāra) deceitful teacher.

Vi-mūdha-atma: perplexed, foolish, or confused man

3.7:   The one, who restrains his senses by his mind, and begins, O Arjuna, his karma yogam (Yoga of action) without attachment to sense organs, is superior (and unsurpassed). 

3.8:  You should do your work as prescribed to you (by the sacred texts), for action is better than inaction. By inaction, even upkeep of the body is not attainable.

3.9: Except for the work done in the spirit (for the sake) of sacrifice (Yajna), karma binds all other work done in this world. O Kaunteya (Arjuna), the son of Kunti, you perform your actions without attachment in good faith for the sake of sacrifice.

Yajna means sacrifice and can mean Vishnu, the Lord. In a pure spiritual sense, all actions without attachment are sacrifices and we are mere instruments in the hands of the Lord Vishnu. Actions without expectation of a reward become sacrifices to the Lord. Such actions have no taint and therefore have no bondage. Yajna by itself has undergone transformation and evolution from the first mention in Vedas or observance to the time of Bhagavad Gita. In BG, Sri Bhagavan says that a sacrificer does not expect a reward. Duty is work according to one’s birth-Varna, training, or religious vows. Bondage means that it has a load of karma attached to it. See elsewhere on karma, inflows into subtle body, and the ways to unload this karma and bring it to a zero-sum point (இருவினையொப்பு--Equable resolution of two-deed Karma to a Null status). 

You heard about “No Deposit, No Return.” As long as you do not deposit (karmic inflows into the subtle body), there is no return to this world as a transmigratory being. 

Yajna (Sacrifice, sacrificial worship, offering of an oblation) is an elaborate external procedure (Exoteric Ritual). There is an alternate common procedure whose intent, purpose and result are the same. Sacrifice is giving something that you value most. Living on this earth is Yajna. The protector of Yajna and you is Paramatma. He protects you throughout your life.  Vedas attest to the fact that we perform Yajnam on a daily basis without us knowing. That Yajna is PrasAda SvIkaranam, our daily eating.  For the performance of Yajna, we need an auspicious place (VAdikai = வாடிகை = resting place). The body  serves the purpose of Yajna VAdikai  well. It is Paramatma who designed this body as the Yajna VAdikai. Now we need Homa Kundam (oblation through fire + hollow ground = sacrificial pit). The mouth is the sacrificial pit. The tongue of fire in the pit is the anatomical tongue in the mouth.  Brahma is the witness; our eyes serve that purpose, while watching the sacrificial pit of the mouth. Our Skeletal frame is the sacrificial hall (samiththam --(சமித்தம்). The hair on the body serves as the Darbha grass (taruppai = தருப்பை = Kusa/kaus grass--Poa cynosuroides).  We need two implements (ladles) for the fire ceremony: சுருவம்/ஸ்ருவம்--suruvam and சுருக்கு--surukku.  1. சுருவம்/ஸ்ருவம், suruvam; 2. சுருக்கு, surukku. 1. a ladle to pour the clarified butter in the sacrificial fire and 2. mango leaves shaped into a ladle.  God has given us two hands as two ladles, necessary for the ceremony.  Mango-leaf ladle rests on the left hand and the other ladle in the right hand with which we pour the butter in the fire (naivEdhanam = oblation, offering). We put a single grain of cooked rice in the mouth without touching the teeth; this is PrAnahUthi (offering of vital breaths in the fire). Our daily eating of food is an oblation to Antaryamin (the Guide inside us).  If one thinks and acts as if the food that we eat is not for the Antaryamin, we eat sin (papam-பாபம்). If you feed the Antaryamin in you in good faith, you are doing the proper Yajna. There is no need for the external ceremony.  This daily Yajna of feeding the Antaryamin confers health, wealth and happiness.  We eat for Him and not for us.  This passage is based on Kurai-onrum-illai, Mukkur Lakshmi Narasimachariyar,  part 2 page 289.

