Bhagavad Gita and the Philosophy of Management, by M.P. Bhattathiri
Mind is very restless, forceful and strong, O Krishna, it is more difficult to control the mind than to control the wind.
~ Arjuna to Sri Krishna
Introduction to the Gita:
One of the greatest contributions of India to the world is Holy Gita which is considered to be one of the first revelations from God. The management lessons in this holy book were brought in to light of the world by divine Maharshi Mahesh Yogi , Sri Sri RaviShankar and Swami Bodhanandji, and the spiritual philosophy by the great Adi Sankaracharya, the greatest philosopher of India and proud son of Kerala, and Sri. Srila Prabhupada Swami and humanism by Mata Amritanandamayi Devi and Satya Sai Baba. Maharishi calls the Bhagavad-Gita the essence of Vedic Literature and a complete guide to practical life. It provides “all that is needed to raise the consciousness of man to the highest possible level.” Maharishi reveals the deep, universal truths of life that speak to the needs and aspirations of everyone. Swami Chinmayanandaji preached and educated the people and Swami Sandeep Chaitanyaji continued the mission by keeping this lantern burning always knowing the wishes of the modern generations. Arjuna got mentally depressed when he saw his relatives with whom he had to fight.( Mental health has now become a major international public health concern). To motivate him, the Bhagavad Gita is preached in the battle field of Kurukshetra by Lord Krishna to Arjuna as a counseling to do his duty while multitudes of men stood by waiting. It has got all the management tactics to achieve the mental equilibrium and to overcome any crisis situation.
Lessons in the Gita:
The Bhagavad Gita is a message addressed to each and every human individual to help him or her to solve the vexing problem of overcoming the present and progressing towards a bright future. Within its eighteen chapters is revealed a human drama. This is the experience of everyone in this world, the drama of the ascent of man from a state of utter dejection, sorrow, total breakdown and hopelessness to a state of perfect understanding, clarity, renewed strength and triumph.
Management Theory proposed in the Gita:
In this modern world the art of Management has become a part and parcel of everyday life, be it at home, in the office or factory and in Government. In all organizations, where a group of human beings assemble for a common purpose irrespective of caste, creed, and religion, management principles come into play through the management of resources, finance and planning, priorities, policies and practice. Management is a systematic way of carrying out activities in any field of human effort. The Bhagavad Gita, written thousands of years ago, enlightens us on all managerial techniques leading us towards a harmonious and blissful state of affairs in place of the conflict, tensions, poor productivity, absence of motivation and so on, common in most of Indian enterprises today – and probably in enterprises in many other countries.
Contrast with the Western Management Concept:
The modern (Western) management concepts of vision, leadership, motivation, excellence in work, achieving goals, giving work meaning, decision making and planning, are all discussed in the Bhagavad Gita. There is one major difference. While Western management thought too often deals with problems at material, external and peripheral levels, the Bhagavad Gita tackles the issues from the grass roots level of human thinking. Once the basic thinking of man is improved, it will automatically enhance the quality of his actions and their results. The management philosophy emanating from the West is based on the lure of materialism and on a perennial thirst for profit, irrespective of the quality of the means adopted to achieve that goal. This phenomenon has its source in the abundant wealth of the West and so ‘management by materialism’ has caught the fancy of all the countries the world over, India being no exception to this trend.
My country, India, has been in the forefront in importing these ideas mainly because of its centuries old indoctrination by colonial rulers, which has inculcated in us a feeling that anything Western is good and anything Indian, is inferior. The result is that, while huge funds have been invested in building temples of modem management education, no perceptible changes are visible in the improvement of the general quality of life - although the standards of living of a few has gone up. The same old struggles in almost all sectors of the economy, criminalization of institutions, social violence, exploitation and other vices are seen deep in the body politic. Western management philosophy may have created prosperity – but it has failed in the aim of ensuring betterment of individual life and social welfare. It has remained by and large a soulless edifice and an oasis of plenty for a few in the midst of poor quality of life for many. Hence, there is an urgent need to re-examine prevailing management disciplines - their objectives, scope and content. Management should be redefined to underline the development of the worker as a person, as a human being, and not as a mere wage-earner. With this changed perspective, management can become an instrument in the process of social, and indeed national, development.
This article is the first part of a multi part series which will be published in subsequent editions of Tattva. It is written by M.P. Bhattathiri who is a Retired Chief Technical Examiner, Govt. of Kerala , India. You can reach the author at bhattathiry@gmail.com
Email This Post
Loading ...
December 7th, 2007 07:54
It is a nice article and good for management studies.
February 4th, 2008 06:48
David Haberman, an associate professor of religious studies at Indiana University Bloomington, focuses his research on the Vaishnava culture found in this region and on the sacred text of the Purana. “As a historian of religions, I’m not only interested in the written text that we would define as ’scripture,’ but I’m also interested in how texts really become embedded in cultures in other fashions,” Haberman says. “My last book, Journey through the Twelve Forests, takes the reader into a pilgrimage experience in Vraj.”
According to Haberman, “In Vraj, the written text (the Bhagavata Purana) became a sacred space. In my study of the pilgrimage in that region, I focused on how shrines, temples, and sacred sites function like a sacred text or scripture. Many Hindus encounter what we recognize as ’scripture’ within a cultural form such as a dramatic presentation, a sermon on the text, a musical rendition of an episode, or they may encounter ’scripture’ through the pilgrimage sites. Walking around the 200-mile-plus circular pilgrimage circuit, the pilgrims are, in effect, reading the text.”
http://www.indiana.edu/~rcapub/v21n1/p20.html
August 3rd, 2008 14:26
In the storm of life we struggle through myriads of stimuli of pressure,
stress, and muti-problems that seek for a solution and answer. We are so
suppressed by the routine of this every life style that most of us seem
helpless. However, if we look closely to ancient techniques we shall
discover the magnificent way to understand and realize the ones around us
and mostly ourselves. If only we could stop for a moment and allow this to
happen… Bhagavad Gita will give answer to all these.
September 16th, 2008 23:09
This is an excellent article. Bhagavad Gita is philosophical and motivational book too. So it is universal. here is no theory to be internalized and applied in this psychology. Ancient practices spontaneously induce what each person needs as the individual and the universal coincide. The work proceeds through intellectual knowledge of the playing field ( jnana yoga), emotional devotion to the ideal (bhakti yoga) and right action that includes both feeling and knowledge (karma yoga). With ongoing purification we approach wisdom. The Bhagavad-Gita is a message addressed to each and every human individual to help him or her to solve the vexing problem of overcoming the present and progressing towards a bright future. Within its eighteen chapters is revealed a human drama. This is the experience of everyone in this world, the drama of the ascent of man from a state of utter dejection, sorrow and total breakdown and hopelessness to a state of perfect understanding, clarity, renewed strength and triumph. May the wisdom of loving consciousness ever guide us on our journey. What makes the Holy Gita a practical psychology of transformation is that it offers us the tools to connect with our deepest intangible essence, and we must learn to participate in the battle of life with right knowledge.
“Freed from attachment, fear and anger, absorbed in Me, and taking refuge in Me, purified by the penance of knowledge, many have attained union with My Being.” (Gita 4:10)