In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya continuing with the discussion on the thirty-six important qualities of a leader. We are witnessing two or three of these thirty-six every episode, and in yesterday’s, we’ve seen how a leader should be smart, well-learned, etc. however, he / she should not use this in the wrong way, that is, to take others for a ride and cheat them. In other words, it is important for a leader to be intelligent, but should not be a pervert. Secondly, we’ve seen that a leader should be capable of building and maintaining good relationships with people around, but at the same time, these relationships should only be with those who follow the path of “Dharma”. On the other hand, if the leader has amicable relationships with those who are “Adharmic” in nature, the reputation of the leader goes for a toss. Hence, this fine balance is very important.
Moving on further, Bhishmachaarya explains further – “Oh Yudishtra! You should ensure that all your relatives are kept happy by you. However, if any relative of yours is walking the path of “Adharma”, it is better to keep a safe distance from him / her. While maintaining a safe distance, even if that person wants to pick up a fight against you, do not react. Try to avoid that fight, because you will be wasting your precious time in it!” We see this in today’s context as well – Not all our relatives might be well-wishers, isn’t it? Upon seeing our success, some of them might be genuinely happy for us and will wish us more success. However, a vast majority of them might not be this way – Instead, they might be cribbing about our success and might feel jealous that their son or daughter is not up to the mark to challenge us. If we see such relatives, it is always better to maintain a safe distance from them. Of course, I’m saying that we should completely avoid people. We should know what to talk with them and when. Also, we should know how to ensure that we do not go into their bad looks. This is important.
Moreover, some of our relatives might come and ask for some “favours” from us, when they see us being in successful positions. For instance, we might be in a big position in any organisation, and some of our relatives might come to us seeking help to obtain jobs in our organization. Of course we should help our relatives, but with the condition whether they are really eligible / deserving for the job or not. Just because they are our relatives, we shouldn’t be crossing the line. Moving on further, Bhishmachaarya explains – “Oh Yudishtra! It is part of the “Raaja Dharma” to have a spy. However, that person who acts as your spy should always be walking the path of “Dharma” at all times. If you have a spy who is “Adharmic” in nature, you might never know when he would become the spy of your enemies! Hence, you should be very careful about whom you pick to be your trusted spy!”
In today’s context too, governments across the world have a separate department called “Intelligence Bureau”. People who work here should be extremely trustable and dependable. Anybody and everybody cannot be here, because it involves secret and confidential information sharing about enemies, their movements, strategies, etc. to attack us. In our Indian context, Intelligence is an integral part of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Defence and also the Police forces in the states. The inputs that the Intelligence agencies give are extremely important to track any kind of enemies in the form of terrorists, drug cartels, illegal smuggling of any banned substances, etc. However, we see in a few instances today that a few of the intelligence officers are corrupt, taking money from the cartel and allowing smuggling to happen. Of course, this is just less than 1%, but this too has to be effectively weeded out every now and then. Else, even that 1% lapse can cost the safety and security of lakhs of people in the country, isn’t it? This is exactly what Bhishmachaarya is trying to explain here – It is extremely important for a leader to have spies, but these spies should always be trustable and dependable at all times.
So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 