Sometimes we have the tendency to justify our irresponsible behaviour using devotion as an excuse. Many a times working devotees (including me) develop deep renunciation immediately after entering the office premise. Why am I working? It’s wastage of time. It’s not going to help me to develop love of God as my work is not directly linked to Krishna conscious activities. We become extremely philosophical and wilfully start neglecting our work. Our feeling of renunciation is not because of our love for Krishna but because of our laziness, lethargy and unwillingness to face challenges of life. This can be easily understood because in the evening after leaving our work place and during weekends our feeling of renunciation is simply untraceable. It pops up the next time we enter our work place. The pseudo renunciation which we develop as per our whims is not going to help us in our personal, professional and most importantly devotional life. When Arjuna wanted to run away from the battlefield and wanted to beg for living then Krishna did not eulogize Arjuna rather admonished him. Krishna told him that dying in the war would be more glorious & graceful than running away from there.
We also need to be very serious and sincere in our occupational duties. Our job helps us to earn money in a legitimate way which is required to maintain ourselves, our family and facilitates in practicing devotion very peacefully. We can even utilize our money in spreading Krishna Consciousness movement either by donating some amount to the temple or by organizing devotional programs in our house or in any other ways which we find suitable.
Devotion is purely personal. There is no need to publicly display it to seek others attention. People judge us not just by our words but mostly by our actions. If we are sincere, serious, hard working and honest in our work then others will not only admire us but will also develop a positive impression about the devotees as a whole. And they too would get inspired to practice devotional life. Bhaktivinod Thakuara is an ideal example for all of us. Through his life he has taught us how one can be highly productive while doing occupational duties, how to be caring and loving towards the family members and how to be extremely sincere in executing devotion. Following his footsteps we too can lead a healthy devotional life. A simple formula we need to follow – to always be in the moment. It means “When chanting just chant” and “While working just work.” Do not mix both.
