My Learnings from Bhagwat Gita

Sambit Rath
1411262

My Learnings from Bhagwat Gita

Through this course, I have been exposed many learnings from Bhagwat Gita, and I believe they can
help me to become a very good manager in future. My learnings from the whole course are as
follows.

Work Commitment
In Gita, Krishna goes on to say One who neither hates nor desires the fruits of his activities is
known to be always renounced. Such a person, liberated from all dualities, easily overcomes
material bondage and is completely liberated(Chapter 5, verse 3)1. Bhagwat Gita doesnt advice to
renounce actions, but it advocates for renouncement for the results associated with the action. It
introduces the terms Sanyas and Tyaga, which mean abandonment of the action prompted by
desire and abandonment of the fruit of action respectively.
Thus, performance management is best managed by doing work only, hence I as a manager would
concentrate on my work without caring for the results, keeping all my ego, my thoughts aside and
without caring about future gains or losses. I will try to attain the state of nishkama karma".

Self- Transcending & Self-Motivation

It is believed that monetary compensations and other incentives satisfy workers and makes them
more efficient. But, in reality this is not so. Mostly, it depends on mental health. And mental
dissatisfaction leads to unwanted results.
In Bhagwat Gita, Lord Krishna says, "He who shares the wealth generated only after serving the people,
through work done as a sacrifice for them, is freed from all sins. On the contrary those who earn wealth only
for themselves, eat sins that lead to frustration and failure."2

I, as a manager, would follow this theory. I would share my success with others, work with
equanimity, with detached involvement i.e. in the state of nirdwanda. I would believe in the
supremacy of organizational goals rather than thinking about personal goals, which would serve
both me & my organisation better.

Work Culture
In Bhagwat Gita Krishna mentions about Daivi Sampat and Asuri Sampat 3 i.e. divine culture and
demonic work culture. Divine work culture encompasses purity of thoughts, detachment from
results, absence of greed, sacrifice, modesty etc. while demonic work culture consists of egoism,
desires, delusion etc. which lead to unwanted results and disturbs health of organisation. We all
know that work ethic is not substantial enough. Terrorists also have a good work ethic. We need
work ethic conditioned by ethics.
Hence, we as managers must understand what "yogah karmasu kausalam" is. Yogah refers to a
balanced mind, kausalam refers to skills, and karmah refers to the job. Hence, acting with an equitable
1

http://vedabase.net/bg/5/en3
http://hindi.speakingtree.in/spiritual-blogs/seekers/mysticism/who-shares-the-wealth/comment
3
http://archive.org/stream/BhagavadGitaSummary/BG_16_djvu.txt
2

mind is Yoga. This equanimity is achieved when thought of results are detached from the process we
undertake is ethical enough. This brings us mental satisfaction as well.

Meditation and Yoga as Tool for managing oneself

We were introduced to mediation and yoga for two sessions and lectured on how yoga can bring
changes to our mental and physical health. Krishna says that Yoga is selfless, cleansing,
Freeing, balancing, inspiring, and joyfully performed: a vision in which one experiences
peaceful interconnectedness with all life around them.4 As a part of experiment I practiced yoga for a
week and was able to some good results. It brought steadiness into my mind and I was able to sleep
properly at night owing to lowered blood pressure.

Three Gunas
Through this course I was introduced to the three Gunas i.e. Sattwa meaning illuminating and
sustaining, Rajas meaning creating and moving and Tamas regulating and dissolving. Sattwa means
spiritual capacity which elevates oneself and brings joy, Rajas means action and it brings happiness in the
short run, whereas Tamas means non action and lethargic capacity which brings in negative tendencies,
miseries and destroys people.
People belonging to Rajasic yoga sect, do not know how or when to slow down. Overwork burns them out
and they do not enjoy work in the long run. Hence. all of us must strive towards attaining Sattwa i.e. Spritual
ascension. This would bring enlightenment and help detaching our mind from the result oriented thoughts.

Some Values from Gita

I was introduced into many values like Amanitvam, Anahamakara & Arjavam from this course which I
think will be beneficial in future. Amanaitvam is the opposite of Manitva which means the adoring
oneself or considering oneself worthy of respect. Persons having this attitude always think that they are
wiser than others. This self-conceit is based on many factors can be very harmful in the long run. The
person becomes judgemental and touchy and very sarcastic as well. He becomes occupied with himself
and is prone to sycophants around him. Such a person can never be a good leader as he can never
realize his own mistakes. Hence, one should leave his ego behind. Also, person must not be proud i.e.
he should have Anahamkara value.
A person must be straight forward and not complex. He should lead a simple life. 'Arjavam' means
'speaking what one really thinks, and doing what one speaks'. Arjavam implies honesty, and is the bare
minimum necessity in corporate life. It is very useful to build social contacts. Nobody likes a person who talks
behind the back. It is the value which makes people keep their promises and deliver. Hence, I would like to
inculcate strong values like this in me.
Also, a person must be non-violent in nature i.e. Ahimsa , but again this value must not come in the way of
doing ones duty, ones yoga which is most important according to Lord Krishna. One should always do his
duty and not hurt anybodys Atman in the process. should develop equanimity towards pleasure and pain,
loss and gain, victory and defeat.

1 http://www.yoga4.net/

Conclusion
One should surrender himself to God and be free from the expectations and conflicting thoughts.
He should be free from ego, and surrender himself to God for guidance, and then must engage in
his battle. I believe all these teachings would be very beneficial in my life.