The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode we had witnessed a very important application of Vidura’s statement to King Dhirdiraashtra with respect to focusing only on those actions that would directly benefit the kingdom and its subjects. We witnessed a modern day concept in Management studies in the Operations area, called “Lean Operations”, which is primarily based out of this concept – Cutting down all unwanted activities that do not add any value to the organization and instead focus his/her resources (including manpower) into those activities that would bring about profits for the organization. We had a brief discussion on what are the primary and secondary functions for an organization and how an organization should devote prime focus on its primary operations to excel and be successful. By “outsourcing” all or a majority of the secondary operations, organizations can devote more time and manpower into the activities that directly contribute to enhancing the core competence, thus increasing the revenue and profits.

Now moving further, Vidura propagates the idea of equality towards both the Kauravas and Paandavas and urges King Dhirdiraashtra to broker peace between the two rival camps as early as possible. Vidura says thus,

“Hitvaa taan parameshvaasaan paandavaan amita aujasaha!

Aahitam bharataishwaryam tvayaa duryodhane mahat!!”

Here Vidura makes an earnest appeal to King Dhirdiraashtra that he should urgently take steps to nurture peace and harmony amongst both the Paandava and Kaurava camps. He makes an emotional statement here thus, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! Please think for a moment! What wrong did the Paandavas headed by Yudishtra do to you? Did they disrespect you in any way? Did they abuse you in any way? Did they make even one wrongful claim against your crooked son Duryodhana, although they had gone through so much of harships because of him? All that is required by you as a king is to mend your son’s ways. The Paandavas are very clear in their approach. As a king, it is your duty to ensure that you do good for both Paandavas and the Kauravas. Please do not try to ignore the Paandavas as if they are untouchables. They are a huge asset to the Hastinapura kingdom. They are a bunch of enlightened people with a great vision. Irrespective of how you look at the Paandavas – As your brother’s children, or the deserved people to rule the kingdom after you – Please do not sideline them and give away the portion of the kingdom that is due to them. Please do not try to destroy the enlightened Paandavas for the sake of your crooked sons. This would lead you to a huge disaster!”

“Tham drakshasi paridrashtam tasmaath achiraadiva!

Aishwaryam asacham moodam pari lokatrataadiva!!”

Vidura thus continues with his earnest advice to King Dhirdiraashtra thus, “Oh King! If you keep going the way you’re going currently, just like how King Mahaabali lost all his wealth due to his headweight and arrogance, you would also end up the same way in loosing all your hard-earned wealth and kingdom! If this trend continues, Duryodhana would be destroyed completely by the Paandavas. Even if the Paandavas hesitate to destroy him owing to the respect they have for you, please remember that there’s someone called Bhagawan Krishna! He’s silently watching all these unfortunate events unfolding one after the other! When the time comes, he would certainly take Duryodhana to task! Hence please don’t fall into the radar of Bhagawan Krishna for the wrong things. You’re walking a dangerous path! Please find out ways to make Bhagwan Krishna happy. Please ensure with your actions and prove to Bhagawan Krishna that you’re taking corrective measures. If you’re not going to do it now, it’s never going to happen in future! We’re at the final stage before a full-fledged war is going blow off between the two camps. It’s virtually now or never! Hence please act swiftly to turn things around! Please understand the “Dharma” and split the kingdom equally for the Paandavas and give them their due share. By doing so, you would not only restore peace and harmony to the kingdom, but also would serve as a lesson of “Dharma” for the whole world!”

