Question:
1. Is there a verse in the Bhagavad-gita which literally says that we should offer the fruit of our work (hard-earned money from our jobs, profession) to Krishna? If yes, kindly point out the verse for me.
2: What is the difference between surrendering our work to Krishna, and surrendering the fruit of our work to Krishna?
Answer by Romapada Swami: 1. Please refer to BG 9.27 where Krsna states that whatever one does, it should be offered to Him first whether it is charity, or any activity.
Also in BG 5.29 Krsna mentions how He is the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities,
Krishna is the actual beneficiary or enjoyer of the results. This is only natural, because Krishna is the actual proprietor of everything, including the strength and intelligence with which we perform our work and achieve results.
2. This can be explained through Nish-kama Karma Yoga. Generally, ‘nishkama karma yoga’ refers to performing prescribed duties without attachment to the fruits. One can perform nishkama karma yoga on two levels, depending on the advancement of one’s transcendental knowledge. In the first, one dutifully performs prescribed work with detachment (based on knowledge that we are not this body), without necessarily offering the fruits to Krishna in devotion.
The other offers the results of one’s labor to Krishna, while still being attached to the specific type of work he does; the latter is a devotee who knows that the goal is Krishna but is not yet on the platform of pure devotion. This is a superior stage of nishkama-karma-yoga.
In pure bhakti yoga, on the other hand, the sole impetus for work is surrender to the order of Guru and Krishna.
So to summarize: Working in full knowledge of Krishna without proprietorship and desires for profit is nishkama-karma-yoga, but when the work itself is surrendered to Krishna as an expression of loving service – not only offering the results – it comes to the platform of bhakti: work done for the pleasure of Krishna.
