Acharya Prashant begins by stating that the Gita is useful to us only when we are like Arjun. He explains that we are all like Arjun because we all have a goal. He questions whether we truly know what we want in life or if we just want to pounce on it. He then refers to Arjun asking Shri Krishna to place his chariot in the middle of the two armies. This centrality is a very unique thing. What kind of warrior says he wants to be in the middle, not on one side? This centrality signifies the desire to know before acting. Arjun's dilemma is, "How can I shoot an arrow, or how can I offer flowers, when I don't even know what this thing in front of me is?" It is for this reason that Shri Krishna decides to give the sermon of the Gita to Arjun. Addressing the question about the four-day work week, Acharya Prashant explains that all these discussions are about work that causes stress. Work causes stress only when you are not doing it for the right reasons. When you don't work for the right reasons, you wait for only two things: Sunday and salary day. You either want your salary to increase or the number of working days to decrease, meaning you want more Sundays. This is because you have no attachment to the work, nor do you understand its importance. In most cases, such work has no importance. That work then becomes just a means to run the household. A human is not born for these things, nor can they live for them. Such work is just a compulsion. Just as small children are troubled by the thought of going to school and make excuses, the common man, when he grows up, follows the same pattern. In childhood, he goes to school under compulsion, and when he grows up, he goes to the office or shop under compulsion. The speaker contrasts this with Shri Krishna's message that life is nothing but action (karma). He points out the contradiction: on one hand, people are trying to reduce work to four, three, or two days, while he is trying to figure out how to work eight days in a seven-day week. He states that the coming era of Artificial Intelligence and robotics will automate most routine jobs, leaving humans with a lot of free time. This free time will be a huge challenge and will become fatal for us. For most people, it is good that their work keeps them occupied from morning to evening; otherwise, a huge problem will arise. He advises finding work that has beauty, meaning, and a great challenge. When you find such work, you don't count the hours. You don't look towards the result. You don't see how much labor or difficulty is involved. You are what you are doing. Your existence is your karma. If the work is despicable, it means a despicable life. If the work is good, you don't want to run away from it. The ultimate purpose of work is liberation. Shri Krishna explains to Arjun that everyone is always doing some karma. The only question that remains is about the quality of that karma. There is only one kind of karma that can make your life meaningful, and that is selfless action (Nishkam Karma).