Saying thus, Vidura completes this “Adhaaya” and with this, we’ve come to the end of the 38’th “Adhyaaya” of Vidura Neeti. We are still left only with two more “Adhyaayas” – The 39’th and the 40’th. These two “Adhyaayas” contain the concluding remarks of Vidura’s messages to King Dhirdiraashtra and we shall wait till the next episode to commence the 39’th Adhaaya. Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed yet another stinging statement from Vidura wherein he had stressed upon an important point that as a king, Dhirdiraashtra should do only those things that would be beneficial for his people, rather than focusing on activities that are not warranted of, from a king’s perspective. Here is where Vidura hits the target straightaway and pokes King Dhirdiraashtra right on the money! He pinpoints the downfalls that are looming large in front of Hastinapura kingdom because of King Dhirdiraashtra’s irresponsible behavior and activities. Vidura slams him by saying that his concern is only for his crooked son Duryodhana and nothing else is in his radar! Irrespective of the repercussions that the people of Hastinapura are going to face, King Dhirdiraashtra is backing Duryodhana to succeed him and this, Vidura explains to him, is going to create a huge backlash against him!

This is a very important point that needs to be under focus for a leader. If a leader has to rise in status and to be successful, he/she should focus only on those activities that would bring benefits for his/her organization and cut down on those activities that would end up being a “cost factor” for the organization. This is what we call in modern day Management terms as “Lean Operations”! It is so amazing to witness how Vidura is explaining principles of Operations Management at a time when the world did not even know “M” of Management!

Thus if we compare Vidura’s statement with the modern day terminology, it is evident that the prime focus of the leader is to cut down all unwanted activities that do not add any value to the organization and instead focus his/her resources (including manpower) into those activities that would bring about profits for the organization. This is the fundamental idea behind the study of “Lean Operations”. This is why we also witness today, many organizations classify their functions into two different types – Primary functions and Secondary functions. The Primary functions are those that are directed towards the organization’s “Core competency” and directly contributes to the overall profit of the organization. Secondary activities are those that are ancillary to the primary activities and they do not directly contribute to the profits of the organization. Of course I’m not saying that these secondary activities are not important.

For instance, if we consider a huge corporate hospital, providing quality medical treatment to patients, performing complex surgeries, providing post-surgery treatments, etc. would be the primary functions of the hospital. This is where the core business of the hospital lies, and the patients are going to pay for the treatment that they receive. There would be other functions in the hospital such as the front office desk, IT (Information Technology) desk, cafeteria, etc. that would not be of direct revenue generation to the hospital, although they are necessary. Again, I’m not saying that these functions aren’t important to a hospital. A pleasing and a warm reception desk is very much required since a hospital involves direct interface with customers. A robust IT department is mandatory for a hospital to maintain all records pertaining to all the patients who visit the hospital. However, we should understand here that a hospital’s core competency is not front office and providing IT services. A hospital’s core competency is only providing quality medical treatment and nothing else. There are dedicated organizations who are experts in providing IT solutions. Hence such secondary functions like IT are “outsourced” to these third party companies who are experts in these functional areas. This is again an extremely important concept in Management studies wherein, companies “outsource” their secondary functions so as to minimize their cost function and maximize their efforts on those functions that directly generate revenue to them.

This is exactly what Vidura is explaining here too – He says that as a king, he should be focusing only on those activities that would be of benefit to his people and his kingdom, and to cut down on other activities that would be a burden for everyone. These kind of statements in our Sanaathana Dharma literature illustrate the profound knowledge of our ancestors in various domains of effective management and administration. Thus we understand here that Vidura is advising King Dhirdiraashtra to mend his ways in the constructive direction and focus only on those corrective actions that need to be taken. These corrective actions, Vidura explains, are extremely important at this stage, so as to prevent further damage that is bound to occur in the Hastinapura Kingdom.

Moreover, a king should clearly know the right person who can succeed him to the throne. Of course Duryodhana might be his biological son and he might have the legal and moral right to succeed his father to the throne. However the glitch here is that, is he qualified enough to succeed the throne! Moreover, Duryodhana is legally incorrect – He has to split the kingdom equally amongst the Paandavas, which he’s trying to “smartly” deny! This is where the disaster begins! If we try to cheat someone and gain control over them with our greed for power and money, the pleasure we derive out of it is going to be short-lived!

