Vedanta teaches how the rule of karma operates in the universe and is binding on individuals who are compelled to act. But it teaches them the way to transcend this natural trend of karma and be relieved of bondage by gaining ‘atma tatva jnana,’ pointed out Sri Mani Dravid Sastrigal in a discourse. In the Gita and texts such as Naishkarmya Siddhi, it is emphasised that karma yoga is not a direct path to liberation though it is recommended generally as a valid preparation for the aspirant to step into jnana yoga as a matter of course. Individuals driven by the awareness of their roles in life as father, son, etc, are compelled to act accordingly.
Sometimes, apart from Nitya Naimittika karmas, many of the ordained yagas, yagnas, or samskaras are taken up voluntarily by those who superimpose the notions of the body, mind, intellect, etc, on the atma. They feel bound by the varna-ashrama dharma to which they belong.
But Vedanta knowledge also imparts the awareness of the ‘atma’ within as one’s true identity and takes pains to show that all else is ‘anatma,’ the non-self. Constant meditation on this thought helps to remove the ignorance that makes one believe in the reality of the external world and one’s role in it. It is similar to the way a child believes the toy elephant to be real.
Another example quoted in this context is the way one easily mistakes a pole to be a thief and even runs away from it in fear. This is the way an ignorant man engages in action owing to his wrong presumptions about his real swaroopa. But a realised soul, in whose perception the atma-anatma distinction is clear cut, has no such compulsion to engage in worldly action. Even Vedic rituals like yagas and yagnas prescribed for the people in the world do not pertain to him.