Mahabharata - the epic tale of war teems with lessons that one can draw for our modern-day work life. Be it working with jealous colleagues or being a manager, Mahabharata has many instances from which parallels can be drawn. From marketing, leadership tips to entrepreneurship, Indian mythology can help solve a modern-day executive's many 'dharamsankats'.
Here is a look at six such parallels that can be drawn from Mahabharata life. These analyses have been done by Devdutt Pattanaik, Chief Belief Officer, Future Group:
Are you being Bhishma at work?
In the popular versions of the Mahabharata, Bhisma is presented as a noble figure. Yet, few ponder on why Krishna insists that during the war, he be pinned to the ground, suspended between heaven and earth, unable to move his limbs.
In the old Vedic ashrama system, a man is supposed to retire (vanaprasth ashram) once his son has a son of his own, and renounce the world entirely (sanyas ashram) when the grandson has a son of his own. This is essentially a 'talent management system' meant to ensure that the old makes way for the new.
Bhisma goes against this system. He takes advantage of his boon of choosing the time of his death, refuses to die, even after his grand-nephews become old enough to be kings. Basically he does not let go and Krishna pins him to the ground, gets him out of the way, so that life can move on. Are you a Bhisma?
We are identified with the work we do. Hence we cannot let go of the work. When we let go of our work, we let go of our identity and that is terrifying. The thing you have to realise is: you may not let it go, but it may let you go.
Business actions are rationalised, not always rational
In the Mahabharata, the Pandavas realise that as long as Bhisma leads the Kaurava forces, victory is not possible. But Bhisma cannot simply be killed, as he has the power to choose the time of his death. But surely, he can be incapacitated and prevented from participating in the battle.
For that, he has to made to lower the bow. He will lower his bow only in front of a woman. But rules prevent women from participating in battle. The desperate Pandavas seek a way out. Shikhandi whose gender is ambiguous is sought. Pandavas see him as a man and let him ride on the chariot and stand in front of Arjuna. Bhisma sees him as a woman and lowers his bow. Bhisma finally falls in battle.
Since the Pandava interpretation ensured their victory, one can say Shikhandi is actually a man. But this a rationalised answer rather than a rational one. Rational explanation exists before the event and is independent of outcome. Rational explanation is right whatever the results; rationalised explanations seek to justify the results. Often in business we take a decision based on how we interpret the situation, unsure of whether it will work or not. When it works, we are taken by surprise. But the world at large demands an explanation.
Consequences of a decision
Decisions do not exist in isolation. They are perceived differently by different people. Each one perceives it from his or her individual point of view. Thus, every decision contributes to the measure of one's own value. And this can be very tricky.
In the Mahabharata, after the city of the Indraprastha is built, Yudhishtira was crowned king in the presence of all the kings of the earth. Following the coronation, the priests asked him to honour his guests. But the first to be honoured had to be the one they respected most.
Yudhishtira and his brothers, the Pandavas, were unanimous in their choice of who should be honored first, Krishna. And so Krishna was made to sit in a special seat and his feet were washed. Unfortunately, the other guests took this as an insult. The kings raised objections, tempers flared, angry words were exchanged and finally violence broke out.
What is fair in a business partnership?
There were once two asura brothers who were inseparable, and therefore, invincible. Threatened by their rising power, Indra, king of devas, sent the apsara, Tilotamma, to seduce, and destroy them. One look at Tilotamma and both brothers wanted to marry her. "I will marry the stronger of the two," she said coyly. And so the two brothers fought, to prove the other was weaker.
This is the story that Narad told the Pandav brothers to draw their attention to the perils of having a common wife. Based on this, the Pandav brothers decided that each one of them would be husband to Draupadi for a year exclusively, in turns.
The brothers thought this was fair. No one of course bothered to consult Draupadi. If it was left to her, who would she favor the most? Would she be fair? In business it is extremely difficult to quantify both effort as well as fruits of labour. Who decides what is fair? Fairness is subjective, not objective.
Responsible managers behave like Ram instead of Pandavas
It is curious that the forest-exile is central to both Ramayana and Mahabharata, the twin epics of India. In the Ramayana, Ram goes into exile so that his father can keep his word to his step-mother, Kaikeyi. In the Mahabharata, the Pandavas go into exile following an agreement with their cousins, the Kauravas, when they lose their kingdom in a gambling match.
The reaction to the exile in both epics is startlingly different. In the Ramayana, Ram keeps saying that neither Kaikeyi nor his father should be blamed. In the Mahabharata, Pandavas keep blaming Kauravas for fraud and trickery.
The loss of kingdom and exile into the forest is a metaphor for misfortune. But the approach to it distinguishes Ram from the Pandavas and makes the former a king worthy of worship. Managers can be classified into Ramayana Managers and Mahabharata Managers. The former take responsibility for a situation, even if they are not to blame. The latter do not take responsibility for a situation, even if they are to blame.
Jealousy and the issue of power
When Pandu learned that his blind brother Dhritarashtra's wife, Gandhari, was pregnant, he wept as he could not make his own two wives pregnant. Then he learned how his first wife Kunti could bear children by calling upon the gods. On his behest, Kunti called three gods and had three sons by them.
Pandu then requested her to share her power with his second wife, Madri, so that even she could also bear children. When this was done, Madri invoked twin gods and had two sons with just a single invocation. "Give the power again," Pandu told Kunti but Kunti refused. What if Madri cleverly invoked another set of twin gods, or maybe triplet gods, and ended up having more sons, then she would give Pandu more children, besides being the more favored wife.
Kunti would not allow that. When news reached Gandhari that while she was pregnant, Pandu had become a father, she got so upset that she beat her belly with an iron bar to force out the child. This is what jealousy does to us, though we all pretend to be noble. At the core of the problem is the issue of power.
Source:-The Economic Times
No comments:
Post a Comment