LEARNINGS FROM BHAGAWAD GITA

 Importance of values in life

 Values are attached with belief and that shape our attitude which further shape
our behaviour. If the attitude develops due to wrong belief, then it can be
corrected through citing authentic information from credible sources. If the
attitude is due to value then it’s very complex problem to correct.

 Values one can carry be of two types.

 Terminal Values : It defines what ones look to achieve.
 Instrumental Values: It defines how one want to achieve the terminal value
among multiple routes to achieve its goal.
 Since last 40 years, across the business industry terminal values are
the focus.
 Strong Value: These are not negotiable and can’t have trade-off
 Weak Value: For Weak values tradeoffs take often.
 To deal with negative weak value monitoring is the solution.
 Values are to be defined clearly. Do’s and don’t of values (Code of
ethics)
 Sensitize : Sensitize all stakeholders like employee, family and vendors.
 How often to sensitize : Very frequent like ritual. Since people get
randomly sensitized.
 Who should sensitize : Credible people, role model or ethic
coordinators which are peers should sensitize. In Tata Group, Ethics
coordinator report violation to ethics councillor who report to Tata sons.
 Pygmalion effect: Higher expectations lead to an increase in
performance
 Krishna: One who removes your dilemma and tells what is right and
wrong. As a guide is show the path to us and then we execute upon the
pat.
 It mentions 26 instrumental values only and no terminal only.
However, modern management deviates towards terminal values.
 Fearlessness: Fear will dilute our self efficacy and deprive us to achieve our goals. Also in
fear we can’t enjoy even what we love to do. Its important to remove the cause of fear. Take
help from teaching of guru or krisha.
 Purity: In any context one should follow the rules in letter and spirit. Follow the rule of the
relationship.
 Self knowledge : Knowledge of ourselves is very important. One must give time to oneself
for self introspection.
 Charity: It is important to know the beneficiary of charity. It is of three type

 Out of ignorance : It has negative effect like giving money to beggars at crossroads.
 Out of passion: It is a trade off and to show off to get fame. Its a camouflage.
 Out of goodness : To right person, right time and right cause. It will create immense
happiness in us.

