Quality

1. Management lessons from
Indian scriptures
Dr. Rajendrasing Pardeshi
Ph.D. ,MBA ,UGC –NET
9762573384

2. Introduction
• Indian heritage goes back thousands of years.
Although it is difficult to arrive at a firm figure it is
a fair estimate to say that our scriptures go back
to between 3000 and 5000 BC or thereabouts. A
study of our ancient Indian scripture that includes
the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana
and Mahabharata besides Manusmriti and
Arthashashtra reveals a veritable treasure trove.
This treasure includes the finest guidelines into
the way man is expected to behave towards his
family, his society and his colleagues.

3. • In today’s modern times the world moves guided by
modern managerial precepts at every step. Irrespective
of whether the subject concerns finances and banking
or the corporate sector, the production industry or the
military and agriculture or the vast engineering field or
the health services, management is what guides them
all. In recent times we have seen how poor managerial
practices have brought about chaos all over the world.
This essay is an attempt to delve into our rich heritage
and try to find out likely solutions in the Vedic and
other scriptures to problems that confront modern
man in the discharge of his or her managerial
functions.

4. Grooming the Manager
• A few lines from the Atharva Veda are pertinent.
• “O King! Take care of the welfare and growth of
all your people Then you will grow as the sun
grows And shines at dawn and after its rise”
• Here, the Chief Executive is compared with the
sun. He should have no fear. He should be
persistent in his efforts towards his assigned goal
which is basically dedicated to the growth of all
those that have been placed in his care.

5. Yajur Veda
• In another example the Yajur Veda exhorts
one to “continue to put in one’s best efforts
for 100 years or whole lifetime with
detachment from its results”.

6. Bhagvad Gita
• Lord Krishna in Bhagvad Gita also enlightens
us on managerial techniques to be followed in
order to succeed in not only leading a good
life but also in overcoming all conflicts and
tensions and above all in achieving the task
one has set out to achieve.

7. Attaining Self Growth
• Peter Drucker, the modern day management guru, way back in 1974
stated that anyone in the chain has to ask himself who he was,
what his strengths were and where he belonged as well as how he
needed to work and what his contribution was to be. This basically
concerns the task of managing oneself and goes back to the
Bhagwad Gita where Lord Krishna says:
• “The senses are said to be superior to the body,
• The mind is superior to the senses and
• Intellect is superior to the mind and
• That which is superior to the intellect is He (Atman)”.
• In order to understand one-self a manager will have to cultivate his
thoughts. He will need to seek knowledge so that he is able to make
decisions that are well informed.

9. 1. Each Soul is a potential God
• A human being has a soul, a spark of the Divine. The divine resides
in the heart of a person. The Divine means perfection in knowledge,
wisdom and power.
• Therefore a human being has immense potential power or energy
for self — development. Thus human efforts can achieve even an
apparently impossible goal and convert the impossible into a reality.
• The partnership of God and Man can bring about extraordinary or
miraculous results; only if man chooses willingly to collaborate with
God and actively participates in the affairs of the society by right
action under his guidance and grace.
• He can bring about not only personal development, harmony,
happiness but also prosperity of his own organization and the
society without injustice to others.

10. 2. Holistic Approach
• Holistic approach in Management is based on spiritual
principle of unity, oneness, non-dual or Advaita concept.
Under this principle of unity, the universe in an undivided
whole where each and every particle is connected with
every other particle. Thus, entire Humanity is ONE.
• Such an integrated human personality of self-developed
manager and worker can assure best and competent
management of any enterprise, involving collective works
and efforts. It will achieve perfection or excellence in
whatever sector you work. This is the ideal of Indian ethos
: ‘Atmano Mokshartham Jagat Hitya Cha.’ (For gaining
perfection in individual life, as well as for the welfare of the
world.). This is the message for all managers and workers
given by the Indian ethos for management.

11. 3. Equal Importance to Subjectivity /
Objectivity
• Indian ethos for management distinguishes between
subject and object. Subject is subtle and intangible. Object
is concrete and tangible or visible.
• We have the concept of the third eye, the eye of wisdom. It
can see even that which the normal two eyes cannot. It can
see the intangible i.e. invisible.
• Human and ethical values or qualities such as courage,
vision, social awareness, fearlessness, integrity, pure and
clear mind, truth, etc. are subjective, subtle and intangible
concepts. These subjective or subtle qualities are as
important as money, materials, machines, information or
data as well as human skills. Inner resources of human
beings are more powerful than external resources.

