Shrimad Bhagavad Gita is a marvelous book of guidance. Be you a seeker of spiritual enlightenment or a person facing a moral dilemma or a managing director of a multinational company working for success, the Gita can guide you effectively in achieving your objectives. This article outlines the role of the Gita in Management Science.

Lord Krishna gives many useful suggestions for an executive on how to manage his company successfully. The executive must have the following qualifications:

Jnanam: This means a complete vision of the entire organization, its aims and objectives, its place in the country and also in relation to other nations. There may be many functional divisions in the organization but the Head must see unity in all of them. The relationship between the parts and the whole must be understood very well.

Buddhi: Discrimination and discretion. The chief should be capable of imparting his vision to all his workers at their own level of understanding and field of work. This ability is Buddhi. While translating this vision into reality, there will arise many problems, difficulties and obstacles that may be objective or man-made as well. At such moments what is required is Buddhi – the ability to understand the very cause of such problems and to remove it effectively. Buddhi is required to manage two kinds of people: those who have difficulties and those who are difficult people! In order to do all this the Executive must have a good knowledge of the human mind.

Dhriti: This means patience and fortitude. The ability to consistently hold on to your goal is called dhriti. It is a well-known fact that no goal is achieved easily and quickly. We meet with many obstacles which try our patience. Similar is the case when all workers are not able to see the vision and they act strangely enough as to frustrate even an effective leader. On all such occasions the leader must have extreme patience to win them over and achieve the goal. This ability is called dhriti.

Another important point to be considered is that the success of a project depends on the appointment of right persons for various jobs. There will be diversity in jobs and functions but there should be unity in purpose and total dedication to it. The greater the goal and higher the inspiration, the more spectacular success will be. The way Lord Krishna managed the crisis at the time of war, teaching Arjuna and then leading the Pandavas to victory, is proof of this fact.

Power of Worship and Meditation:

The mind operates at two levels – the conscious and the sub-conscious. The sub-conscious mind is very powerful. By cleaning up the mind and empowering it, we can garner the full energy of the sub-conscious mind. Worship and meditation strengthen the sub-conscious mind.

Worship helps us to meditate; the mind takes the form of the object of meditation. Thus, while meditating on the form, the mind develops and manifests the qualities of the deity. In the 6th chapter of the Gita, Shri Krishna presents elaborate details on the ‘why’, ‘how’ and ‘obstacles’ in the process of meditation. Reflect and meditate when you face obstacles and challenges; reflect and meditate when you are losing your enthusiasm; reflect and meditate when you are unable to lead.

Leadership does not mean that all have to become presidents or CEOs. If you can be an inspiration to any person, you are a leader. If you can help, motivate and guide just one person in his or her life, you are a leader.

Swami Swaroopananda is Global Head of Chinmaya Mission. He will speak on What is Your Net Worth, at Y B Chavan Auditorium, Nariman Point on Saturday November 23, 2019 from 6 pm to 7:30 pm.