The dominant philosophy in the Business World is Capitalism. While this philosophy has generated unprecedented wealth creation, innovation and growth, it has come at a high cost. There is social & economic inequality, unethical behaviors, stress, burnout, depression, and much more. Clearly, the limitations of the existing paradigm are increasingly getting exposed, even more so with COVID 19, and there is need for a new paradigm, which is more sustainable and balanced.
I strongly believe Bhagavad Gita has the answers to the problems we see in the business world. Bhagavad Gita is a treasure trove of timeless wisdom that has guided mankind for thousands of years. It is both a Moksha Shastra and Yoga Shastra, which means it addresses both the fundamental questions of life but also provides methods and approaches for making progress.
In a two-part blogpost, I would like to provide some of the principles and practical approaches from Bhagavad Gita that when applied to the business world can lead to more sustainable and balanced outcomes. In this the Part 1, I have tried to distill 14 key lessons from the Bhagavad Gita, whose understanding I believe will be most helpful for business leaders. I have tried to capture a simple summary of the key messages supported by select relevant verses from The Gita. The verses have been taken from two texts: Gita Home Study by Swami Dayananda Saraswati and Bhagavad Gita with commentary of Sankaracarya by Swami Gambhirananda. In Part 2, I will share more specific implications of the lessons from Bhagavad Gita for the business world based on interviews with number of CXOs and my own experiences.
- Atman: True Nature of Self
Who am I? – You can define the self at so many levels: the physical body, the subtle body that includes the mind (Manas), the intellect (Buddhi), the memory (Chitta) and the ego (Ahamkara) {these 4 are called the Antahakarana}. As you keep going deeper and more subtle, you see a continuing hierarchy of cause and effect, of subject and object, of knower and known. Each successive inner level becomes the cause for the outer level. True Self, the Atman, is the cause beyond the causes, that which cannot be objectified. True Self is indestructible, timeless, formless and limitless. True self is complete. It is pure consciousness.Verse 2.20: “Never is this One born, and never does It die; nor is it that having come to exist, It will again cease to be.This one is birthless, eternal, undecaying, ancient. It is not killed when the body is killed”Verse 2.21: “O Partha, the one who knows this (self) to be indestructible, timeless, unborn, and not subject to decline, how (and) whom does that person kill? Whom does he cause to kill”Verse 13.31: “Being without beginning and without qualities. O son of Kunti, this immutable, supreme Self does not act, nor is it affected, although existing in the body” - Atman = Brahman: Oneness of all Existence
You are, in essence, the universal consciousness, the Brahman. God and Self are not different, they are one. The ultimate truth is “Tat Tvam Asi”, Thou Art That (which is one of the Mahavakyas or fundamental equations in Hindu thought). Atman is same as Brahman. The term Atman being used in the context of the individual and Brahman being used for the total. All of creation is connected and is one. This fact is Satyam, the ultimate truth and the unchanging reality.Verse 9.4: “The whole world is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest form. All beings exist in Me, but I am not contained in them”Verse 13.1: “O sun of Kunti, this body is referred to as the ‘field’. Those who are versed in this call him who is conscious of it as the ‘knower of the field’.”Verse 13.2: “And, O scion of the Bharata dynasty, understand Me to be the ‘Knower of the field’ in all the fields. In My opinion, that is Knowledge which is the knowledge of the field and the knower of the field”Verse 13.13: “That (Knowable), which has hands and feet everywhere, which has eyes, heads and mouths everywhere, which has ears everywhere, exists in creatures by pervading them all”Verse 13.17: “This is the Light even of the lights; It is spoken of as beyond darkness. It is Knowledge, the Knowable, and the Known. It exists specifically in the hearts of all”
Verse 13.22: “He who is the Witness, the Permitter, the Sustainer, the Experiencer, the great Lord, and who is also spoken of as the transcendental Self is the supreme Person in this body”
- Avidya/Mithya: Ignorance
We identify with the body-mind-complex and do not recognize that our true self is pure consciousness. What we see and experience is not the reality, but something that depends on the self, consciousness, for its being. Ignorance, Avidya, of this is the great bane of human existence, and the root of our problems. Because of falsely identifying the body mind sense complex as ‘I’ and real, we have the sense of being limited and therefore inadequate/unfulfilled. We seek fulfillment by making efforts to acquire what we want and discard what we don’t want, not recognizing that we are already complete. Owing to this lack of recognition, we also mistake ourselves to be the agents of action, and because of this, we keep on accumulating karmas and are caught in the endless cycle of Samsara, endless cycle of birth-death-rebirth.Verse 5.14: “The Self does not create agentship or any objects (of desire) for anyone; nor association with the results of actions. But it is Nature (Prakriti) that acts”Verse 5.15: “The Omnipresent neither accepts anybody’s sin nor even virtue. Knowledge remains covered by ignorance. Thereby the creatures become deluded” - Moksha: Liberation
