Bg 11.55

Text

mat-karma-kṛn mat-paramo
mad-bhaktaḥ saṅga-varjitaḥ
nirvairaḥ sarva-bhūteṣu
yaḥ sa mām eti pāṇḍava

Synonyms

mat-karma-kṛt-engaged in doing My work; mat-paramaḥ-concerning Me, the Supreme; mat-bhaktaḥ-engaged in My devotional service; saṅga-varjitaḥ-freed from the contamination of previous activities and mental speculation; nirvairaḥ-without an enemy; sarva-bhūteṣu-to every living entity; yaḥ-one who; saḥ-he; mām-unto Me; eti-comes; pāṇḍava-O son of Pāṇḍu.

Translation

My dear Arjuna, one who is engaged in My pure devotional service, free from the contaminations of previous activities and from mental speculation, who is friendly to every living entity, certainly comes to Me.

Purport

Anyone who wants to approach the Supreme of all the Personalities of Godhead, on the Kṛṣṇaloka planet in the spiritual sky, and be intimately connected with the Supreme Personality, Kṛṣṇa, must take this formula, as is stated by the Supreme Himself. Therefore, this verse is considered to be the essence of Bhagavad-gītā. The Bhagavad-gītā is a book directed to the conditioned souls, who are engaged in the material world with the purpose of lording it over nature and who do not know of the real, spiritual life. The Bhagavad-gītā is meant to show how one can understand his spiritual existence and his eternal relationship with the Supreme Spiritual Personality and to teach one how to go back home, back to Godhead. Now here is the verse which clearly explains the process by which one can attain success in his spiritual activity: devotional service. As far as work is concerned, one should transfer his energy entirely to Kṛṣṇa conscious activities. No work should be done by any man except in relationship to Kṛṣṇa. This called Kṛṣṇa-karma. One may be engaged in various activities, but one should not be attached to the result of his work, but the result should be done for Him. For example, one may be engaged in business, but to transform that activity into Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one has to do business for Kṛṣṇa. If Kṛṣṇa is the proprietor of the business, then Kṛṣṇa should enjoy the profit of the business. If a businessman is in possession of thousands and thousands of dollars, and if he has to offer all this to Kṛṣṇa, he can do it. This is work for Kṛṣṇa. Instead of constructing a big building for his sense gratification, he can construct a nice temple for Kṛṣṇa, and he can install the Deity of Kṛṣṇa and arrange for the Deity's service, as is outlined in the authorized books of devotional service. This is all Kṛṣṇa-karma. One should not be attached to the result of his work, but the result should be offered to Kṛṣṇa. One should also accept as prasādam, food, the remnants of offerings to Kṛṣṇa. If, however, one is not able to construct a temple for Kṛṣṇa, one can engage himself in cleansing the temple of Kṛṣṇa; that is also Kṛṣṇa-karma. One can cultivate a garden. Anyone who has land-in India, at least, any poor man has a certain amount of land-can utilize that for Kṛṣṇa by growing flowers to offer Him. He can sow tulasī plants because tulasī leaves are very important, and Kṛṣṇa has recommended this in Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa desires that one offer Him either a leaf, or a flower, or a little water-and He is satisfied. This leaf especially refers to the tulasī So one can sow tulasī leaves and pour water on the plant. Thus, even the poorest man can engage in the service of Kṛṣṇa. These are some of the examples of how one can engage in working for Kṛṣṇa.