The View from the West

Of all the Indologists I read, Abbe J.A. Dubois  (Born 1765, ordained in 1792 and came to India the same year; left India Jan 15 1823; wrote books and held posts; died age 83 in 1848.) is the  most humorous; his acerbic comments in his book HINDU MANNERS CUSTOMS AND CEREMONIES  (first published in 1906) should not to be taken as criticism or derision. He was a product of his formative years and upbringing; he knows us very well indeed.  The factual errors have been corrected in the 1992 publication.  He came as a missionary from France, soon discarded his European clothes, donned like an Indian and moved among them as if he were a native.  Here are some of the comments he makes on Darbha grass. Brahmins always keep some in their house. It is extremely rough to the touch, and if rubbed the wrong way it cuts through the skin and draws blood.  It was produced at the time when the gods and the giants were all busy churning with the mountain of Mandara, the sea of milk in order to extract from it amrita or nectar, which would render them all immortal. The mountain rolling about on Vishnu's back (turtle supporting it) rubbed off a great many of the god's hairs and these hairs, cast ashore by the waves, took root there and became Darbha grass.  A few drops of Amrita fell on this grass, which thus became sacred.  Another explanation. Vishnu metamorphosed into a courtesan (Mohini) and was distributing the nectar from a vessel supported on her hip from which some fleshy filaments fell and taking root in the ground, developed under the form of Darbha grass.  Darbha grass is part of Vishnu himself.  On this strength Brahmins worship it, offer sacrifices and use in ceremonies with the belief it has the virtue of purifying everything.  In the month of Badra (September), an annual feast is held to honor the sacred grass.  It is called Darbha Ashtami, which secures immortality and blessedness for ten ancestors. The posterity increases and multiplies like the Darbha grass itself, which is one of the most prolific members of the vegetable kingdom.  I have no idea of why it is selected as worthy of special honor; I never heard of its medicinal or culinary use to receive its high position. --Opinion by Dubois. 

Life on earth is Samsara, a state of internment until Karma is resolved or brought to a zero-sum status. The Bhagavata Purana (5th Skandha, Chapter 13) compares Samsara to the forest. The jivas wander in the forest of Samsara in pursuit of happiness and pleasure. Bandits (sense organs) wander in the forest of Samsara as a caravan with an undisciplined leader, the mind. A careless member of the caravan devoid of spiritual bent is mauled and carried away by wolves (wife and children), meaning that he gets married, begets children and dissipates his spiritual wealth. In the dense forest of Samsara, they are constantly subjected to stinging gnats and mosquitoes in the form of wicked people. They see the illusive city of Gandharvas in the sky (akin to seeing mirage in the desert) which promises a life of pleasure. Gandharvas are celestials who entertain the gods. The city of Gandharva is the body which is impermanent and illusory, meaning that the Soul has permanence and the physical body of the soul can be changed like discarding old clothes and changing to new ones. The members of the caravan wander hither and thither in the forest looking for shelter, water and wealth. Dust storm hits them in the eye, thereby blinding them and depriving them sense of direction. Dust storm stands for the woman who raises blinding erotic dust making the man lose his sense of direction. Here directions are the deities of direction, who are the witness to his actions. The unseen chirping crickets and hooting owls annoy and pain the wandering merchant. Crickets are the back biters and the owls are oppressive enemies and authorities. Haunted by crickets, owls and hunger, they seek unholy trees, irreligious persons.  When the thirst of the senses heightens, they go after the mirage of worldly pleasures. They run into dry riverbeds that are unable to quench their thirst, and resort to begging for food. (Dry riverbeds are schools which do not offer wholesome water for spiritual thirst, thus depriving the spiritually thirsty man to attain liberation.)  Forest fire scorches them and the Yakshas and Raksasas (king and his officers) drain their lifeblood, squeeze them dry and deprive them of their wealth. Thus deprived of wealth, he becomes despondent. In a reflective mood, he tries to scale the great mountain of understanding only to be pricked by a thorn, cut by a sharp gravel and bruised by falling rocks. He sits down in a state of depression. Afflicted by gastric fire and responsibility for his large family, he becomes angry with his own family. The sleep, in the form of a boa constrictor overpowers him, renders him unconscious and abandons him like a corpse in a jungle. Sometimes he receives a bite from the venomous snake, becomes blind, staggers, falls into a well covered by foliage and stays there in the darkness of misery and ignorance.