 Self Control : To achieve this develop higher level interest in yourself. Like spiritual, music
etc.
 Sacrifice: One should sacrifice himself to do important things which are painful or not
enjoyable. In organisation rules must to make it mandatory like setting it in KPA target.
 Study of Vedas: Introspection of our role/swadhaya.
 Austerity (Tapah) : Austerity is of three levels, mind, body and tongue. In the absence of
austerity, one will develop lust and it will be not possible to maintain other divine values.
Now days, many businesses groups, has lose sight of austerity and ran into trouble. Ex.
Kingfisher Airline.
 Simplicity: It is straight forward way to live and express oneself.
 Ahimsa: It is not creating hurdle in the growth or create barriers for any entity.
 Satyam: One should be truthful and should not distort facts for our own personal gains.
It creates fear in the person and he cannot enjoy. There is dilemma in life often and we
experience kurushetra in our mind. The answer to this dilemma is through
Krishna(Guru) i.e bhaktiyog or Sankhyayog i.e analytical means. But first one should be
clear of his purpose and in this context he has to take decision.
 Akrodh: Due to anger our body and soul get polluted and it pollute our choices. The
main reason for our anger is non fulfilment of unrealistic high expectations from others.
To be happy, one should have only reasonable expectations from others.
 Renunciation : In the journey of our purpose we have to give up our dear things. It is
close to sacrifice.
 Shanti : One can get inner piece of soul with righteousness and following instrumental
values.
 Aversion to fault finding: One should abstain from fault finding, because in this
pursuit, he surrounds himself with negativity.
 Pride: It comes to us when we think us in terms of our positions, rank etc in society. But
if we think in terms of role , humility and obligations prevails.
 Environment plays an important role on our thinking and mind. Even
without its knowledge it effects. In court, politics and manipulation
prevails while in dharamshetra righteousness prevails.
 In Society Divisions are made according to nature(karma) and not
birth.
 According to nature, choose your profession. If not followed,
disastrous results like Asharam Bapu case.
 Brahmin : Goodness driven
 Shatriya : High passion – immediate settlement or tradeoff.
 Vaishya : Low passion – low ignorance.
 Shudra : High Ignorance.
 One can change his nature. Before going to other profession one must
change one’s nature.
 Worship : It is in three mode i.e In goodness, in passion and in ignorance. Men in
the mode of goodness worship the demigods; those in the mode of passion worship
the demons; and those in the mode of ignorance worship ghosts and spirits.
 Verses 17.5 : Sacrifice :
 In mode of goodness : the sacrifices performed according to the directions of
scripture, as a matter of duty, by those who desire no reward, is of the nature of
goodness
 In mode of passion – Showoff. sacrifice performed for some material benefit, or
for the sake of pride, which are performed for elevation to the heavenly kingdom or
for some material benefits in this world are considered to be in the mode of passion
 In mode of ignorance – When we torture ourselves in mind. sacrifice performed
without regard for the directions of scripture, without distribution of prasadam,
without chanting of Vedic hymns and remunerations to the priests, and without
faith is considered to be in the mode of ignorance.
 Verses 17 (8,9,10) Food : It is of three type, i.e Goodness, passion, ignorance.
Foods dear to those in the mode of goodness increase the duration of life, purify
one’s existence and give strength, health, happiness and satisfaction. Such foods are
juicy, fatty, wholesome and pleasing to the heart.
 Austerity : It is of three type, i.e austerity of Goodness, passion, &
ignorance. austerity of the body consists in worship of the Supreme
Lord, the brahmanas, the spiritual master, and superiors like the father
and mother, and in cleanliness, simplicity, celibacy and nonviolence.
Austerity of speech consists in speaking words that are truthful,
pleasing, beneficial and not agitating to others, and also in regularly
reciting Vedic literature. This threefold austerity, performed with
transcendental faith by men not expecting material benefits but
engaged only for the sake of the Supreme, is called austerity in
goodness. Penance performed out of pride and for the sake of gaining
respect, honor and worship is said to be in the mode of passion. It is
neither stable nor permanent. Penance performed out of foolishness,
with self-torture or to destroy or injure others, is said to be in the mode
of ignorance.
 Knowledge
 In mode of Goodness : When we are able to see the connectedness . Its cooperative nature.
 In mode of Passion: Competitive nature
 In mode of Ignorance : Darkness
 Duty : One who performs his duty without association with the modes of material nature,
without false ego, with great determination and enthusiasm, and without wavering in
success or failure is said to be a worker in the mode of goodness. The worker who is attached
to work and the fruits of work, desiring to enjoy those fruits, and who is greedy, always
envious, impure, and moved by joy and sorrow, is said to be in the mode of passion. The
worker who is always engaged in work against the injunctions of the scripture, who is
materialistic, obstinate, cheating and expert in insulting others, and who is lazy, always
morose and procrastinating is said to be a worker in the mode of ignorance.
Understanding.
 Understanding which discriminates by intelligence is situated in the mode of goodness.
That understanding which cannot distinguish between religion and irreligion, between
action that should be done and action that should not be done, is in the mode of passion.
That understanding which considers irreligion to be religion and religion to be irreligion,
under the spell of illusion and darkness, and strives always in the wrong direction, is in the
mode of ignorance.
 Verses 1(21,22) One has to come out from his comfort and not see the things
from his perspective only. He must see the things from larger perspective and
be able to see within self. Positive and negative sides of both sides must be
evaluated rationally and then only uniformed decision can be taken.
 Verses 1(26) One is influenced by personality bias and only able to see and
care for his close relatives. He refuses to see other actors who are also going
to be affected by the decision. One must be able to see in totality with all
relevant actors and then only uniformed decision can be taken.
 Verses 1(39,43)
 With the destruction of the dynasty the eternal family tradition is
vanquished, and thus the rest of the family becomes involved in irreligion. In
management context, people closing to retire, must share their good rich
experiences within the organization to maintain and keep the good culture
of the organization. Whenever there is a decline or growth of the
organization, even the people associated with the organization in the past
are put to blame or fame. It has implication on their images also.
 Verses 2(1,2) If the choice is made upon emotions, a person is branded as
impotent and is disgraced. He is assumed as drifting. However, a manager is
considered flexible if he changes his decision based upon logics. People respect
him.
 Verses 2(5) One should keep investing in oneself to develop and acquire new skill
and knowledge. Otherwise, one may become irrelevant with time.
