Text 12 ]
Devotional Service
609
bhūtānām : If one decides to sacrifice for the supreme cause, even if he does not know that the supreme cause is Kṛṣṇa, he will come gradually to understand that Kṛṣṇa is the supreme cause by the sacrificial method.
TEXT 12
श्रेयो हि ज्ञानमभ्यासाज्ज्ञानाद्ध्यानं विशिष्यते । ध्यानात्कर्मफलत्यागस्त्यागाच्छान्तिरनन्तरम् ॥१२॥
śreyo hi jñānam abhyāsāj 
    jñānād dhyānaṁ viśiṣyate 
    dhyānāt karma-phala-tyāgas 
    tyāgāc chāntir anantaram
śreyaḥ —better;  hi —certainly;  jñānam —knowledge;  abhyāsāt —by practice;  jñānāt —better than knowledge;  dhyānam —meditation;  viśiṣyate —especially considered;  dhyānāt —from meditation;  karma-phala-tyāgaḥ —renunciation of the results of fruitive action;  tyāgāt —by such renunciation;  śāntiḥ —peace;  anantaram —thereafter.
TRANSLATION
If you cannot take to this practice, then engage yourself in the cultivation of knowledge. Better than knowledge, however, is meditation, and better than meditation is renunciation of the fruits of action, for by such renunciation one can attain peace of mind.
PURPORT
As mentioned in the previous verses, there are two kinds of devotional service: the way of regulated principles, and the way of full attachment in love to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For those who are actually not able to follow the principles of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, it is better to cultivate knowledge because by knowledge one can be able to understand his real position. Gradually knowledge will develop to the point of meditation. By meditation one can be able to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead by a gradual process. There are processes which make one understand that one himself is the Supreme, and that sort of meditation is preferred if one is unable to engage in devotional service. If