भवत्यत्यागिनां प्रेत्य न तु संन्यासिनां क्वचित् ॥ १२ ॥
aniṣṭamiṣṭaṃ miśraṃ ca trividhaṃ karmaṇaḥ phalam .
bhavatyatyāgināṃ pretya na tu saṃnyāsināṃ kvacit .. 12 ..
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Fruit: brought forth by the operation of various external factors. It is a doing of avidya; it is like the glamour cast by a juggler’s art, very delusive, inhering, to all appearance, in the Innermost Self; by its very etymology, the word’phala’, fruit, implies something that vanishes, something unsubstantial. Action (karma): Dharma and Adharma. Evil: such as hell (naraka), the animal kingdom, etc. Good: such as the Devas. Mixed: Good and evil mixed together in one; the humanity. These three sorts of fruits accrue after death to non-abandoners, to the unenlightened, to the followers of Karma-yoga, to the, abandoners (samnyasins) not strictly so called,* but never to the real samnyasins, engaged exclusively in the path of knowledge (jnana-nishtha) and belonging to the highest order of samnyasins, the Parama-hamsa-Parivrajakas. Indeed, exclusive devotion to Right Knowledge cannot but destroy avidya and other seeds of samsara.
That is to say, those who perform works without desire for their fruits will necessarily reap, after death, the fruits of their respective actions.—A.
Accordingly, a complete abandonment of all works is possible for him alone who has attained to Right Knowledge, inasmuch as he sees that action and its accessories and its results are all ascribed to the Self by Avidyā: but, for the unenlightened man indentifying himself with the body, etc., which constitute action, its agent and accessories, complete abandonment of action is not possible. This truth, the Lord proceeds to teach in the following verses :