The Divinity of our daily chores-Bhagavad Gita verse 3.8

The lord anticipates Arjuna to entertain a serious doubt as to what kind of work must be undertaken.
Krishna explains

Niyatham kuru karma thvam karma jyayO hyakarmaNa:
Shareerayaathraapi cha thae na prrasiddhyethakarmaNa: 3.8

You perform all obligatory actions; for action is any day superior to inaction.
Even maintenance of your body in a healthy state is not possible if you live a life of inactivity.

Our scriptures have classified all the activities in the world into four categories:
1 – Nishiddha Karmas:
Actions which are too below the dignity of man's evolution and so condemned in all scriptures.
2 – Kamya Karmas:
Actions prompted by personal desires and lusts
3 – Nithya Karmas:
Daily duties that are to be fulfilled by every individual
4 – Naimiththika Karmas;
Special duties that come to us in special and extraordinary situations

Of these Nishiddha Karmas and Kamya Karmas are both to be totally avoided in a creative life of spiritual values and dynamic self-unfoldment.

Thus Nithya Karmas and Naimiththika Karmas become our "obligatory duties" and are called Niyath Karma.
Our daily duties include bath, prayer, office, work etc and our special duties include entertaining guests, attending to sick people, joining the army etc.

So long as we live in a society we must perform all our obligatory duties without fail.
We must do them in a spirit of joy, unattachment and dedication. Working with this attitude helps us to release our inhibitions, repressions and other emotional entanglements. Our mental depressions vanish and we become more alert, vigilant and feel blissful and productive.
Hence, the main advice of Krishna to the youth is
Niyatham kuru karma thvam – perform all your obligatory actions.

A life of dynamic actions is superior to a passive life of inaction. Do not waste time or run away from material and personal problems. Very often we feel incapable of coping with them and feel life is treacherous.
Never mind.
Act diligently with faith in yourself.
You will realise new strength gushes forth in you as though from above. Whether we win or lose, we have grown stronger after the play.
I think it is very apt to quote here
Tough times do not last; but tough people last.
Do not fear.
Do not hesitate.
Act nobly with a will to maintain your ideal.

Do not try to escape problems fearing self-reproach and self-condemnation.
An active life full of courage and strength is necessary for the maintenance of the body as well as for the growth of our inner development.
Imperfect health, by neglecting nourishment is a demerit. This is because bodily existence is required to achieve several ideals in life.
Sunlight, hard work and good exercise are all necessary for the glow of health.
If we live a life of inactivity, maintenance of body in a healthy state is not possible.

We are each born into a status, as ordained by our vasanas and God gives us the exact circumstances around us, necessary for the exhaustion of those vasanas.
Therefore, whatever be the field in which we are working today, it becomes the work for us to polish our inner equipment.
All work is noble, when we undertake it in the right spirit of selflessness and detachment.

Love,
Chithra.

Have you seen the picture of the great Saivaite Saint Thirunavukkarasar, popularly known as Appar? In most of the paintings depicting him, he would be seen carrying a shovel on his shoulder, for keeping the corridors of Siva temples clean with that shovel was a job he was constantly engaged in besides singing songs praising the Lord. That old and withered erudite Saint was so drawn to the teen aged Sambandar, another great Saint, that he offered himself as one of the palanquin bearers of the young Sambandar.

Thus two great lessons can be learnt from the life of Appar. The first is that no job is mean for a person who puts his heart into it and derives great joy from performing it. That Appar was always seen with the shovel on his shoulder was an indication of the importance that he attached to his job and he did not consider the shovel as an instrument of a lowly job. Secondly a truly erudite person would be drawn to another as a bee to a flower. There will be no professional jealousies there. Appar was in such awe of Sambandar’s learning that he derived great pleasure in being one of his palanquin bearers. Sambandar who was aware of the greatness of Thirunavukkarasar forbade him from shouldering his palanquin and christened him ‘Appar’ to show that he was a towering ‘father figure’ to all.

A study of the lives of the 63 Saivaite Saints called ‘Nayanmars’ would throw ample light on the import of this particular Verse in Gita. Most of these Nayanmars were engaged in manual labour for their livelihood and did not enjoy any special privileges. For example, Nandanar, one of the most celebrated and talked about Nayanmars, was a poor farm worker and being of a very low caste, he was shunned by the society and barred from entering a Temple where the high caste Hindus thronged to pay their obeisance to the Lord. When he could not worship the Lord from outside the Temple, as his vision was obstructed by the ‘Nandi’, the Lord made His Nandi move aside to make Himself visible to His devotee.

