तावान्सर्वेषु वेदेषु ब्राह्मणस्य विजानतः ॥ ४६ ॥
yāvānartha udapāne sarvataḥ samplutodake .
tāvānsarveṣu vedeṣu brāhmaṇasya vijānataḥ .. 46 ..
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Whatever utility—of bathing, drinking, and the like—is served by a well, a tank, and many other small reservoirs of water &c. all that utility is only as much as the utility which is served by an all-spreading flood of water; that is the former utility is comprehended in the later. So also, whatever utility there is in all the Vedic ritual, all that is comprehended in the utility of the right knowledge possessed by a Brāhmaṇa who has renounced the world and has completely realised the truth concerning the Absolute Reality; this knowledge corresponding to the all-spreading flood of water.* The sruti says :—“Whatever good thing is done by people, all that is possessed by him who knows what he (Raikva) knew.” (Chh. Up 4. 1-4). The same thing will also be said here (iv. 33). Wherefore †, for a man who is qualified for works it is necessary to perform works (which stand in the place of wells and tanks) before he becomes fit for the path of knowledge.
That is to say, all the pleasure which results from the performance of all works enjoined in the Vedas is comprehended in the bliss which the man who has realised the Self finds as the essence of his own Self; and every one must admit that all kinds of limited bliss are comprehended in the Infinite Bliss. Thus the Path of Karma-Yoga, which in the end leads to the attainment of the infinite bliss of the Self, cannot be futile, as the questioner has been led to suppose.—(A)
Because the Path of Karma-Yoga is not futile.—(A).