How can we make our work into worship when it is not according to our nature and is not connected with Krishna?

Transcription by– Keshav Gopal Das & Ambuj Gupta

Question: What is the way to make our work into worship when we do not get work according to our psycho physical nature as it happens mostly in today’s situation and also that our work doesn’t have anything connected with Krishna?

Answer: Our connection with Krishna and capacity for spiritualization of our work doesn’t have to depend on anything material. Our bhakti is a matter of our heart and our heart can be connected with Krishna in any and every situation. Generally it is easy to assume that the work we are doing is not according to our psycho physical nature. That is one of the problems of the modern social context, the educational and subsequent employment context that people do not get engagement according to their natures. But still Prabhupada would often say make the best of the bad bargain. We have to live and work with whatever we have and if what we have is some occupation which we have circumstantially got into. But still the point is that it is also connectible with Krishna. The point that if we work according to psychophysical nature we get some dharmic material higher taste, some satisfaction that we get by working according to our nature, we can always within the work that we do also gravitate towards the things which are more in harmony with our nature. That is the discretion that we will get over a period of time.

For example, somebody may work in industry. But if a person is more of a brahmanical nature then even within industry a person can do industrial training or become a faculty for industrial training or whatever. The point is that even if we don’t work according to our specific psycho physical nature, still the point is that we can have the intention of serving Krishna and we can accept that Krishna has put us in the situation about whatever circumstances or whatever being plan or whatever be our karma that doesn’t matter. Ultimately everything is under Krishna. So it is by His arrangement this has happened. We can work to express our gratitude to Krishna by Your arrangement this situation is there, please engage me in Your service and that way we can move forward in devotional service.

The intention to serve Krishna is most important and work according to psycho physical nature is helpful but it is not essential. Also we should not assume that the current work that I am doing is not according to my psycho physical nature because often our nature may also not be so clearly defined. Yudhisthir maharaja say in Mahabharata, that because of many generation of intermixing now the varna has become difficult to discern. Grass is always green on the other side, that may make us feel that the present job that I am doing that’s not according to my nature. That is not easy to find out what is according to our nature. So rather than letting our mental energy getting dissipated by lamenting over material thing which are not easily changeable, we can focus on cultivating a devotional intention to serve Krishna. Secondly, as far as the work having no connection with Krishna, we can focus on recognizing that every work can be connected with Krishna. It is not the work has to have connection with Krishna, it is we who need to have a connection with Krishna.

How does fighting a war in which one is killing people and those people were actually also part of Krishna or children of Krishna. How much more can we get in terms of work which seems anti devotional? Now we may say know that Krishna has took Arjuna to do that work. So that makes it devotional. That’s true. But the point is that the intent of the work had made it devotional , but content of the work has very little appearance of devotion into it, fighting and killing. Certainly most of us don’t have to do that kind of work. We may write some software programs or we may have some business or whatever work we may be doing. If something which is as violent and seemingly as anti devotional as killing can be connected to Krishna and why not anything else. So within our work whenever possible we can try to bring the Krishna elements so that it helps us to remember Krishna. But beyond that our focus should primarily be on cultivating a devotional intention and that happens by our sadhna, by our swadhyaya, by the other seva that we do, by the explicitly devotional activity that we do, they help us creating a attraction for Krishna in our heart and they create devotional intention in our heart. There after we can do the various activities in devotional service whatever activities we may be doing. Thank you.