ज्ञानपूर्वा भवेल्लिप्सा लिप्सापूर्वाभिसन्धिता ।
अभिसन्धिपूर्वकं कर्म कर्ममूलं ततः फलम् ॥
jñāna-pūrvā bhavel lipsā lipsā-pūrvābhisandhitā |
abhisandhi-pūrvakaṁ karma karma-mūlaṁ tataḥ phalam ||
(Mahābhārata: Śānti-parva, 206.6)
“Desire [for an object] shall be preceded by knowledge [of the object], aim [for an object] preceded by desire [for it], and action [to attain it] preceded by the aim [for it]. Then the result, the basis of which is the action, occurs.”