Bhagavad Gita Verse 28, Chapter 17

ashraddhaya hutam dattam tapastaptam kritam cha yat |
asaditityuchyate paartha na cha tatpretya no iha || 28 ||
 
Whatever is sacrificed, donated or done, and whatever penance is performed, without faith, it is called asat, O Paartha. It is neither here nor after death.
 
ashraddhaya : without faith
hutam : sacrificed
dattam : donated
tapaha : penance
taptam : performed
kritam : done
cha : and
yat : whatever
asat : asat
iti : in this manner
uchyate : is called
paartha : O Paartha
na : neither
cha : and
tat : that
pretya : after death
no : nor
iha : here
 
In the previous shloka, Shri Krishna asserted that any action performed with the steadfastness in Ishvara, with constant memory and faith in Ishvara, automatically becomes a saattvic action. Furthermore, with the application of the purifier Om Tat Sat, it becomes a means towards liberation. Here, such kind of action is compared with an action that is performed without any faith or steadfastness whatsoever. Action performed without any faith is called as asat, which literally means non reality or devoid of reality.
 
In our daily life, we can immediately tell the difference between one who puts their heart and soul into their actions, and one who is just going through the motions. We ourselves have instances where we love an action so much that we put everything in it, we get lost in it, and some other actions where we are acting like mechanical machines, like robots. Shri Krishna says that any action, any sacrifice, penance or charity performed without faith, without our soul in it, becomes a worthless action. Forget liberation, it will not even yield a result here, on this earth.
 
With this shloka, Shri Krishna concludes the seventeenth chapter on the three types of faith. He says that there are three types of devotees based on the texture of their faith, and are categorized as saattvic, raajasic and taamasic. In order to make ourselves fit for liberation, we should cultivate saatvic faith and eliminate the other two types of faith. This will happen only by consuming saattvic food and performing saattvic sacrifices, charity and penance. To ensure that our saatvic actions are free of errors and defects, we should use the purifier Om Tat Sat while performing the actions.
 
om tatsatiti shreematbhagavatgitasupanishadsu brahmavidyaayaam yogashaastre shreekrishnaarjunsamvade shraddhatrayovibhaagayogo naama saptadashodhyaayaha || 15 ||

Bhagavad Gita Verse 16, Chapter 9

aham kraturaham yajnyaha svadhaahamahamaushadham |
mantrohamahamevaajyamamagniraham hutam || 16 ||
 
I am the vedic ritual, I am the sacrifice, I am the oblation, I am the herb, I am the chant, I am the butter, I am the fire and I am the act of offering.
 
aham : I am
kratuhu : vedic ritual
yajnyaha : sacrifice
svadhaa : oblation
aushadham : herb
mantraha : chant
aajyam : butter
agnihi : fire
hutam : act of offering
 
Shri Krishna begins to enumerate several opportunities to see Ishvara in our life. It is not enough to consider Ishvara as a finite resident in a picture or an idol. We should be able to incorporate Ishvara in all aspects of our lives. In this shloka, Shri Krishna emphasizes work as a connection to Ishvara by saying that Ishvara is present within all aspects of action.
 
During the time of the Mahabharata war, Vedic rituals were a part and parcel of life and were well understood by all. To that end, Shri Krishna asks Arjuna to view Ishvara in each and every aspect of the vedic ritual. Since such rituals comprise herbs, butter, chanting, fire, and offering of oblations, Shri Krishna says that Ishvara is present in all of them. Arjuna would have had no trouble in ensuring that Ishvara was ever present in such a ritual after he heard this shloka.
 
We, however, lack exposure to such rituals, and therefore we adapt this shloka towards any action that we perform daily. For example, if we are cooking a meal for our family, we can see Ishvara in the cooking flame, in the spices, in the vegetables, in the oil, in the knife and so on. Or if we spend a lot of time creating documents on the computer, then we can try to see Ishvara in the laptop, the mouse, the word document, the browser and so on.
 
Shri Krishna, by redefining action as worship of Ishvara, does not demarcate when and who can worship Ishvara. Sant Kabirdas was a cobbler and Arjuna was a warrior. But both of them could access Ishvara without leaving their respective professions. We have the opportunity to do the very same thing. It is our attitude while performing our work which is most important.
 
Further means to access Ishvara are provided next.