Bhagavad Gita 9.26

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati

tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ

 

A leaf, a flower, a fruit, or even a little water,

I accept when given by a devoted offerer.

For making an offering, lack of wealth is no limit—

I see not the size of a gift, but its loving spirit.

 

My dear Lord, help me appreciate how accepting and accommodating you are. What you seek from me is never beyond what I can offer. What you ultimately want from me is my heart, and my offerings given to you through my actions are meant to express my heart’s love.

You, O merciful Lord, are concerned less with what I do in the world and more with what I do in my heart. Or put more precisely, your priority is how what I do shapes my heart rather than how it shapes the world. That’s why, if I strive to offer you whatever I can according to the best of my present capacity, you do not mind if that capacity is meager; you graciously accept that offering, because the very attempt—translated into an act of offering—deeply impacts my heart. It establishes a connection with you, even if only for a few moments, and gives me a glimpse of the enriching experience that a life devoted to you offers.

O Lord who are my supreme guru, may your words emphasizing the heart bring a shift in my focus when it comes to serving you: let me stop worrying about my ability and start working on increasing my heart’s availability.

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09.26 If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it.