What is the nature of the highest of all self-interested actions, through which one can neutralize the consequences of karma?

To neutralize the consequences or results of karma [action-reaction, law of cause and effect] or the desires that drive one to self-interested action, one must perform with faith and devotion the sacrifices prescribed for the worship of Sri Visnu. Visnu is the beneficiary of the fruits of all sacrifices.

To rid the heart of all the material impurities that have accumulated there and to clarify the path to liberation so as to experience spiritual bliss, one must satisfy Visnu. For those who have adopted the family and social life of the various social classes, spiritual guides, administrators, merchants, and workers, the worship of Godhead, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Visnu, the original Lord, is indicated as the only auspicious course of action.

All conditioned souls in this material world are gripped by a deeply rooted desire to enjoy the resources of material nature. Each wishes to accumulate wealth, enjoy life to the fullest, have a wife, a home, and children—in short, to be happy here and ascend to the heavenly planets in their next existence.

But these aspirations constitute the very causes of enslavement to matter. Therefore, whoever wishes to end this slavery must sacrifice their honestly acquired wealth for the satisfaction of Visnu.

The only way to neutralize all material desires is to engage in devotional service to Visnu. Thus, a person who possesses self-control must abandon, even within the confines of family life, the three material desires: the aspiration for wealth, the desire to enjoy the presence of a wife and children, and the desire to be promoted to higher planets, whether heavenly or paradise.

Eventually, the householder will even have to abandon family life to adopt the order of renunciation and completely absorb himself in devotional service to the Lord. Every person, even those of superior descent, such as spiritual guides, administrators, merchants, and farmers, finds himself indebted to celestial beings, sages, ancestors, and other living beings. To repay all these debts, one must perform sacrifices, study the Vedic scriptures [the Vedas, the original holy scriptures], and bring forth children to be raised in a spiritual family atmosphere. Anyone who in any way accepts the order of renunciation without fulfilling these obligations will fall from their position.

By performing sacrifices, we can free ourselves from our obligations to the celestial beings, so that we can take complete refuge in the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

But in the present age of discord, quarrels, and sin, it is difficult to gather the various objects required for the offering of such sacrifices. People have neither the means to gather them nor the knowledge necessary to conduct such ceremonies.