Sometimes he ravenously goes after honey of low quality (another man's wife) and suffers bees stings in the form of harassment, humiliation and physical abuse from her husband. If the caravan members succeed in  ravishing others' wives (stealing the honey), they engage in fight with them (like the Rocky Mountain goats over female goats) and thus distracted, some one comes along and walks off with their loot.

    When they have no protection against cold, heat, hunger, storm and rain, they trade among themselves fraudulently with what little they have and become enemies of each other.

    Thus deprived of wealth, house, bed, blanket and transport, they resort to begging. Unable to satisfy his daily needs, he casts his usurping eyes and suffers insults.

    Though they developed hostility among themselves from fraudulent money transactions, they enter into marital arrangements with each other.

    They leave their dead wherever they died and take along the newborns. They trudge up the weary path, unable to take a path to Yoga.

    The resolute warriors conquer the world, earn hostility and fall dead; they do not attain the abode of Vishnu reached by the Sannyasins devoid of enmity. 

3.10:   Once upon a time (Time of creation), the lord of creatures created men and sacrifice and said, “By this, you bring forth more and more and let it yield the milk of your desires (Kāmadhuk).”

Prajāpati: Lord of the creatures, Brahma

Kāmadhuk = Milking one's desires, granting every desired object

Once upon a time, there was a cow by name Kāmadhenu, a cow of plenty, a heavenly cow granting all desires. According to Gandhi, the sacrifice meant in this verse is not mental work but physical labor, dedicated to Sri Krishna in a spirit of selfless service, which will free us from evil and bondage.

The View from the West

The universe originated as the Cosmic Purusa (man) from whose sundered body came the various parts of the universe. The brick of the sacrificial fire-altar stands for the Bhutas (matter) of the Purusa; the bricks are arranged in such ways that they represent the expanding universe.  In one instance, the bricks are laid out in the shape of a humongous bird with spread-out wings and consist of 10800 individual entities with a name for each brick. The number 108, its extensions, variations and divisions have cosmic significance. They represent the Year and the endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth (metempsychosis). The tongue of fire leaps from the heart of the altar and ascends to heavens indicating the identical nature of earthly man and Cosmic Purusa.  By building more and more altars, the Vedic Indo-Aryan reenacted the Cosmic Purusa's creation and maintenance.

West quotes Rg Veda  that creation was attributed  first to Visvakarman (Maker of All) with wisdom and strength and with eyes,  mouth, arms and feet on all sides. He is the priest and the sacrifice itself and brings order from chaos, which is compared to a farmer who churns butter out of milk. The priests towards the end of Vedic period (1200-900 B.C) established their supremacy by asserting the power of ritual sacrifice, which mimicked creation, propitiated the gods and brought order and prosperity to the universe. Purusa was the man with 1000 heads, eyes and feet and issued forth gods and sages who nail him down for the sacrifice and offer oblations of butter, grains and oil in the sacrificial fire.  The butter became the spring season, the burning fuel became the summer, and the act of offering became the autumn. Gods shaped the mountain of butter into birds and animals on the earth. The Purusa undergoes sacred mutilation by the priests. From Purusa's head came the sky; the feet became the earth; air blew forth from the navel; the moon grew from his soul; the sun rose from his eyes; Indra popped out of his mouth; the Agni became the god of fire; his breath became Vayu Bhagavan or god of wind; the Brahmins crawled out of his mouth; the Ksatriyas muscled their way out of the arms; the Vaisyas juggled their way out of his thighs; the Sudras erupted out of his feet. The Purusa story became integrated with the stories of Brahma, Visvakarma and Prajapati, who shares commonality with Brahma, Siva and Tvastr. The West quotes Taittiriya Brahmana (900-700 BC) that Prajapati's Iccha Sakti (Will power) produced the universe and made the smoke and fire cool down to form the vast ocean. Prajapati, the Lord of all creatures was alone, depressed and teary with self-pity as to the purpose of his existence. His shed tears became earth; the wiped tears turned into air; the brushed tears became the vaulting sky. He wanted progeny. He gave birth to demons, men, women and gods. When he rested his body between births, his body became night, moon, the seasons, the dusk, the dawn and the day.