12. Continued….
• Creator is subjective. Creation is objective. Insight
i.e., creator is more important than Outsight
i.e., creation. Our body, senses, intellect, mind,etc., are
objective, seen, tangible. But our soul atman is unseen,
intangible, subtlest and subjective. Hence, wisdom
manager/ worker is much more important and valuable
than knowledge manager/ worker.
• Therefore, manager must develop his third eye, ‘Jnana
Chakhu’ , the eye of Vision intution, insight, foresight
and such other divine qualities or values. This is the
essence of Indian ethos for management.

13. 4. Karma Yoga
• It is yoga of selfless service to others.
• Karma Yoga is all about identifying your priorities
and trying to achieve them.
• Also, a person should have accountability i.e. he
should always hold only himself responsible for
whatever goes right or wrong.
• This brings about the union of human being with
the Divine.

14. Continued….
• Gita says that do your duty without ego and without
calculations of gain or loss. One should believe in Nishkama
Karma i.e. fruits of work should not be thought of while
performing the duty.
• The memorable words of Gita are “To work only you have
the right and you have no right to the fruits of work”.
However, this does not mean that one should work day and
night and the returns that he gets should be almost
negligible. What the Gita tries to say is that let not the
fruits of action motivate you as they might just divert your
attention from work. When you are doing a job, put your
heart and soul in to it. One has no control over the future
hence never waste your present in useless dreams of future
hopes and fears of present actions.

15. Why Do I Work?
• 1) For my own salvation and personal growth.
• 2) For the good of the world.
• The inner joy of doing something gives the doer a sense of achievement and also
helps him in respecting himself more than he used to. Money is important but
running behind money all the time leads to tension, stress and total loss of peace.
Self-motivation can assure self-development. When work is performed without
passion, hatred, arrogance and desire we have individual development and social
good.
• Indians always had two great truths of successful, harmonious and happy life:
• Divinity of life can be used through self-development for personal growth and also
for social welfare.
• I cannot cheat you and nature without cheating myself. Working for harmony and
peace results in a sense of fulfillment.
• It is becoming clear that a chapter, which had a Western beginning in business
management, will have to have an Indian ending. Karma Yoga is not just meant for
the common man but also for leaders and managers who if act responsibly will in
turn influence the behavior of a number of people.

16. Karma Yoga thus is a good pathway
for:
• Self-purification and Self-development.
• Individual growth and welfare.
• Collective growth and welfare.
• Minimum play of passion, jealousy, hatred.
• Team spirit and Teamwork.
• Autonomous management, minimum control and supervision.
• Manager acts as a Mentor.
• Self-motivation.
• Perfection.
• All round happiness and prosperity.
• Skills and values united.
• Conflicts resolved by integration.

17. 5. Yogah Karmasu Kaushalam
• Yoga means excellence at work. Seek to perform your assigned duty or
work in an excellent manner. Kaushalam denotes doing work with
devotion and without attachment i.e. without being a work-a-holic.
• Such detatched attitude enhances its values and improves the
concentration and skill of the worker. You work with smartness,
determination and ability.
• Your head, heart and soul co-operate with your hands. You do not hanker
over the fruits of action. You have no anticipation of reward, or personal
gain. You become a tool of God to perform the work.
• Any work carried out with full concentration, dedication and with all
abilities that a person has, becomes valuable and the person also becomes
valuable to others as well as to society.
• In total quality management(TQM) Karma Yoga and Yogah Karmasu
Kaushalam provide valuable contributions. Under this slogan we have one
hundred percent concentration coming from within. The extrinsic
incentives e.g., money, other perks, etc. play a very minor role as
motivators.

18. 6. Co-Operation
• Healthy competition is a powerful motivator for excellence and success,
especially business success. The idea of cut-throat competition is founded
on the concept of ‘struggle for existence’ and survival of the fittest.
• Indian ethos says that for human beings the royal road is co-operation as a
powerful motive for team work. We are human beings having mind and
power of discrimination.
• The Gita says : “ By co — operation and mutual help all shall achieve the
highest human welfare.” Unity is strength.
• Even in the holistic approach, we stress the co-operation integration,
synthesis and team — spirit for extraordinary performance, for enduring
harmony and peace, because in our hearts chamber is living the pure
conciousness of the Divine, i.e., Purnatman. Peaceful co-excistence,
harmony, not struggle is the rule. Indian insight endorses this in the
management of any enterprise.