Dear All,
It has been a long time, since I have been reading Gita, Practical Vedanta and series of Lectures delivered by Swami Vivekananda during his Chicago visit. During my days in Mission I have been thinking that how to put all the lectures and 'gyans' into practical use. During me sessions with my management students, what I found was that Gita or Practical Vedanta is something which can be practiced on a daily basis, something which is directly related to management, managerial skills, decision making ability and leadership.
I need support from all of you, to make this thread successful. We would start with the basic essence of Gita, the philosophy, the etymological meaning of the picture of Gita, Arjuna riding the chariot and Krishna holding the reigns and then we would delve deeply into each chapter of Gita and see how each of the shlokas carry a direct or indirect meaning to either management or managerial science.
From India, Calcutta
It has been a long time, since I have been reading Gita, Practical Vedanta and series of Lectures delivered by Swami Vivekananda during his Chicago visit. During my days in Mission I have been thinking that how to put all the lectures and 'gyans' into practical use. During me sessions with my management students, what I found was that Gita or Practical Vedanta is something which can be practiced on a daily basis, something which is directly related to management, managerial skills, decision making ability and leadership.
I need support from all of you, to make this thread successful. We would start with the basic essence of Gita, the philosophy, the etymological meaning of the picture of Gita, Arjuna riding the chariot and Krishna holding the reigns and then we would delve deeply into each chapter of Gita and see how each of the shlokas carry a direct or indirect meaning to either management or managerial science.
From India, Calcutta
Hi Shounak, Its nice to know your idea! but how would you go about it? I’m interested to know in detail about the same as i’m presently doing my MBA. Regards, Prachi
From India, Mumbai
1From India, Mumbai
Hello Prachi,
Nice to have shown interest in this topic. Let us first start in this manner:
The discourse between Arjuna and Krishna, whether it took place or not in reality, we don't know. Rather we should not strive to know. What sounds a little odd to me is that, in a war when two fronts are facing each other to fight, with all their arms and ammunition ready, how can we expect such a philosophical discussion to take place? Just imagine, there is a fight going on between a country and another, suddenly an ambassador starts speaking of soul and Atma and God in between the war? Funny isn't it?
So what I feel is that Krishna addressed to the first managerial question i.e DILEMMA. We always are in DILEMMA in our day to day life, what to do, what not to do, what is right, which one is wrong? Similarly as a manager we also face lot of DILEMMAS. Whether to start on a project or not? Whether to fire my junior or not? Whether to enter into the contract with the party or not? Isn't it? So the first chapter of Gita, called the 'Arjun Vishad Yoga' meaning Arjuna's lamentation, essentially speaks of his dilemma whether to kill his cousin brother, guru or not. So, in essence, Gita won't teach you individual scenario of DILEMMA, but rather to get an overall idea of what to do or not, which work is good and which work is bad. What we find is that DILEMMA, or rather solving the DILEMMA leads a manager to make his/her decision correct.
The first chapter of Gita, essentially shows the DILEMMA of Arjuna vs.the dilemma of a manager in a day to day affair. The Sanskrit shlokas have nothing in significance, rather speaks of Arjuna's(managers) inability to take decision.
The 28th. and the 29th.version of the first chapter of Gita says:
'Drishtewam swajanam krishna yuyutsum samupasthitam'
Drishtewam --> Seeing
yuyutsum samupasthitam --> Yuyutsu being present
'Sidanti mama gatraNi mukham cha parishushyati'
Sidanti mama gatraNi --> My body is sweating
mukham cha parishushyati' --> My mouth is going dry
'Vepathushca sharire me romharshas cha jayate..........'
My body is shaking and all the veins are getting excited
All these speak of the fear, anguish that a person experiences when faced with DILEMMA.
The last line of the first chapter of Gita says:
'Evam uktwa Arjuna sankhye ratho pasta upavishat
Visrijya sasharam chapam shok sang vignamanash.'
Evam uktwa --> And told
Arjuna sankhye ratho pasta upavishat --> Arjuna sitting on the chariot 'Rath'
Visrijya --> Having thrown away
sasharam chapam shok sang vignamanash.' --> the arrow and the 'tun' he sat their demoralised.
Hence, the entire summary of the first chapter of Gita revolves around Arjuna's DILEMMA what to do and what not.
So, from the second chapter onwards, we found the words of Lord Krishna, how he motivates Arjuna to conduct the war.
-- Shounak Bhattacharya.
From India, Calcutta
Nice to have shown interest in this topic. Let us first start in this manner:
The discourse between Arjuna and Krishna, whether it took place or not in reality, we don't know. Rather we should not strive to know. What sounds a little odd to me is that, in a war when two fronts are facing each other to fight, with all their arms and ammunition ready, how can we expect such a philosophical discussion to take place? Just imagine, there is a fight going on between a country and another, suddenly an ambassador starts speaking of soul and Atma and God in between the war? Funny isn't it?
So what I feel is that Krishna addressed to the first managerial question i.e DILEMMA. We always are in DILEMMA in our day to day life, what to do, what not to do, what is right, which one is wrong? Similarly as a manager we also face lot of DILEMMAS. Whether to start on a project or not? Whether to fire my junior or not? Whether to enter into the contract with the party or not? Isn't it? So the first chapter of Gita, called the 'Arjun Vishad Yoga' meaning Arjuna's lamentation, essentially speaks of his dilemma whether to kill his cousin brother, guru or not. So, in essence, Gita won't teach you individual scenario of DILEMMA, but rather to get an overall idea of what to do or not, which work is good and which work is bad. What we find is that DILEMMA, or rather solving the DILEMMA leads a manager to make his/her decision correct.
The first chapter of Gita, essentially shows the DILEMMA of Arjuna vs.the dilemma of a manager in a day to day affair. The Sanskrit shlokas have nothing in significance, rather speaks of Arjuna's(managers) inability to take decision.
The 28th. and the 29th.version of the first chapter of Gita says:
'Drishtewam swajanam krishna yuyutsum samupasthitam'
Drishtewam --> Seeing
yuyutsum samupasthitam --> Yuyutsu being present
'Sidanti mama gatraNi mukham cha parishushyati'
Sidanti mama gatraNi --> My body is sweating
mukham cha parishushyati' --> My mouth is going dry
'Vepathushca sharire me romharshas cha jayate..........'
My body is shaking and all the veins are getting excited
All these speak of the fear, anguish that a person experiences when faced with DILEMMA.
The last line of the first chapter of Gita says:
'Evam uktwa Arjuna sankhye ratho pasta upavishat
Visrijya sasharam chapam shok sang vignamanash.'
Evam uktwa --> And told
Arjuna sankhye ratho pasta upavishat --> Arjuna sitting on the chariot 'Rath'
Visrijya --> Having thrown away
sasharam chapam shok sang vignamanash.' --> the arrow and the 'tun' he sat their demoralised.
Hence, the entire summary of the first chapter of Gita revolves around Arjuna's DILEMMA what to do and what not.
So, from the second chapter onwards, we found the words of Lord Krishna, how he motivates Arjuna to conduct the war.
-- Shounak Bhattacharya.
From India, Calcutta
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