One must never give up effort and strive to complete the work to the utmost perfection one is capable of.
However the attitude behind is not that of doing something for success because then we try any means to succeed. Work should be a means of serving the Divine and yet must be done well with an eye on excellence. Inwardly detached from the results yet outwardly doing it with a will be perfection. It means not to be negligent in the work because one is not attached to the results.
It is beautifully expressed by Sri Aurobindo in his uttarpara speech.
‘He placed the Gita in my hands. His strength entered into me and I was able to do the sadhan of the Gita. I was not only to understand intellectually but to realise what Sri Krishna demanded of Arjuna and what He demands of those who aspire to do His work, to be free from repulsion and desire, to do work for Him without the demand for fruit, to renounce self-will and become a passive and faithful instrument in His hands, to have an equal heart for high and low, friend and opponent, success and failure, yet not to do His work negligently.’
Affectionately,
Alok Da
