The obligatory works should be performed without attachment.
एतान्यपि तु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा फलानि च ।
कर्तव्यानीति मे पार्थ निश्चितं मतमुत्तमम् ॥ ६ ॥
etānyapi tu karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā phalāni ca .
kartavyānīti me pārtha niścitaṃ matamuttamam .. 6 ..
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Those actions, &c : the acts of worship, gift and austerity which have been said to be purifiers, should be performed, setting aside attachment for them and abandoning their fruits.
A proposition was started in the words, ‘Learn from Me the truth about this’ (xviii. 4); and as a reason for it, it has been stated that worship, etc., are the purifiers : so that the words “even those actions should be performed……..this is My firm and highest belief” form a mere conclusion of the proposition started in xviii. 4. “Even those actions should be performed.” cannot be a fresh proposition : for, it is better to construe the passage as related to the immediate subject of the present section. The word “even” implies that these actions should be performed by a seeker of liberation, though they form the cause of bondage in the case of one who has an attachment for the actions and a desire for their fruits. The words ’even those’ cannot certainly refer to actions other (than the acts of worship, etc.)
But others explain : Since obligatory (nitya) actions bear no fruits, it is not right to speak of “setting aside attachment and the fruits.” Therefore in the words “even those actions” etc., the Lord teaches that even those works—which are intended to secure objects of desire—i.e., even kamaya or interested works, as opposed to nitya or obligatory works—should be performed; how much more then the obligatory acts of worship, gift and austerity.
It is wrong to say so; for it has been declared here that even obligatory actions are productive of fruits, in the words “worship, gift and austerity are the purifiers of the wise” (xviii. 5). To a seeker of liberation who would give up even the obligatory works, looking upon them as the cause of bondage, where is an occasion to engage in interested works? “Even these actions” cannot refer to interested (kamya) works, inasmuch as these have been despised as constituting an inferior path (ii. 49) and decisively declared to be the cause of bondage (iii. 9, ii. 45, ix. 20, 21), and are too far removed from the present section.
Tamasic and Rajasic renunciations of works.
Therefore for a seeker of liberation who is ignorant and is (therefore) bound to perform works,