The West continues the story of Purusa. In another version of the creation story of Purusa in Satapatha Brahmana (800 BC) The universe was the soul. he was Consciousness first and said Aham (I am). He became two, male and female. The humankind was born from the union between the two.

Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad: The female hid herself out of shame and morphed into beasts of many kinds. The male Purusa made love to her every time she morphed; thus many kinds of animals were born. Agni issued forth from the mouth and the inside hands of Purusa. The fire singed the hairs and that is why there is no hair in the mouth and the inside of the upper arms.

3.11: The gods have cherished you by sacrifices and you will cherish them in return. By mutually cherishing each other, you will gain the supreme good.

3.12:  Since gods are pleased with you because of your sacrifices, the gods will grant you desired enjoyments. He who enjoys these gifts without giving them (reciprocation) to gods in return is certainly a thief.

3.13:  The virtuous, who eat the remnants of food offerings in sacrifice, will gain release from all sins, but the sinners who prepare food to sustain their own bodies, eat sin.

The virtuous eat the remnants of the sacrifice and gain release from all sins. The sinners who prepare and eat food to sustain their bodies eat sin.

Among Vaisnavas, it is a common belief that Four Factors awaken and sustain spiritual consciousness: Mahaprasada, Krishna, Krishna Nama and Vaishnavas.  Mahaprasada (mostly cooked rice, butter, raw sugar) is prepared in the temple kitchen, served to Bhagavan and later given to the devotees to eat. Being the devotee of Krishna (He likes to be addressed as Govinda), chanting the names of Krishna, associating with other Vaishnavas and partaking of Prasada promote Bhakti. Mahaprasada, in addition, attenuates the materialistic nature of Jiva and expunges sins, setting the path to Moksa, Vaikuntha or Paramapadam.

See comments under verse 15. It is the custom to offer food as sacrifice and then eat it. The food that we eat consists of three parts: “the coarse, the middle and the subtle” according to Chandogya Upanishad. The coarse part becomes feces, the middle part becomes flesh, and the subtle part becomes mind. (They had an idea of subtle food nourishing the brain. Brain needs glucose for its function. I assume glucose is subtle food. Muscles need protein for its growth, meaning middle part.)

3.14:  From food come the living creatures. From the rains comes the food. From sacrifice come the rains. From work comes sacrifice.

Work is sacrifice; sacrifice brings rains; rains grow food and food sustains the living creatures.

Work…sacrifice… rains…food…living creatures. Food contains the three elements: fire, water, and earth. In Upanishads, you will find many triads. For example, Gunas: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas.

3.15:  Know thou that karma originates from Brahma. Brahma originates from the imperishable; therefore, all-pervading Brahma stands steadfast in sacrifice.