These Nayanmars have shown that no special effort is needed to feel the presence of God in us and around us. They considered whatever they did as service to the Lord. To Appar, for example, cleaning the Temple corridors was as sacred as performing Pooja to the presiding deity. While the persons offering worship to the Lord in great pomp and show remained clueless about the Divine Presence, the Lord appeared to His ardent devotees without any special effort on their part.

Performing our tasks with selflessness and detachment may appear daunting but if we understand that all that we do is pre-ordained and part of the Grand Scheme, it becomes that much easier to launch ourselves into a Spiritual journey. It will be pertinent to remember here that no Spiritual pursuit is going to be possible if we are more interested in an outward manifestation of such a pursuit. For what we are looking for is not out there yonder but is deep within us.

Dear Mrs.C

Thanks for the great post on Divinity of Daily chores.

" Work is Worship" or "Seyyum thozhile Deivam" is a saying that emphasizes this

philosophy.

Mataji of Anandashram used to advice women to keep chanting Ramnaam as they

did their daily chores. Women are not required to sit and do pujas if they adopt this.


Dear Cheeniyaji

A friend of mine used to tell her son "I don't care if you become a garbage collector,

but try to be the best one". The boy was very studious, but she used to say this so

that he would put his mind into whatever it is he was doing.

Thanks for the story about Appar and Nayanmars.

My dear Gita Gurus (Chithraji & Cheeniyaji),

There is a saying that has been quoted in Sai's Satcharita. If there is a God, he will feed me on my cot. But even that has a meaning.

In that saying, we call out to our divine parent asking for favours. That itself shows love and Bhakti.

Chithraji, your interpretation of this chapter of Gita reminds me of a story of a hunter who unknowingly sat up the whole night on a tree dropping "Bel" leaves on the Linga below. That very act pleased the Lord so much...

Dear Cheeniyaji,

Thanks for the stories of the South Indian Saints. It all shows that humility, devotion and complete surrender of our actions to the feet of the Lord gets us a sense of peace and serenity never experienced before.

The study of Sai's life itself shows he kept saying," better a begging bowl than the crown."

My dear Gita Gurus, it is no doubt said we perform our duties without attachment. I have to confess I keep forgetting that.

I hope I can improve myself with your guidance.

Regards,

Corallux

Dear Chitra mami,

Very happy to read the post - emphasizing the fact that "work is worship".
This is the first post i read today..

Thanks & Regards
ksv

Dear M & M,

I know I still have to give my fb for the previous thread, but as of now I am not able to spend much time here thought I will leave my fb for this and come back later (by the weekend) for the previous one. Hope you don't mind that.

Reading about work & worship, I feel I should quote here about a great reformer born in North karnataka who was a shivite called Basavanna. He used to say "kaaikkawe kailasa", Kaaiakka means work, which when translated means work is God's abode. I think this will sum up the whole in a nutshell.

These Nayanmars have shown that no special effort is needed to feel the presence of God in us and around us. They considered whatever they did as service to the Lord. To Appar, for example, cleaning the Temple corridors was as sacred as performing Pooja to the presiding deity. While the persons offering worship to the Lord in great pomp and show remained clueless about the Divine Presence, the Lord appeared to His ardent devotees without any special effort on their part.

Sri sir, the above lines shows the greatest form of worship we could do to the lord. This was very beautiful explanation. I just loved them. Here we can be reminded of the story of Narda again. This story so simple but it shows the true essence of bhakthi and work. Without anyone of them also we cannot attain the absolute.

Do not try to escape problems fearing self-reproach and self-condemnation.
An active life full of courage and strength is necessary for the maintenance of the body as well as for the growth of our inner development.
Imperfect [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]health[/color][/color], by neglecting nourishment is a demerit. This is because bodily existence is required to achieve several ideals in life.
Sunlight, hard work and good [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]exercise[/color][/color] are all necessary for the glow of health.
If we live a life of inactivity, maintenance of body in a healthy state is not possible.

We are each born into a status, as ordained by our vasanas and God gives us the exact circumstances around us, necessary for the exhaustion of those vasanas.
Therefore, whatever be the field in which we are working today, it becomes the work for us to polish our inner equipment.
All work is noble, when we undertake it in the right spirit of selflessness and detachment.

Mami, This was a beautiful message which you have shared showing us the right direction to lead our life. Till we exhaust our vasanas, we will be following the viscious cycle of birth & death. Instead of grumbling at the tasks we do, we should accept the same as will of the almighty and with a smile we should do the same.

