Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 18: Freedom through Renunciation
Bhagavad Gita 18.46
यतः प्रवृत्तिर्भूतानां येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ।
स्वकर्मणा तमभ्यर्च्य सिद्धिं विन्दति मानवः ॥
yataḥ pravṛttirbhūtānāṃ yena sarvamidaṃ tatam | svakarmaṇā tamabhyarcya siddhiṃ vindati mānavaḥ ||
By worshipping, through one's own work, the One from whom all beings come forth and by whom all this is pervaded, a person attains perfection.
Modern context
By worshipping, through one's own work, the One from whom everything comes, a person reaches perfection. Work itself becomes worship. This is one of the Gita's most beautiful ideas. It means that a carpenter's careful joint, a cook's good meal, a clerk's honest accounts can all be acts of devotion. There is no secular work, only work done with or without awareness of the sacred.