So for today let us try and understand these important points from this segment of the Vidura Neeti. These are extremely important lessons and this is the reason why I’m trying to elaborate in more detail so that our readers can understand and appreciate the significance. We shall wait till the next episode to witness Vidura’s next point. Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed an extended discussion of yet another important point that again closely pertains to “Nepotism”, which we had discussed few episodes earlier. Here in this context, Vidura explains clearly to King Dhirdiraashtra that he is trying to promote his “power-monger” and a maverick son of his to ascend the throne of Hasthinapura kingdom. He slams King Dhirdiraashtra for his pathetic mindset in promoting the crook called Duryodhana to the throne. More than even that, Vidura accuses King Dhirdiraashtra that he’s dancing to the whims and fancies of his crooked son, who is an epitome of all “Adharma” in this world!

We had witnessed this similar context in the current day scenario as well. We witnessed and example in the previous episode with regards to one political party in India wherein the “first family” rules and controls everything in the organization and nobody else in the party has any say or oppose the decisions made by the “first family”. We’ve seen the implementation of this policy for a period of ten years from 2004 till 2014, where the entire country was left to kneel down at the mercy of this “first family”! This shows how this bane called “Nepotism” transcends and spoils the entire country’s growth in the progressive direction towards excellence. Hence the message here is that, as leaders, we should realize the ill-effects of “Nepotism” and try to cut it down to the maximum extent possible. Of course I’m not saying that if there’s a competent person in one’s close circles, he/she shouldn’t be given an opportunity. It can be done! However the question comes only when an incompetent person transcends up the ladder, when there are competent people waiting for their due opportunities to progress further in their career.

Now moving on further, Vidura hits out at King Dhirdiraashtra again by saying that as a king, he should only focus on those activities that are useful and beneficial for his kingdom and his subjects. But instead, what is King Dhirdiraashtra doing here? His only focus is to somehow make his son the successor of the Hasthinapura kingdom by hook or crook and by demeaning the Paandavas and their potential. Vidura says thus:

“Prayojaneshu ye saktaaha na vishesheshu bhaarata!”

The message is loud and clear here! Vidura slams King Dhirdiraashtra left, right and center by lamenting thus, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! The ‘Raaja Dharma’ and your actions are completely in contradiction to each other! I’ve never witness such opposite poles ever in my life! Your focus is only on your son and his welfare. Your notion is such a short-sighted one and within a closed circle only. You do not have time to think about your people’s welfare at all! Did you ever think of the plight of your people if your crooked son becomes the king? Do you even foresee how bleak the future of your people is, by promoting and backing up such a crooked son of yours? Let me tell you this – If tomorrow Duryodhana becomes the king of Hasthinapura, he is going to go to any extent to establish his footstep in terms of money, power and fame! He is going to harass your people and swindle all their wealth and property! He’s going to torture them with his crookedness and greed! He’s never going to let the Paandavas especially with a peace of mind. For such a crooked son, you’re giving so much of importance and are dancing to his tunes! Thus, what kind of a justice you’re doing to your subjects? Aren’t you aware that a king’s sole motto should be to do what is fruitful for the kingdom? Now look at your condition – Your sole motto is to promote an incompetent, arrogant and a crooked son of yours to the throne! In what way is it going to be of any benefit to your people? Is this your answer for their loyalty and devotion towards you as their leader? Is this how you betray the faith of your people?”

Slamming thus, Vidura continues to advice him thus, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! Even now it is not too late! Please alter your approach! A king’s sole purpose of sitting on the throne is to direct all his actions towards the welfare of his people. Please understand this ‘Dharma’ and do accordingly! I’m not even talking about the Paandavas or Bhagawan Krishna here. I’m only talking about you and your activities. So please understand this and do the needful!”

