In the previous episode, we had witnessed two important aspects of “Raaja Dharma” as explained by Bhishmachaarya to Yudishtra – “Prayathnam” and “Purushaartham”. While “Purushaartham” signifies the end-goal or the long-term goal, “Prayathnam” signifies the effort that we are putting so as to reach the long-term goal. We’ve seen applications of this “Purushaartham-Prayathnam” combo, both in professional and personal spaces. While “Purushaartham” for an organization is to achieve its “Vision” statement, and in due course make profits and sustain, the “Purushaartham” in our personal lives is to strive and attain the highest “Moksha”. In this pursuit towards the long-term goal, we’ve seen that there should definitely be short-term goals that need to be achieved as well. For instance, in an organization, making profits in the short-term is important, because this will take care of the working capital to sustain everyday operations. In our personal life too, getting married, having a family, earning money, etc. are important short-term goals to sustain our everyday life.
However, there is a catch here – This is where many of us go wrong. Of course, as spiritual seekers, if anyone asks about our “Purushaartham”, all of us know to say that it is nothing but attaining the highest “Moksha”. However, do we really put in that “Prayathnam” to get there? Or, are we getting carried away by the short-term goals in our lives? This is where we’ve to introspect within ourselves. Having a family, earning money for a living, etc. are important. However, if our only goal in life becomes earning more and more money, building a luxurious house, enjoying all kinds of other luxuries in this world, it means that we’ve got completely carried away by short-term goals only! If we spend all our time of the day into these activities, and forget to think of Bhagawan even for a moment, it simply means that we’ve lost our track somewhere! While we still might keep saying that our “Purushaartham” is to attain “Moksha”, our “Prayathnam” is somewhere else, isn’t it? This is what we’ve to address immediately. Our “Purushaartham” and “Prayathnam” should align with each other, and only then we’ll be able to succeed in our life mission.
This is very similar in an organization’s context as well. While we say that “Purushaartham” is the long-term goal and to achieve the “Vision” and purpose of the organization, our “Prayathnam” should also be in line with it. For instance, if there is a restaurant and its vision is to provide high-quality food items to its customers – This should be the “Purushaartham”. While short-term goals of making profits in the restaurant are important, this should not become the end-goal. For instance, if the restaurant’s sole aim starts to become money-oriented, obviously the quality of food would be compromised at some point in time, which should ideally be the “Purushaartham” for the restaurant. With this, obviously, quality-conscious customers are going to turn away from the restaurant and go to the competitors! Hence, the whole aim of starting this restaurant goes for a toss, isn’t it? This is why in Management we say that our “Vision” should be aligned with our “Mission” and the operational practices. This is exactly what Bhishmachaarya is also telling here when he talks about how the “Purushaartham” and “Prayathnam” should be aligned with each other.
Moving on further, Bhishmachaarya continues his accord to say thus, “Oh Yudishtra! A king should always be transparent in nature (“Satyam”). In addition, a king should be very approachable to his people, however, he should maintain a safe distance from them at all times!” This is another important couple of points which Bhishmachaarya is explaining here. While we’ve spoken at length about being truthful and transparent with others, Bhishmachaarya is highlighting that even if a leader should be approachable, he should maintain distance. This is where “Detachment” comes into play. It is important for a leader to give time to his / her employee’s / followers, but if he / she starts getting closer to one or a particular group of employees at the workplace, it starts sending out a wrong message to the others working under him / her. In Management terms, we call this as bias / favouritism towards a few and leaving the others in lurch! While the leader should be a neutral entity, he should also have the compassion to listen to everyone’s concerns. This is important to earn respect amongst people. In an organization too, it is not wrong when the leader converses with his employee’s, but he / she should know the limit to which the conversation can go. If the leader maintains this limit correctly, he will be able to balance between all employees equally. This is a very fine balance here – It’s very easy to get carried away, because some employee’s who might be very opportunistic in nature, will try and “butter” the leader and get closer. If the leader falls for this buttering, danger is knocking doors! Hence, the leader has to be extremely cautious not to fall for this buttering from any employee in the organization.
So for today, let us understand these two points, and moving forward, Bhishmachaarya is going to explain thirty-six important qualities of a great leader. We’ve already seen Valmiki Maharishi explaining sixteen important qualities of a leader during the Ramayana episodes, but now, we’re going to see a thirty-six quality-package from Bhishmachaarya! We shall commence this discussion in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 