Does Bhagavad-gita teach: Work is Worship? @ Narayan Murthy 70-hour workweek recommendation

Does the 70 hour work week demonstrate the Bhagavad Gita teaching work is worship answer not really I will analyze this in three parts three M's monopolization mistranslation and mool first monopolization even if we accept for argument sake that work is worship but is work the only form of worship if that were the reality then would that not make the donkey the greatest worshipper the donkey is said to work harder than anyone else not only that if you look at the Bhagavad Gita if the Bhagavad Gita teaching were simply that work is worship therefore the more you work the more worship you will be doing then why does the Bhagavad Gita talk about so many other things it talks about bhakti it talks about remembering God it talks about yoga practice it talks about atma gyan, knowledge of the soul it talks about the spiritual world so to say that work is the only form of worship is definitely a distortion of the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita we work, that is our body we are spiritual beings and the Bhagavad Gita's worldview is so inclusive that even work can be included in the domain of worship but that does not mean simply more work will lead to more worship in fact more work can actually become a form of worship not of the supreme lord as the Bhagavad Gita recommends but worship of the industrial economic machine which reduces people to simply interchangeable parts it can become worship of the ego where a person thinks that my net worth is what determines my self worth so it actually fosters many misconceptions of the self and that brings us to the second point mistranslation actually the Bhagavad Gita does not teach work is worship the Sanskrit verse which is often rendered as work is worship is actually stating something much more nuanced and significantly different it says that that lord from whom the whole existence has come and by whom this whole existence is pervaded that lord or you know worship that lord through your work so it is through your work worship the lord that could be put simply as work as worship not that work is intrinsically worship but work can be done in a mood of worship why because the domain of God is not just the temple the domain of God is not just the kingdom of God far away God pervades and permeates all of existence and therefore our workplace is also a place where God is present and it is that God whom we can worship through our work that brings us to the last point a mood that when we say work as worship that requires a particular mood to be cultivated so when we are doing worship we are careful about how we attentively move the lamp when we are doing say aarti but the aarti ceremony the worship that is done through aarti ceremony is not just about carefully moving the arms as we move the lamp it is about being conscious that the object that is being worshipped that the divinity that is being worshipped is being accessed through this activity and it brings us in a mood of humility and reverence so we need to actually go beyond the externals to the internals to perceive and to pursue God's presence over there so similarly when it is said work as worship that doesn't just mean that be meticulous and responsible in doing our work just as we would be meticulous and responsible while doing worship yes it means that but it also means much more it means be conscious that God is present even in our work place that it is God Krishna who has given us the abilities by which we are able to work the specific body that we have is given by God the specific abilities whether they be managerial, technical, artistic are all given to us by God indeed the very world in which we work is sustained by God the opportunities that we have for working are also given by God thus we are meant to perceive God's presence and then pursue that means focus on God and such focusing on God while doing our work requires us to have God present in our consciousness beforehand because God is generally not present at least not visibly seen to us through any sacred symbols or anything like that in our work place so the work place is not going to remind us of God it is we who have to bring the reminder of God's presence from within our consciousness into our work place and for that we need to invest separate time to see and see God directly through the activities of exclusive or focused worship wherein we chant the names of God we study the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita we pray to Krishna we study wisdom texts like the Bhagavad Gita which help us understand how Krishna is present everywhere and then when we have invested time for worshipping in this way when our consciousness has become infused with God's presence through our sadhana which ideally is done at the start of the day then when we go out to work then we will be able to work in a mood of worship and for us to have time to invest in direct worship activities which invoke God's presence within us we certainly cannot afford to have our whole week consumed by work so a 70 hour work week for most people will actually deplete their spirituality will distract, will consume their consciousness and distract them from remembrance of God leave alone while remembering God while working they will be so exhausted by working that even when they try to worship directly they will have very little energy to worship of course for some people working 70 hours might be just a necessity because that's the only way they can earn a living for some people working 70 hours may be what they want to do because that's their passion now these are specific cases which are different but the principle here is working 70 hours does not demonstrate the Bhagavad Gita's teaching of work is worship, rather having time for worship and then bringing that worshipful mood into our work is what will lead us to live the Bhagavad Gita's teaching that work in a mood of worship thank you.