Mr. Verma is sixty-eight and lives alone. His children are in another city. Evenings feel heavy, and his mind slides into worry. He does his worship, but sometimes even that feels like a routine. Worse, an argument over parking has made the neighbour a person he would rather avoid on the stairs.

He wonders how to bring devotion into the day when he has neither the time nor the heart for a long puja.

The Gita's suggestion is small. The Lord says: whatever you do, do it as an offering to me.

So devotion is not only for the hour of worship. Making tea, speaking to a neighbour, getting through the evening: all of it can be part of it. Three short lines are enough.

Three small moments for the whole day

In the morning, an offering. Put down a glass of water or a flower and say, "Accept this; today is yours." The Lord says he accepts what is offered with devotion, even a small thing (Gita 9.26). The worth of the offering is in the giving, not in the thing.

During the day, one act. Choose one act, such as the morning tea. Before you begin, say, "This is for you." That is all.

In a hard moment, one breath. When someone you find difficult appears, take one breath before you speak. Say inwardly, "May this person be well too." The Lord holds dear the devotee by whom no one is agitated and who is not agitated by anyone (Gita 12.15). This does not make the other person right. It only means that you are not feeding bitterness inside yourself.

At night one more line can be added: "Where did I remember you today?"

When the evening is lonely

For someone who lives alone this practice does one more thing. When an offering is placed, there is someone to receive it. The Lord himself says that he accepts what is offered with devotion (Gita 9.26). So these three small talks through the day become a kind of company, without anyone else needing to come.

If a day is missed

If a day is missed, return the next day at the same small size. Even one line in the morning counts. Doing a small thing again and again is practice, and what is done in the spirit of offering slowly becomes habit.

What this is not

It is not a list of rituals to tick off: I put it down, so it is done. It is not pushing anger down; it is putting friendliness in its place. And you do not have to feel love first. The line comes first and the feeling follows.

An example

Take Mr. Verma again. The next morning he put down a glass of water and said, "Today is yours." While making his tea he said, "This is for you." In the evening he saw the neighbour on the stairs. He took one breath, thought, "May he be well too," and nodded a greeting. The neighbour was startled, and then nodded back.

At night Mr. Verma realised that he had remembered the Lord three times that day. Before this it had not happened once. The evening did not feel as heavy.

Going deeper

The four moments, a plan for the first week and the places where the practice goes wrong are in the detailed reading. The meaning of the offering is in A Leaf, a Flower, a Fruit, Water, and the step before this one is By Devotion Alone.