Sacrifice is giving a little of oneself: it is giving something that has value; it is giving up one’s advantage for a higher purpose; and therefore, it has a worshipful component. Brahma is the source of sacrifice, rains, food, and living entities. It is only natural that everybody enjoys the bounty from the original source, and that sharing is a part of the sacrifice. Brahma is the womb of the universe for all living entities. Brahma is action; from action, sacrifices and karma are born. Brahma is the same as Prakriti. See Chapter 2 verse 12 for explanation. Brahma, after living inside for a year, came out splitting open the Egg into two half-shells; the silver half became earth; the golden half became the sky; the membranes became mountains and clouds; the veins became the rivers; and the fluid became the sea. Brahman is different from Brahma, Vedic Brahmana, Brahmana, or Brahmins of the priestly class: Brahma, Vishnu and Siva form the Hindu holy trinity; Vedic Brahmana are texts giving details of sacrifices, philosophy, rules, and conduct expected of priests; the Brahman is numinous, Supreme, and the Absolute; It is Reality and it is  Satchidananda (Sat-Chit-Ananda: Being, consciousness, and bliss)

3.16: He, who in this world, does not follow the wheel (of sacrifice) set in motion thus, enjoys the sense objects, lives a life of sin, and lives in vain, O Partha (Arjuna).

3.17: He, who finds pleasure, satisfaction, and contentment in the self, does not have any work that needs completion.

He, who finds pleasure, satisfaction, and contentment in the self, does not have any unfinished work.

Atmarati: Pleasure in the self. Atmatrupta: Satisfaction in the self. Samtushta: Contentment.

3.18:   For him, there is no advantage in action. In addition, there is no advantage in inaction. He does not need any being (in the whole universe) for his shelter or purpose.

Arthah: Advantage, purpose. Artha+vyapāsraya: purpose and shelter.

This liberated man, whose self is perfect, has nothing to gain or lose by action or inaction; and thus he is happy and contented with self, freed from dualities: he found the light within his spiritual heart. His jivatma (the individual soul) and Paramatma (the Supreme Soul) are like two birds, which found each other and remain in perfect harmony. His jivatma gave up eating fruits (actions without expectation of rewards) longtime ago and it is in unison with Paramatma: He is a true sanyasin. 

3.19: Therefore, do the work that has to be done with skill, always without attachment; man, who performs action without attachment to fruit, gains the Supreme (Param).

Let us pay a little attention to work with and without attachment, action and inaction, sacrifice, gift, duty, and karma. Work done expecting reward does not carry any merit; further, work done in self-interest or self-aggrandizement is even worse. Sacrifice is giving a little of oneself and something of value, and yielding one's advantage to the needy for a higher purpose, and has a worshipful component. Giving gift to the needy and deserving is superior and expectation of a reward for work is inferior. Action is part of life and therefore unavoidable. Gunas condition action. Sattvic actions are the best; inaction is idleness and has no merit. Reaction can be negative, positive, or neutral: A sattvic reaction is meritorious, Rajasic reaction is destructive, and Tamasic reaction has no merit.

Duty is work according to one's ordain or birth-varna, or training. Duty has a dharmic ingredient and is performance of work as it applies to one’s station in life. Failure to perform one's duty has no merit. Duty, sacrifice, Sattvic karma, and work done without attachment take man to the Supreme.

3.20:  Certainly, by work done without attachment, Janaka and others gained perfection. You should also do work, for the welfare or maintenance (Loka-samgraha) of the world.

Lokasamgraha:  In the days of Rg Veda, Vedic communities cleared forests for offering sacrifices. This clearing, open to the sun, received the name Loka, which means world.

King Janaka, belonging to the solar dynasty, was the king of Mithila, and his birth was unusual. Janaka’s father, Nimi, asked the most famous priest, Vasistha, to officiate as the sacrificial priest. Since Vasistha was also the officiating priest for Indra, the Lord of the clouds, rain, thunder, and so asked Nimi to wait until he completes the sacrificial ceremony for Indra. Nimi would not wait and so appointed another priest to perform yajna. Vasistha became angry and laid a curse on the king Nimi, saying the king’s body would fall down dead. Before the curse could take effect, king Nimi countercursed the priest, Vasistha, saying that the same fate would fall on the priest. Both fell down dead. Vasistha was born again in the world. King Nimi’s sacrificial ceremony went well, though the king was dead. The Rishis in attendance begged the visiting gods to revive the king, who refused to be born in this world with the material body. The Rishis ordered the royal attendants to use chemicals to preserve the body. Since the king refused to be born again, the Rishis churned the dead body (a good spin) and produced Janaka.

