“No action, however great, can destroy ignorance; only the knowledge of the Self can do so.”
— Adi ShankaraDoctrinal formulation from Shankara's Bhagavad Gita commentary and Brahma Sutra commentary; standard paraphrase of the argument against karma as a means of liberation
Commentary
This statement repeats the central argument that liberation cannot be achieved by action, since ignorance is the mistaken identification of the Self and can be removed only by the knowledge that corrects it. Shankara uses the point to separate Advaita from the ritualist and karmic schools, which held that proper action could lead to liberation. Paul Hacker's 1950 study identifies this argument as one of the sharpest distinctions in Shankara's theology. Eliot Deutsch explains that knowledge is non-productive in the sense that it reveals what already is, so that no action can create it. Richard King shows how the argument was shaped by polemic against the Mimamsa view of action as a means to liberation. Sengaku Mayeda's analysis of the Upadesasahasri confirms that Shankara treats the cognitive path as the decisive one. The statement is a faithful summary of the argument as it appears in his commentaries, and it is securely associated with his teaching.
Commentary
This statement repeats the central argument that liberation cannot be achieved by action, since ignorance is the mistaken identification of the Self and can be removed only by the knowledge that corrects it. Shankara uses the point to separate Advaita from the ritualist and karmic schools, which held that proper action could lead to liberation. Paul Hacker's 1950 study identifies this argument as one of the sharpest distinctions in Shankara's theology. Eliot Deutsch explains that knowledge is non-productive in the sense that it reveals what already is, so that no action can create it. Richard King shows how the argument was shaped by polemic against the Mimamsa view of action as a means to liberation. Sengaku Mayeda's analysis of the Upadesasahasri confirms that Shankara treats the cognitive path as the decisive one. The statement is a faithful summary of the argument as it appears in his commentaries, and it is securely associated with his teaching.