The only way to achieve liberation, Moksha from this endless cycle of Samsara is to remove Ignorance, Avidya of separateness. And, the only way to remove this ignorance is Knowledge, Jnanam of the true nature of Self, the non-dual existence. Moksha is not something you achieve after death, it is here, it is a reality now, it only needs to be realized with the removal of ignorance. Moksha is freedom from the sense of being incomplete or wanting, due to the recognition of oneself as Sat-Chit-Ananda (existence, consciousness, wholeness).Verse 5.16: “But in the case of those of whom that ignorance of theirs becomes destroyed by the knowledge (of the Self), their knowledge, like the sun, reveals that supreme reality”Verse 5.17: “Those who have their intellect absorbed in That, whose Self is That, who are steadfast in That, who have That as their supreme Goal – they attain the state of non-returning, their dirt having been removed by Knowledge”Verse 13.12: “I shall speak of that which is to be known, by realizing which one attains Immortality. The supreme Brahman is without any beginning. That is called neither being nor non-being”Verse 13.23: “He who knows thus the Person (Purusa) and Nature (Prakriti) along with the qualities will not be born again in whatever way he may live”Verse 13.34: “Those who know thus, through the eye of wisdom, the distinction between the field and the Knower of the field, and (know) the freedom from prakriti, the cause of beings,- they reach the Supreme”
- Stitha Prajnya: Wise man who knows Atman
What is the nature of Stitha Prajnya, wise man who has knowledge of Atman? Secure, Equanimous, Unattached, Accepting. Gives up all desires as they arise and is happy with himself. Throughout the Sastras, the characteristics of a wise person are said to also be the means for preparing one’s mind for the knowledge of the AtmanVerse 2.55: “When one fully renounces all the desires that have entered the mind, and remains satisfied in the Self alone by the Self, then he is called a man of steady wisdom.”Verse 2.56: “That monk is called a man of steady wisdom when his mind is unperturbed in sorrow, he is free from longing for delights, and has gone beyond attachment, fear and anger”Verse 2.58: “And when, like the turtle that withdraws its limbs, this person is able to completely withdraw the sense organs from their objects, his knowledge is steady”Verse 4.20: “Having given up attachment to the results of action, he who is ever-contended, dependent on nothing, he really does not do anything even though engaged in action.”Verse 5.20: “A knower of Brahman, who is established in Brahman, should have his intellect steady and should not be deluded. He should not get delighted by getting what is desirable, not become dejected b getting what is undesirable”
Verse 12.13: “He who is not hateful towards any creature, who is friendly and compassionate, who has not the idea of ‘mine’ and the idea of egoism, who is the same under sorrow and happiness, who is forgiving”
Verse 12.14: “He who is ever content, who is a yogi, who has self-control, who has firm conviction, who has dedicated his mind and intellect to Me – he who is such a devotee of Mine is dear to Me”
- Antahakarana Shuddhi: Purifying the Mind
Knowledge is difficult to achieve because our mind is clouded by Raag-Dvesha, Likes and Dislikes. Hence, to achieve knowledge, Jnanam it is important to progress on the path of Antahakarana Shuddhi, purifying oneself, which is releasing oneself from the hold of, being perturbed by, likes and dislikes. For this, it is important to overcome the control the senses have on your mind and achieve a mind relatively free from likes and dislikes. It can be completely free only when one knows that one is complete.Verse 2.60: “For, O son of Kunti, the turbulent organs violently snatch away the mind of an intelligent person, even while he is striving diligently.”Verse 2.61: “Controlling all of them, one should remain concentrated on Me as the supreme. For, the wisdom of one whose organs are under control becomes steadfast.”Verse 2.62: “In the case of a person who dwells on objects, there arises attachment for them. From attachment grows hankering, from hankering springs anger.”Verse 2.63: “From anger follows delusion, failure of memory, from failure of memory, the loss of understanding; from the loss of understanding, he perishes.”Verse 2.64: “But by perceiving objects with the organs that are free from attraction and repulsion, and are under his own control, the self-controlled man attains serenity.”
Verse 5.22: “the enjoyments born of the contact with things are causes of sorrow, they have a beginning and an end; therefore, the sage, the man of awakened understanding, does not place delight in these”
Verse 6.35: “Without doubt, O mighty-armed, the mind is restless and very difficult to restrain; but O Kaunteya, it may be controlled by constant practice and dispassion.”
- Two Lifestyles for Jnanam (Knowledge)
There are two lifestyles to achieve Knowledge and Steadfastness in that Knowledge: Sannyasa, Renunciation and Karma Yoga. These might appear like different paths but require a similar mindset, that of wanting to know the truth of oneself, the world and Isvara (Supreme Being, God), and informed, responsible, dispassion towards other pursuits.
