BHAGAVAD GITA AND MANAGEMENT (Part - 3)
By M.P.BHATTATHIRY 

Read Part 1 | Part 2

Work Results

The Gita further explains the theory of non- attachment to the results of
work in Ch.18 Verses 13-15 the import of which is as under:

If the result of sincere effort is a success, the entire credit should not
be appropriated by the doer alone.

If the result of sincere effort is a failure, then too the entire blame does
not accrue to the doer.

The former attitude mollifies arrogance and conceit while the latter
prevents excessive despondency, de-motivation and self-pity. Thus both these
dispositions safeguard the doer against psychological vulnerability which is
the cause for the Modem Managers' companions like Diabetes, High B.P. Ulcers
etc.

Assimilation of the ideas behind 2.47 and 18.13-15 of the Gita leads us to
the wider spectrum of lokasamgraha or general welfare.

There is also another dimension in the work ethic. If the karm ayoga is
blended with bhaktiyoga then the work itself becomes worship, a seva yoga.

Manager's Mental Health

The ideas mentioned above have a close bearing on the end-state of a manager
which is his mental health. Sound mental health is the very goal of any
human activity more so management. An expert describes sound mental health
as that state of mind which can maintain a calm, positive poise or regain it
when unsettled in the midst of all the external vagaries of work life and
social existence. Internal constancy and peace are the pre- requisites for a
healthy stress-free mind.

Some of the impediments to sound mental health are

Greed -for power, position, prestige and money.

Envy -regarding others' achievements, success, rewards.

Egotism -about one's own accomplishments.

Suspicion, anger and frustration.

Anguish through comparisons.

The driving forces in today's rat-race are speed and greed as well as
ambition and competition. The natural fallout from these forces is erosion
of one's ethico-moral fibre which supersedes the value system as a means in
the entrepreneurial path like tax evasion, undercutting, spreading canards
against the competitors, entrepreneurial spying, instigating industrial
strife in the business rivals' establishments etc. Although these practices
are taken as normal business hazards for achieving progress, they always end
up as a pursuit of mirage -the more the needs the more the disappointments.
This phenomenon may be called as yayati-syndrome.

In Mahabharata we come across a king called Yayati who, in order to revel in
the endless enjoyment of flesh exchanged his old age with the youth of his
obliging youngest son for a mythical thousand years. However, he lost
himself in the pursuit of sensual enjoyments and felt penitent. He came back
to his son pleading to take back his youth. This yayati syndrome shows the
conflict between externally directed acquisitions, motivations and inner
reasoning, emotions and conscience.

Gita tells us how to get out of this universal phenomenon by prescribing the
following capsules.

Cultivate sound philosophy of life.

Identify with inner core of self-sufficiency

Get out of the habitual mindset towards the pairs of opposites.

Strive for excellence through work is worship.

Build up an internal integrated reference point to face contrary impulses,
and emotions

Pursue ethico-moral rectitude.

Cultivating this understanding by a manager would lead him to emancipation
from falsifying ego-conscious state of confusion and distortion, to a state
of pure and free mind i.e. universal, supreme consciousness wherefrom he can
prove his effectiveness in discharging whatever duties that have fallen to
his domain.

Bhagawan's advice is relevant here :

"tasmaat sarveshu kaaleshu mamanusmarah yuddha cha"

'Therefore under all circumstances remember Me and then fight' (Fight means
perform your duties)

Management Needs those Who Practise what the Preach

Whatever the excellent and best ones do, the commoners follow, so says Sri
Krishna in the Gita. This is the leadership quality prescribed in the Gita.
The visionary leader must also be a missionary, extremely practical,
intensively dynamic and capable of translating dreams into reality. This
dynamism and strength of a true leader flows from an inspired and
spontaneous motivation to help others. "I am the strength of those who are
devoid of personal desire and attachment. O Arjuna, I am the legitimate
desire in those, who are not opposed to righteousness" says Sri Krishna in
the 10th Chapter of the Gita.

The Ultimate Message of Gita for Managers

The despondent position of Arjuna in the first chapter of the Gita is a
typical human situation which may come in the life of all men of action some
time or other. Sri Krishna by sheer power of his inspiring words raised the
level of Arjuna's mind from the state of inertia to the state of righteous
action, from the state of faithlessness to the state of faith and
self-confidence in the ultimate victory of Dharma(ethical action). They are
the powerful words of courage of strength, of self confidence, of faith in
one's own infinite power, of the glory, of valour in the life of active
people and of the need for intense calmness in the midst of intense action.

When Arjuna got over his despondency and stood ready to fight, Sri Krishna
gave him the gospel for using his spirit of intense action not for his own
benefit, not for satisfying his own greed and desire, but for using his
action for the good of many, with faith in the ultimate victory of ethics
over unethical actions and truth over untruth. Arjuna responds by
emphatically declaring that all his delusions were removed and that he is
ready to do what is expected of him in the given situation.

Sri Krishna's advice with regard to temporary failures in actions is 'No
doer of good ever ends in misery'. Every action should produce results: good
action produces good results and evil begets nothing but evil. Therefore
always act well and be rewarded.

And finally the Gita's consoling message for all men of action is : He who
follows My ideal in all walks of life without losing faith in the ideal or
never deviating from it, I provide him with all that he needs (Yoga) and
protect what he has already got (Kshema).

In conclusion the purport of this essay is not to suggest discarding of the
Westem model of efficiency, dynamism and striving for excellence but to make
these ideals tuned to the India's holistic attitude of lokasangraha -for the
welfare of many, for the good of many. The idea is that these management
skills should be India-centric and not America-centric. Swami Vivekananda
says a combination of both these approaches will certainly create future
leaders of India who will be far superior to any that have ever been in the
world.