Better than mechanical practice is knowledge; better than knowledge is meditation; better than meditation is renunciation of the fruits of action — from that renunciation, peace arises immediately.

An ascending hierarchy of spiritual practices:

1. Abhyāsa — Mechanical practice, repetition without understanding
2. Jñāna — Knowledge, intellectual understanding (śreyaḥ — better)
3. Dhyāna — Meditation, direct contemplation (viśiṣyate — superior)
4. Karma-phala-tyāga — Renunciation of the fruits of action

The progression surprises: is renunciation of the fruits superior to meditation?

The point is practical: meditation can be intermittent, one hour a day. But karma-phala-tyāga — acting without attachment to the result — transforms every moment of life into spiritual practice.

Tyāgāt śāntiḥ anantaram — From renunciation, peace arises immediately. Anantaram = without interval, instantaneously.

Peace doesn’t come from achieving results but from letting go of the obsession with them. This is karma yoga carried to its conclusion.