A Sannyasi lifestyle is about giving up worldly actions, while a Karma Yogi stays a householder, continues with his actions but with a spirit of surrender to Isvara and detachment, based on understanding. Both pursue knowledge. There are important interlinkages between these two lifestyles, and so they are not totally different paths but more like a continuum. A Sannyasi will only be able to progress on his path if he has had the opportunity to neutralize the hold of his Raag-Dvesha, Likes and Dislikes in the field of action (in this or earlier lives). Equally, Karma becomes Karma Yoga when it is done with a spirit of surrender, based on an understanding of certain realities.
While both lifestyles can take you to Jnanam, Sannyasa is more difficult if raga-dvesas are not neutralized, and Karma Yoga might be more appropriate for most. Few are eligible for the path of knowledge because that needs you to be relatively mature on the spiritual journey; Path of action is more suited for the majority as most of us are drowned in action. Whatever be the path, a person who has known the truth is a Sannyasi (jnanam sannyasa lakshanam)
Verse 3.3: “O Sinless One, in the beginning, in this world, the two-fold committed lifestyle was told by Me – the pursuit of knowledge for the renunciates and the pursuit of action for those who pursue activity”
Verse 5.4: “The fools, not the learned ones, speak of Sankhya (the path of knowledge) and (Karma-) yoga as different. Anyone who properly resorts to even one (of them) gets the result of both”
Verse 5.5: “The end (Moksha) that is gained by the Sannyasis is also reached by the Karma-Yogis. The one who sees knowledge and karma-yoga as one, that person (alone sees)
Verse 5.6: “But, O mighty-armed one, renunciation is hard to attain without (Karma) Yoga. The man equipped with yoga [Sankara takes yoga-yukta in the verse as a karmayogi] attains Brahman without delay”
Verse 5.13: “The one who is self-controlled, the indweller of the physical body, having renounced all actions by knowledge, remains happily in the nine-gated city (the body) performing no action, nor causing (others) to act - Samatvam (Equanimity): First Pillar of Karma Yoga
Karma Yoga is when you focus on your action as given by Isvara, offering it to Isvara, and not getting obsessed with the fruits of your action. You take the result with Samatvam, with equanimity, as prasadam (gracious gift), being same in success and failure, understanding that the results have come from Isvara. Once you give up the distraction of results, you are available 100% to this moment to perform your work and that too in the best way. Hence, by the end of the process, you have enjoyed the process so much that not much is left in you to get excited or depressed about the result. Moreover, you learn to see the bigger picture always, small successes/ failures do not matter anymore.
Verse 2.47: “Your right is for action alone, never for the results. Do not become the agent of the results of action. May you not have any inclination for inaction”
Verse 2.48: “By being established in Yoga, undertake actions, casting off attachment and remaining equipoised in success and failure. Equanimity is Yoga”Verse 6.1: “He who performs an action which is his duty, without depending on the result of actions, he is a monk and a yogi; (but) not (so is) he who does not keep a (ritual) fire and is actionless.” - Faith in Iswara
For Samatva to happen, it is important to have faith in Iswara (the manifest form of Brahman). The recognition that Iswara is the creator of the situation in which one is called upon to act and the karma-phala-datain your life brings about Samatva. You can take things in your stride, but there is a difference in taking the results with reverence, as Prasada.
Verse 8.7: “Therefore, think of Me at all times and fight. There is no doubt that by dedicating your mind and intellect to Me, you will attain Me alone.”Verse 12.6: “As for those who, having dedicated all actions to Me and accepted Me as the supreme, meditate by thinking of Me with single-minded concentration only –“Verse 12.7: “O son of Prtha, for them who have their minds absorbed in Me, I become, without delay, the Deliverer from the sea of the world which is fraught with death” - Kaushala (Skillfulness): Second pillar of Karma Yoga
Kaushala is expertise in discerning what is the Karma to be done and how to do it, it is discretion in action. Karma is not an untethered choice without norms. It is a choice with discretion, meaning that one’s choice should be in keeping with certain norms. It is not only important to have Samatva and faith in Iswara; action has to be rooted in Dharma, understanding of right and wrong. Kaushala is your capacity to interpret Dharma correctly. Our Karma is generally driven by Raag-Dvesha, we do what we like and try to avoid what we dislike. Instead, our Karma should be driven by Dharma-Adharma, we should do what is Dharma and not do what is Adharma. Such actions rooted in Dharma will be for the Greater Good and thus will lead to more sustainable outcomes.In the two-part definition of Karma, the first definition (Samatva) is with reference to the results of action, whereas the second definition (Kaushala) is with reference to the action itself.Verse 2.50: “Possessed of wisdom, one rejects here both virtue and vice. Therefore, devote yourself to (Karma-) yoga. Yoga is skillfulness in action” - Svakarma: Own Duty
