Pravṛtti — The Path of Engagement
Pravṛtti names the entire domain of śāstrically prescribed activity — rituals, duties, obligations — that governs life within the world. The śāstric framework operates through two arms: pravṛtti (what you should do and engage with) and nivṛtti (what you should renounce or withdraw from). Together they form the complete map of human conduct under dharma.
The classical pravṛtti injunctions cover karma-kāṇḍa observances: the Sandhyāvandana (three daily prayers), the Pañcamahāyajña (five great sacrifices), seasonal rites, life-cycle rituals (saṃskāras), and the specific duties of one's varṇa and āśrama. These are not optional — they are nitya karma (daily obligation) and naimittika karma (occasion-specific obligation), the omission of which (kṛtya-akaraṇa) is itself a transgression.
In the Śrī Vaiṣṇava context, Rāmānujāchārya's Gītābhāṣya treats pravṛtti as the baseline life from which the souls gradually moves toward liberation. The karma-yoga path — performing pravṛtti duties without attachment to results, as an offering to Bhagavān — is the first rung of the ladder. This purifies the antaḥkaraṇa (inner organ) and creates the conditions for jñāna-yoga and ultimately prapatti.
Pravṛtti and nivṛtti are not identical with householder life versus renunciate life. A gṛhastha (householder) engages in pravṛtti; a sannyāsī moves toward nivṛtti. But the inner pravṛtti/nivṛtti distinction is more fundamental: it is whether one is attached (rāga-dveṣa) to the objects of experience or detached. The Gītā's teaching is to perform pravṛtti duties with the inner quality of nivṛtti — acting without possessiveness.
For the prapanna, the relationship to pravṛtti is transformed. Prescribed duties are performed as kainkaryam to Bhagavān — not as means to liberation (since Bhagavān is the means), but as the natural expression of dāsyam. The prapanna's pravṛtti becomes worship without ulterior motive, service without striving.