The important question is “Has the Bhagavad Gita gone through you?”, and not “Have you gone through the Gita?”. This book, which is not a religious text, imparts valuable life lessons not only to an individual, but also to a society. This sacred book of Hinduism, which literally means “The Song of God” contains text that is incorporated into the Mahabharata and takes the form of a philosophical dialogue in which lord Krishna instructs prince Arjuna in ethical matters and the nature of God.
On 23rd April 2023, Bangalore Warrier Samajam organized an expert talk session on ‘Bhagavad Gita – A Management Treatise’ by Mr. Unnikrishnan Thrippayya Wariath, a finance and management professional with more than 45 years of working experience across various industries and countries.
Mr. Wariath took the audience through the 18 chapters of the Gita to create awareness about how the principles of the Gita can give management lessons to organizations and how the natural process of decision-making leads to attainment of success.
In the constantly changing environment around us, the process of decision-making is very important. In an organization, the alignment of decisions of individuals in the workforce towards common goal is what brings success.
He described how each chapter can be taken in a sequential manner as a guide to manage relationships and achieve goals, some important points being:
Different people have different approaches for resolving a common problem and confusion arises in the process. This situation leads to analysis and decision making.
Planning should lead to strategy and action.
One should learn from the actions or outcomes and institutionalize the processes to make the actions a reflex.
Detachment from the fruits or results of actions performed in the course of one's duty is advised. Being dedicated to work must mean “working for the sake of work, generating excellence for its own sake”. This state of mind is called “nishkama karma”.
Feedback must be taken and corrections must be made in order to achieve good results.
Make knowledge a habit, a science.
One should focus on the the vision and goals without deviating from the path.
Leaders must be impartial, delegate work and supervise all aspects of work.
Leaders must not work for personal gains, they must work for the greater good of the society. They must have the big picture in mind.
Act according to dharma, then not only the outcome, but also the journey will bring one happiness.
The meaningfulness of a few verses were reviewed during this time, one of them being:
“Karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana,
ma karmaphalaheturbhurma te sangostvakarmani”
(You have the right to work only but never to its fruits,
let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.)
The session ended with a question and answer session, and closed with a thank you note.
The speaker received positive enthusiastic feedback from the audience with a request for more interactive sessions on this topic.
Mr. Unnikrishnan Wariath can be contacted for leadership and management consultation; please contact the executive committee to get the contact details.
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