 Verses 2(7) After giving sufficient argument now Arjuna surrendered to Krishna
completely. Once we surrender to God/Guru then his feeling changed and he has no
choice but to guide us. It becomes the Krishna’s/mentor’s duty to guide now. It’s like
we guide our children. We appear harsh but when surrenders completely our whole
body language and felling changed to guide him in life.
 Mentor has the following characteristics
 Spiritual orientation
 See connectedness between every entity and able to see in totality.
 Compassionate
 Concern for Krishna or 26 divine values
 Time for Krishna/Me
 Should be wise and have wisdom.
 Verses 2(12) Body is matter and cannot be destroyed nor created. Similarly the soul is the source
of energy and can only change form. It is also proven scientific fact.
 Verses 2(15) Until, purpose is defined, small success/failure influence us significantly. We ought to
waste time in repenting or enjoying success/happiness. Being a small event in the journey of our
purpose, rather, we should continue to aspire for the next milestone in the fulfilment of the purpose.
Those with purpose and who have come out of their selves and can see things in totality are librated.
 Verses 2(26) There is no need to worry at all if one believes the existence of soul or not. There are so
many living entities generating out of matter every moment, and so many of them vanquished every
moment.
 Verses 2(31,32) One should be happy if he gets the role as per his nature.
 Verses 2(33-34) whatever may be the good done by any respectable person in his life will lost even
with one bad thing. People will remember him for the single bad thing only. Hence, utmost care
should be taken to avoid any such mistake.
 Super soul keep a watch and caution us for not to do bad things every time. One must listen to
them.
 Verses 2(44) The prerequisite to surrender to god is the complete libration from material opulence.
 Verses 2(47) The outcome of any effort is dependent upon many variable which are not in our
control. Hence one should perform his duty which only he can control and leave the rest to god. No
efforts can go waste, as the seed sowed in the soil will germinate sooner or later.
 Verses 2(50,51) Once one surrender to mentor, he will get rid of both good and bad reactions. The
mentor will take care of that.
 Verses 2(58) One who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, and let the mind to process
it, it will be perfect consciousness.
 Verses 2(61,62,63) One who restrains his senses and keep them in full control and fix his
consciousness upon the 26 divine instrumental values is the man of steady intelligence.
 Verses 3(4,5) Not by merely abstaining from work can one achieve freedom from
reaction, nor by renunciation alone can one attain perfection.
 Verses 2(1,2) Once should always payback to society or affected beings as he has
derived his all benefits from them. Otherwise he will be called a thief and will be
disgraced.
 Verses 3(21,22) As such no work has been prescribed for the lord but he keeps
performing his duties because others look great beings as their role model. This
creates a culture.
 Verses 3(24) Lord says that unwanted persons are those who do not perform their
duties as per their nature. They create wrong role model and hence required to be
decimated.
 Verses 3(35) When we do other’s duty, our own work suffers, and we setup wrong
examples. Others will not learn anything and grow which will ultimately hamper
the growth of the organisation.
Verses 4(7) Bad situation is an opportunity to emerge as a leader.
 Verses 2(34) Self realized soul can impart knowledge upon us because they have
seen the truth.
 Verses 5(2) Duty is must and work in devotion is better than the renunciation of work. In devotional
the Krisna/mentor takes care of all the things and guide us. However, in case of analytical method we
have to understand ourselves and purpose, then analyse the options to reach to a informed choice.
 It is good to be selfish, but one should know what is food for self, that will also be good to society. But
this doesn’t happen easily. Hence, the devotional route is better because of understanding. The
moment there is no kurushetra in our mind, one is librated and there is no dilemma or worry.
 Verses 5(3) Once the duty is decided, once should not be worried about outcome. Outcome can only
be influenced but the actual is controlled by different variable. One has to be committed to his duty.
 Verses 5(5,7) Postions reached by means of analytical study can be also be attained by devotional
service. One who works in devotional, which is pure soul and who controls his mind and senses is dear
to everyone and everyone is dear to him. This is the true test.
 Remaining ignorant is foolish while remaining innocent is respected.
 Verses 5(25) Those who are beyond the dualities and arise from doubts, whose minds are engaged
within, who are working for the welfare of living beings are free from all sins and achieve liberation in
supreme.
 Verses 6(1,2) Do your duty without expecting the result.
 Verses 6(5) One has no control over senses but it can be controlled through mind only.
 Verses 7(8) God is the essence of every thing.
 One should not confine himself in narrow view. CEO should be followed not the department head. To
become CEO, One should look things with the perspective of CEO because role model is very
necessary and one will reach there.
 Bhagavad Gita and Sufferings cannot exist together.
 Verses (5,6,)
 At the end of life, whoever quits body remembering me alone at once attains my nature without doubt. To
remember god even during the pain of death is something which require hard practice. Keeping used to this
practise and following the teaching of the Guru/Krishna will only enable one to remember god in deathbed.
 Verses (10,12)
 One who at the time of death, fixes his life air between the eyebrows and by the strength of yoga, with the
undeviating mind can engage in remembering the supreme lord.. What image goes into our mid on day to day basis
or what role model we follow or aspire to achieve will come to us. Deviating mind will have multiple focus and will
dilute our purpose.
 Chapter 9
 One must choose his role model very carefully. One becomes what images he see or he chose to follow. The nature
conspires to to help him achieve his aspirations.
 Verses (27) whatever one does, it should be aimed to achieve Krishna or purpose of his life by following the
instrumental values.
 Verses (4-5) One can be master or considered God in any domain but one has to create knowledge, intelligence,
and other various qualities in the people who follow him in that domain. Only then he can be respected by the
followers.
 Verses (20-21) God is the best in everything that exists. Similarly, if one wants to be considered God of any domain
he must be best in that domain. This requires extraordinary efforts, knowledge and understanding.
Verses (8) Human have limited sensing capabilities. He believes on only what he sees and feel and proved by
experiments. He is not willing to accept that there is huge world outside the reach of his senses. One must extend
beyond his senses to feel the outside world and to see the true picture. In this way one can develop super senses.
 In the management context, this is like hearing the unheard. As CEO it is necessary to analyze the numbers
logically but equally important is to sense the feeling and thinking of the people in the organisation to get a
complete picture of the situation. He must leave his chamber and mingle with the people on regular basis to share
their heart and mind.