Hey all, I've been going through Ācārya's lecture series on the Gītā, and one of his statements on the relationship Abhinavagupta draws between jñāna and karma stuck out to me: "Abhinavagupta considers the fruit of right knowledge to be right action" (paraphrased). This statement touches upon an interesting distinction between his and Śaṅkara's commentaries, and between the two systems as a whole, which I will not dive into deeply here.

Here, I would simply like to draw a parallel between this and a statement by one of Confucius' disciples on the relationship between contemplation (jñāna) and action (karma), which appears identical.

1) The first paragraph relates to the need to perfect action, which then necessitates acquiring knowledge:

"... the ancient princes first of all applied themselves to governing their own [state] well. To govern their [state] well, they first restored proper order in their families. To establish proper order in their families, they worked hard to perfect themselves first. To perfect themselves, they first regulated their hearts' movements. To regulate the movements of their hearts, they first perfected their will. To perfect their will, they developed their knowledge to the highest degree."

2) The second paragraph relates to the development of knowledge and its eventual application through the inverse process of its obtainment:

"One develops knowledge by scrutinizing the nature of things. Once the nature of things is scrutinized, knowledge attains its highest degree. Knowledge having arrived at its highest degree, will becomes perfect. Will being perfect, the movements of the heart are controlled. The movements of the heart having been controlled, every man is free of faults. After having corrected oneself, one establishes order in the family. With order reigning in the family, the principality is well-governed. With the principality being well-governed, the empire soon enjoys peace" (Ta-Hio, tr. P. Couvreur). A perfected will results in the right actions being taken. From right knowledge comes right action.

It is worth noting that the regulation of prāṇa is also a key practice in other traditions, but rather than a preparatory procedure prior to pure contemplation, it is considered the fruit of a steady, already contemplative mind. Overall, to find this parallel across different philosophical traditions points to the perennial philosophy disseminated throughout humanity and across its ages, owing to the non-discriminatory anugraha of Maheśvara.