Vivekachudamani 11

cittasya suddhaye karma na tu vastupalabdhaye | 
vastusiddhir vicarena na kiñcitkarmakotibhih || 
(Vivekachudamani 11) 

 Actions help to purify the mind but they do not, by themselves, contribute to the attainment of Reality. The attainment of the Realis brought about only by Self-Inquiry and not in the least by even ten million acts. 

Who are you?... Are you your body? Or your mind? Or are you something higher? Do you know who you are, or do you merely think you know? And does it really matter? Our materialistic society, with its unenlightened leadership, has made it virtually taboo to inquire into our real, higher self. Instead, we use our valuable time maintaining, decorating, and pampering the body for its own sake. Might there be an alternative? 

At present human society is being misled by leaders who are blind, for they do not know the aim and objective of human life, which is self-realization and the reestablishment of our lost relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the missing point. 

According to Vedic civilization, the perfection of life is to realize one’s relationship with Lord Govinda or God. In the Bhagavad-gītā, which is accepted by all authorities in transcendental science as the basis of all Vedic knowledge, we understand that not only human beings but all living entities are parts and parcels of God. The parts are meant for serving the whole, just as the legs, hands, fingers, and ears are meant for serving the total body. We living entities, being parts and parcels of God, are duty-bound to serve Him.