A review of The Bhagwad Gita

THE BHAGAVAD-GITA -AS IT ISREVIEWED BY AYAN BANDYOPADHYAY1221305

The book has been published by the ISKCON or the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

The literal meaning is “Song of God” in Sanskrit. Written around 500-250 BC, this is one of the most

widely translated epics of the world. Corresponds to the dialogues between Prince Arjuna

and Lord Krishna at the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Have been a rich source of managerial knowledge at

all times. Has been referenced and quoted by many managers

and management gurus to emphasis the importance of management in our lives.

About the Author Swami Prabhupada was the

founder of the organisation and initiated its inception.

ISKCON or International Society for Krishna Consciousness is an organisation for spreading the teachings and principles of Krsna among people.

Has a huge number of devotees from all over the world, from all religions.

Registered in New York on 11 June 1966, ISKCON started functioning.

Today, it holds many schools, colleges, villages, health centres, temples, ashrams and cultural centres all over the world.

Contents of the Book:-The book consists of the

following 18 chapters:- Observing the enemies on the

battle field. Contents of the Gita

Summarized Karma-Yoga Transcendental Knowledge Action in Krsna Consciousness Sankhya Yoga Knowledge of the Absolute Attaining the Supreme The most Confidential

Knowledge

Contents of the Book:-

The Opulence of the Absolute The Universal Form Devotional Service Nature, the Enjoyer and The

Consciousness The Three Modes of Material

Nature The Yoga of the Supreme

Person The Devine and the

Demoniac Nature The Division of Faith Conclusion

The Main Context:- The broad purpose of this

review is to explore the managerial effectiveness from the perspectives of the Bhagavad-Gita, which presents one of the Indian (Vedic) views on managerial effectiveness.

The scope, content and context of managerial effectiveness is wide, however in this book the author explores three basic principles on improving managerial effectiveness from the selected verses from the Bhagavad-Gita.

The Bhagavad-Gita and Management

The Bhagavad-Gita was delivered by Sri Krishna to boost Arjuna’s declining morale, motivation, confidence to his (Arjuna) intra-personal conflict, which was to fight or not to fight the war at Kurukshestra

Sri Krishna gave not only spiritual enlightenment to Arjuna ( and to all of us) but also the art of self management, conflict management, stress &, Anger management, transformational leadership, motivation, goal setting and many others aspects of management which can be used as a guide to increase our managerial effectiveness.

Some Management Tips of The Bhagwad Gita:-

Self Management:- The Bhagavad-Gita stresses the

importance of self management or personal anagement first before personnel management (HRM). Self management includes all aspects of management of oneself such as managing life, time, stress, anger, fear and self-control.

Sri Krishna described that from anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence will be lost and when intelligence is lost one falls down.

Some Management Tips of The Bhagwad Gita:-

The Chariot Model:- In the chariot of the

body, the horses represent the senses (tongue, eyes, ears, nose and skin). The reins, the driving instrument, symbolize the mind, the driver is the intelligence, and the passenger is the self.

Managers should use their intelligence to control the mind, they should not let the mind to be controlled.

Some Management Tips of The Bhagavad-Gita:-

Mind Management:- Sri Krishna desired that Arjuna and

the readers of Bhagavad-Gita could cast off weakness of heart in performing duties.

Managers who are mentally weak cannot attain the organizational vision and mission.

The mind of the manager must be firm in driving the organizational resources (human resources) towards vision and mission.

Work Commitment:- Duty is given great importance in

the Bhagavad-Gita. Duty in the organizational context

goes beyond contractual agreement in the employment relationship.

Sri Krishna further stressed that duty needs to be done without attachment and for those who do their duty without attachment will attain the supreme goal.

The Bhagavad-Gita and Management

Management Learning from the Gita also includes:-

LEADERSHIP MOTIVATION DEVELOPING HUMAN

RESOURCES MANAGERIAL SKILLS WAY of KNOWLEDGE MEDITATION VISION & PLANNING UNITY in COMMAND

Limitations of the Bhagavad-Gita as a Management Literature:-

The Bhagavad-Gita is perceived as a spiritual and philosophical text, as such it is not directly related to managerial effectiveness.

The Bhagavad-Gita is also perceived only as an Hindu scripture, and hence there has been the less acceptance of Bhagavad-Gita.

However, there is no doubt that the principles propounded in the Bhagavad-Gita are have universal application and useful for managers to mould their character and strengthen their self to develop their managerial effectiveness.

Criticism and Conclusion

Modern managers, can benefit from the philosophy of Bhagavad-Gita, which serves as a guide in developing managerial effectiveness. Mere imitation of western approaches may not be appropriate in the Indian (Asian) context due to differences in the cultural environment.

The philosophy of Bhagavad-Gita has remained and will remain as a guide for developing managerial effectiveness, not only in this 21st century but also for many centuries more to come.

Thank You