In plain words
God does not look at such things as ‘how many acts of worship you performed, how many vratas you kept, how many arcanas you offered, how many gifts in charity you gave’. Do not reckon up, “I gave ten bags of rice in charity; I gave saris and dhotis to 500 people.” If you must, write these accounts for the income tax officer, but you must not write them for God. God has no need of these. With what feeling did you do it? That alone is what God looks at. So you must do it with Prema; do it with peace; do it in a spirit of sacrifice. Only then will your name come on the ‘list’ of those who are worthy of God's Prema.
The Essence of the Bhagavad Gītā
If you ask anyone what the Bhagavad Gītā teaches, some say it taught Jñāna; some say it taught Bhakti; some say it taught the path of karma. But none of these is the right answer. What is the very first verse of the Bhagavad Gītā?
In the field of Dharma, in the field of the Kurus, gathered together and eager to fight, what did my sons and the sons of Pāṇḍu do, Sañjaya?
And what is the very last verse?
Wherever there is Kṛṣṇa, Lord of yoga, wherever there is Pārtha, bearer of the bow, there are fortune, victory, prosperity and steadfast justice: such is my conviction.
If you put together the last word in the last verse and the first word in the first verse, it becomes “Mamadharma”. This itself is the essence of the Gītā. That is to say, the Bhagavad Gītā teaches you your Dharma. What is your Dharma? You must recognise the truth, “I am a human being, not a beast,” and live as a human being; you must nurture the qualities a human being ought to have. Born as a human being, you must not behave like a beast; you must not scramble after mean pleasures and riches that perish in a moment. You took human birth to give a lasting example, not to enjoy pleasures and riches. “In all the time I have lived, what example have I given?” you must ask yourselves. If the names of the great souls of ancient times still live on in people's hearts to this day, the reason is nothing but the good deeds they did!