Purport

After explaining the various ways to practice devotion Bhagvan Shri Krishna now explains the relative merits of those methods. On the whole, Shri Krishna mentioned the following methods
1. The practice of devotion or rituals
2. Wisdom or Knowledge of
3. Meditation upon God(Shri Krishna)
4. Performing action renouncing the fruits of actions

Shri Krishna explained the relative merits of the above methods as follows

1. Wisdom or knowledge is better than performing devotional rituals or practice
The term used for the practice of rituals is “Abhyas”, the direct translation to the word in English is practice. However, this word does not give meaning as practice “Abhyas” is a common word and used in a wide range of things and can be understood only in the context of the subject. The subject here is devotion, so the word “Abhyas” translates to the practice of devotion. Literally, this means a human doing any physical activity to show his devotion to God. All such actions or practice to show devotion to God in a single word called as a ritual.

Rituals are one of the most common methods of devotion used across all religions. Hinduism provides the biggest range of rituals. Rituals are good but not as good as wisdom. A human having spiritual knowledge and understanding God and spiritual principles are better than rituals.

2. Better than wisdom is meditating upon God
Wisdom is indeed better than rituals, but meditation is better than wisdom.

Wisdom provides clarity to spiritual principles but knowledge alone does not bring humans close to God and a human even though having wisdom may lack the discipline and control of mind required to reach to God. Wisdom is combined with the physical discipline gives the state of meditation. A person who is having wisdom and control over his senses can achieve the state of meditation which is the door to reach to God.

So when compared with three methods, rituals, wisdom, and meditation, Meditation is superior.

The above statement may appear complete even by an expert spiritual person. He may conclude that meditation is the best method of devotion. But for the biggest surprise, Bhagvan Shri Krishna put another method superior to all above. And that method may not even appear as a devotional method to many.

Shri Krishna explained:
3. Performing actions renouncing the fruits of actions is better than meditation.
This sentence explains everything.
Performing actions as we all know is not necessarily devotion, cause performing the action is the most basic activity of not only humans but all living beings. Every living being performs actions. Human even when he does not believe in God performs all types of action.
So what literally the above shloka explains that an action when it is not done in the devotion becomes superior to all devotional methods under one special condition. And that condition is when a human renounces the desires of the fruits of actions for himself. In very simple term, when anybody performs actions for the welfare of other human or living beings his actions becomes better than any other devotional methods.

This Shloka further established one of the most important characteristics of true God and that is that God does not need anything from humans or any living being, not even prayer. He does not even punish humans or any living being for not praying.