SvaDharma or SvaKarma, own duty, is an important aspect of Kaushala and Karma Yoga. You should know what your duty is and focus on it alone and not worry about other things (for example, what others are doing). Through doing SvaKarma with proper understanding and attitude, you get AntahaKarna Shuddhi(seeing things as they are) through which you get ready for knowledge.Gita gives a call to follow own Duty, SvaKarma. This fact raises a question or concern, whether SvaKarma is a limiting framework and can limit human growth. For example, if your Svakarma is defined by your Varna or the caste you are born into, does it limit you? Now, Gita does not say that you are born into a Varna. Varna is the quality you have. The four Varnas are based on the mix of three Gunas (Sattva, Rajas, Tamas). You can evolve your mix of Gunas. So, your SvaKarma is not a constant, it can evolve. Not only that, it shows what you have as your innate characteristics (for example, you are a born singer) has to be nourished & blossomed. This idea of SvaKarma is the path to realizing your fullest potential. Moreover, important to mention that doing other’s Dharma/ Karma will not give you success. That is, ‘Don’t try to be something you are not’, if you are a rose blossom into one, do not try to be a lotus.Verse 3.35: “One’s own duty, though defective, is superior to another’s duty well-performed. Death is better while engaged in one’s own duty; another’s duty is fraught with fear”Verse 4.13: “The four castes have been created by Me through a classification of the gunas and duties. Even though I am the agent of that (act of classification), still know Me to be a non-agent and changeless,”Verse 18.46: “A human being achieves success by adoring, through his own duties, Him from whom is the origin of creatures, and by whom is all this pervaded”Verse 18.47: “One’s own duty (though) defective, is superior to another’s duty well performed. By performing a duty as dictated by one’s own nature, one does not incur sin”
- Dhyana: Meditation
Dhyana, Meditation is an important aspect of Karma Yoga. It is an internal process (Antaranga Sadhana) to make the mind Ekagra, disciplined and steadfast. Thus, it helps achieve calmness of mind and earns grace, therefore contributing to Antahakarana Shuddhi. However, we should recognize that meditation and the experience it produces is a preparatory means but not the end, which is knowledge of oneness, Moksha.Verses 5.27 & 5.28: “Shutting out the external objects and keeping the eyes closed, keeping the movement of the exhalation and inhalation in the nostrils rhythmic, one who has mastered his (or her) organs of action, senses, mind, and intellect, one for whom Moksha is the ultimate end, who is free from desire, fear and anger – that wise person is always liberated indeed”Verse 6.19: “As a lamp kept in a window place does not flicker, such is the simile thought of for a yogi whose mind is under control, and who is engaged in concentration on the Self.”Verse 6.25: “One should gradually withdraw from the intellect endowed with steadiness. Making the mind fixed in the Self, one should not think of anything whatsoever.”Verse 6.26: “(The yogi) should bring (this mind) under the subjugation of the Self Itself, by restraining it from all those causes whatever due to which the restless, unsteady mind wanders away.”Verse 6.27: “Supreme Bliss come to this yogi alone whose mind has become identified with Brahman, and is taintless.”
- Lord Janaka, Ideal Leader
Gita’s ideals are Lord Krishna or Raja Janaka who have attained enlightenment but still perform the various deeds of the world. They act not because of any expectation of personal gain but because it is the right thing to do. They work for the guidance of other men and to improve the world, because that is how the world progresses.Verse 3.20: “Only by selfless action did Janaka and other wise kings govern, and thus assure the well-being of the whole world”Verse 3.21: “ Whatever a great man does ordinary people will do; whatever standard he sets everyone else will follow” - Drop Sorrow, Focus on Your Duty
Finally, Gita asks us to drop all sorrows and just focus on the action at hand. When you trust Iswara, what is the need for worry, just do your action with a calm mind. The sorrow can be mitigated by this attitude, but only removed by the knowledge of the truth, to which the verses below are pointing.Verse 2.11: “You grieve for those who should not be grieved for. Yet you speak words of wisdom. The wise do not grieve for those who are living or for those who are no longer living”Verse 18.66: “Abandoning all forms of rites and duties, take refuge in Me alone. I shall free you from all sins. (Therefore) do not grieve”
I have felt a gap between the paths of Spirituality and Materialism. However, with a deeper study of Bhagavad Gita, I have come to understand that the two paths are not divergent. It is possible to not only find congruence, but the paths can be aligned. In fact, greater understanding of spiritual values and methods, for which Bhagavad Gita is such a beautiful inspiration, can help in the achievement of the Material objectives, and in a more sustainable and peaceful way. It is not just possible to align your inner values and outer life, but doing so leads to greater happiness, fulfilment and well-rounded success. I will discuss the implications of the lessons of Bhagavad Gita for Business leaders more specifically in my next blog post!