 He was the father of Sita, found fully formed in the furrow, plowed by the king in a sacrificial ritual to get a child. He was a pious and just ruler who performed many sacrifices, which helped him gain perfection or Siddhi. He was an exemplar of karma yoga; he practiced what he taught to his subjects. Janaka's daughter Sita married Sri Rama of Ramāyāna.

3.21: Whatever a great man does, the other people do. Whatever example he sets, humankind follows.

An average person emulates whatever a great man does. His actions are the only authority, which the whole world follows.

An average person is not knowledgeable or spiritual enough to set his own path to realization. The ordinary person looks up great and accomplished men (Buddha, Jesus Christ) for direction and instructions. Deeds of great men speak louder and clearer than an inspiring speech. These great men are responsible for sattvic changes in society. These follow-the-leader examples are common in religion, science, and politics. Sometimes the greatness of a man is not obvious during his lifetime , because he is way ahead of the crowd; the realized great men are exemplars, who have seen the light of wisdom. The light here refers to the light of the Soul in the spiritual heart. Ramana Maharishi said, “For the body-bound fools, the heart of flesh exists in the left chest.” The Heart (Hrdayam) known to the seers as the seat of the Soul shines on the right side of the chest pervading and transcending both inside and outside. The Guru, who tells his disciple “Do this or that,” is no Guru, but the real Guru is the one who directs the disciple to “Who am I.”  “Am I the body or am I the soul?” The body is in the Self and not the other way round. Ramana goes on to explain this point: the screen in the movie house is not (not part of) in the celluloid. The screen captures the moving images projected from the celluloid. In this allegory, the screen represents the Self and the images represent the body, meaning the body needs the Self for its reflection and the Self is not in the body. (The mirrored soul reflects the body.) If there is no Self, there is no projection of the body. [The screen is not (neither part of, nor intrinsic to) in the celluloid]. The moving images (of the body) on the screen (of a Soul) are the drama of this material life. The spiritual Heart (of a screen) is not part of the body (of images): The spirit and the body are separate and the latter needs the former for sustenance. The realized souls, by their yoga, have received revealed knowledge. Another way of looking at it is the projected moving images of the body do not affect the screen of a SOUL or SELF. The flood does not wet it and the fire does not burn it. There are such perfect exemplars in all religions. 

3.22: O Partha, in all three worlds, I have no assigned duty to perform. There is nothing I need to gain that I have not gained before (has not been gained), yet I am engaged in action.

The Trisu Lokesu (the three worlds) is the heaven, the earth, and the netherworlds. There are other classifications: Brahmaloka, Svarloka and Yama loka; World of Brahma, Indira, and Yama (death); Heaven, atmosphere and earth; Material world, Astral world, and Superconsciousness.

Read more in the table.

All these planetary systems are resident on the body of Lord Vishnu.

All lokas (worlds) except Goloka, Vaikuntha, and Brahmaloka are temporary places of residence. Therefore, Satyaloka down to patala, fourteen worlds in all, are subject to dissolution and creation, while the worlds above them are eternal and indestructible—Bhagavata Puranam, 11.24.21.

Goloka is full of touchstone palaces, wish trees, wish-yielding cows (Surabhi), servant-goddesses. Goloka is an effulgent circular ring of Light equal to a thousand moons. It is surrounded by Vaikuntha containing pure water. It resonates with playing of Ragas and chanting of Vedas. Siva himself admits that he knows of no place like Goloka.

Table:  AUM is a space-filler.