Correct me if I am wrong anywhere mama & mami.

Originally Posted by sundarusha

Dear Cheeniyaji

A friend of mine used to tell her son "I don't care if you become a garbage collector,

but try to be the best one". The boy was very studious, but she used to say this so

that he would put his mind into whatever it is he was doing.

Thanks for the story about Appar and Nayanmars.

Dear Usha
That advice of your friend is very profound indeed particularly for the seekers of excellence. We tend to ridicule such an advice saying that it will scuttle the ambitions of people. They just forget that no progress is possible for anyone unless he is in pursuit of excellence.
We have some great examples of yore to show how mere performance of our daily chore with devotion can take us on our Spiritual voyage.
Sri

Originally Posted by corallux

Dear Cheeniyaji,

Thanks for the stories of the South Indian Saints. It all shows that humility, devotion and complete surrender of our actions to the feet of the Lord gets us a sense of peace and serenity never experienced before.

The study of Sai's life itself shows he kept saying," better a begging bowl than the crown."

My dear Gita Gurus, it is no doubt said we perform our duties without attachment. I have to confess I keep forgetting that.

I hope I can improve myself with your guidance.

Regards,

Corallux

Dear Corallux
Sai always preferred to be called a 'fakir' though his disciples kept him on the throne of their hearts. It is not mere coincidence that most of the great religious leaders were in poverty. Through their lives, they emphasised what the Prophet taught that it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to pass through the gates of Heaven. This is not to cast any aspersions on the rich but merely to point out that materialism and Spiritual quest cannot go hand in hand. So the aforesaid saying of Baba about the begging bowl must be viewed in this context.
But in the days of yore, even Emperors led a simple and ascetic life. King Janaka was a great Saint himself. The post-Kalinga Asoka is as revered as Buddha himself.
Bud today, the self-styled godmen own huge mansions, fleets of cars and even private jets. How sensible is it to look upto such men to lead us in our Spiritual journey?
Sri

Originally Posted by lalitha shivaguru

Dear M & M,
Reading about work & worship, I feel I should quote here about a great reformer born in North karnataka who was a shivite called Basavanna. He used to say "kaaikkawe kailasa", Kaaiakka means work, which when translated means work is God's abode. I think this will sum up the whole in a nutshell.


Sri sir, the above lines shows the greatest form of worship we could do to the lord. This was very beautiful explanation. I just loved them. Here we can be reminded of the story of Narda again. This story so simple but it shows the true essence of bhakthi and work. Without anyone of them also we cannot attain the absolute.

Dear Lalitha
I am happy that you have mentioned one of the greatest spiritualists of Karnataka, Shri Basavanna. Centuries later, a Saint of similar disposition, Shri Narayana Guru adorned the land of Kerala. Shri Ramanuja himself is hailed as a Social reformer besides being a Spiritual leader par excellence. Not only these Gurus but many others before and after them used their Spiritual guidance to decimate the rampant social inequalities of those days.

In this context, it will be interesting to recall an incident about Adi Sankara when Lord Siva Himself appeared before Sankara as an 'untouchable' at Kashi on the banks of The Ganga. Sankara asks Him to move out of his path and Siva smilingly asks Sankara who should move out of his way, His body or soul. Adi Sankara instantly realises his own ignorance and prostrates before the Lord.

There is an abiding truth in all these stories. God sees no distinction among His creations and it is just our own making.
Sri

Dear Usha,
Your visit to this thread is a pleasant surprise for me.
Whatever be our action, we must do with the bhavana of offering unto the Lord. Then the action is not at all binding.Every small activity, as simple as bathing or eating, when done with pure sensitivity is so beautiful that life will become a joy.
Yes, chanting a nama is the easiest form of worship, whatever work we are doing, but we should do it with awareness and not mechanically.
Love,
Chithrra.

Originally Posted by sundarusha

Dear Mrs.C

Thanks for the great post on Divinity of Daily chores.

" Work is Worship" or "Seyyum thozhile Deivam" is a saying that emphasizes this

philosophy.

Mataji of Anandashram used to advice women to keep chanting Ramnaam as they

did their daily chores. Women are not required to sit and do pujas if they adopt this.


Dear Cheeniyaji

A friend of mine used to tell her son "I don't care if you become a garbage collector,

but try to be the best one". The boy was very studious, but she used to say this so

that he would put his mind into whatever it is he was doing.

Thanks for the story about Appar and Nayanmars.