Verses 11–23 · One Path or Two?
Verse 21 — Scripture Confirms: Renounce Action, Knowledge Liberates
Scripture itself confirms knowledge alone liberates.
The well-known Taittiriya scripture clearly declares that all scripture-prescribed actions are to be entirely given up. The Vajasaneya (Brihadaranyaka) scripture likewise declares — with statements such as "This alone is immortality" — that the means to total liberation is knowledge, not action. [Verse 21]
Verses 14–20 made the case with reasoning (yukti). Verse 21 adds the second pillar of proof: scriptural authority (shruti pramana). In Vedanta, a conclusion is strongest when reasoning and revelation agree.
Two lines of evidence
flowchart LR
A[Verses 14–20:<br/>Reasoning / yukti] --> C[Conclusion:<br/>Knowledge alone liberates]
B[Verse 21:<br/>Scripture / shruti] --> CThe verse cites two respected sources that say the same thing:
| Source | What it declares |
|---|---|
| Taittiriya / Kaivalya teaching | "Not by action, not by progeny, not by wealth — but by renunciation alone is immortality attained." |
| Brihadaranyaka Upanishad | "This much, indeed, is the means of immortality" — pointing to Self-knowledge, spoken by Yajnavalkya to Maitreyi |
Reading the key phrases
- "By renunciation alone" (tyagena eke) — the giving up of action, progeny, and wealth clears the way; these had their use for purifying the mind, but are not themselves the means to freedom.
- "All prescribed actions are to be given up" — the very rituals that scripture glorifies at the start of the path, the same scripture asks you to set down once their purpose is served. There is no contradiction: it is a matter of sequence, of the right tool for the right stage.
- "Knowledge is clearly the means" (jnanam... sadhanam sphutam) — the scripture names knowledge, not action, as the direct cause of liberation.
A nice detail: the passage "na karmana..." ("not by action...") appears in the Narayana section of the Taittiriya, and is traditionally chanted when someone formally enters renunciation — scripture and practice pointing the same way.
What the objector missed
Key idea. The objector treated "the Vedas prescribe action" and "the Vedas prescribe knowledge" as two commands that must be obeyed simultaneously. But the Vedas themselves resolve this: action is prescribed for the earlier stage (to purify the mind); its renunciation and the pursuit of knowledge are prescribed for the later stage (to liberate). Same scripture, two phases — not a combination.
With both reasoning and scripture aligned, the case is essentially closed. Verses 22 and 23 tidy up by directly answering the two specific arguments the objector made back in verses 12 and 13.