Saying thus, Vidura renders valuable advice to King Dhirdiraashtra with respect to the “Raaja Dharma” that a king’s motive is only to serve his people and not anything else. In the modern day context too, the prime duty of a leader is to take care of the benefits and welfare of his people, rather than his/her own personal gains at the cost of the subjects! So for today let us spare a thought on this important point and ponder over! We shall take this as our New Year message and try to implement this in our professional and personal lives too! We shall wait till the next episode to witness Vidura’s next point of advice. Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed a very important extension to the discussion on Vidura’s point on the three categories of people who would be highly respected by Goddess Bhooma Devi herself. When Vidura spoke about the importance of maintaining a neat and a clear record of monetary matters, we lined up a discussion on one of the most notorious happenings in the contemporary world, which is corruption and illegal swindling of money for personal gains. If the leader is absent-minded with regards to money matters, it is going to be very difficult to control and contain corruption in any organization or government machinery.

Of  late we’re witnessing a huge complication in the problem wherein, leaders themselves (in certain cases) are deliberately forging account books to make huge personal gains in the illegal manner. It’s so pathetic to witness today that such leaders have zero concern for their employees who toil hard every day and night for the success of their organization. We saw how a huge Information Technology company lost its reputation in the year 2008-09 in India because of this issue. Similarly we witnessed another airline company in India going the same way! Thus the message here is that, if a leader is honest and straightforward in terms of monetary aspects, the world is going to respect this person highly. This is where many people unfortunately get misled by petty short-term monetary gains. As ardent followers of our “Sanaathana Dharma”, we should understand the importance of “Ethics” in whatever we do and should act accordingly.

Now moving on further, Vidura explains how important is for the king to protect his kingdom more than his family members alone! This again we’re witnessing widespread in the political scenario in India. Before we move on to explain this point further, let us look into what Vidura has to say!

“Naama maatrena tushyeta chatrena cha maheepathihi!”

Here Vidura advises and slams King Dhirdiraashtra at the same time thus, “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! A king is not a person who only sits under a royal umbrella, on a throne and who enjoys all the luxuries of being a king! It is the bound duty of the king to protect his subjects and his kingdom in every way possible! Now King Dhirdiraashtra! Please think for a moment – Have you done justice to your kingdom and your subjects in any way? All you’ve been doing in these years is just looking into the affairs of your family and your sons! You’ve just been fueling a crisis between your sons and the Paandavas, and nothing more! Is it right on your part as a king? Is this the “Raaja Dharma” that you’ve learnt before ascending to the throne? Isn’t it your bound duty to take care of the welfare of the kingdom, more than the welfare of your sons alone?”

Asking thus, Vidura now continues to slam King Dhirdiraashtra left, right & center thus: “Oh King Dhirdiraashtra! Your son Duryodhana is only keen in ascending the throne after you, by not parting away with even an inch of land to the Paandavas! Assuming that Duryodhana’s desire for ruling the kingdom is justified, does he have even a single iota of capability to rule the kingdom efficiently? If Hastinapura kingdom goes into the hands of such a crook, imagine what would be the state of affairs of the people in this kingdom after few years! His power mongering attitude and greed for power are going to render the kingdom into shambles! You’re taking a huge risk by encourage such a crook and a power monger to succeed you! Although Duryodhana might be your biological son, have you ever thought if he is even fit to sit in the throne of the Hastinapura kingdom even for a single minute? All what your son is interested in is to bring down the Paandavas and kill them at any cost! Does he have an iota of interest in effective administration of the kingdom?”

This slamming from Vidura shakes King Dhirdiraashtra rudely! But is this enough for him to mend his ways by realizing his folly? Nevertheless, this slamming of Vidura would surely give all of us a big jolt on what’s going on around us in today’s world! Especially in the Indian context, if we peep into the political scenario today, there are few political parties that promote their family members aggressively by not taking the welfare of people into consideration! Recently we’ve witnessed the attitude of one important political party in India wherein, they exhibited clear intention to push for power, however dirty the manner is! Moreover, this grand old political party is being controlled by one family and the whole of the country knows the background of this “first family”! In the upcoming general elections, my only request through this episode is that, our honest and sincere fellow citizens should exercise their discretion to vote for the interest of the nation, rather than the interest of one family! All of us have witnessed for the past 70 odd years, what has the family done to the country! Hence it is upto us to exercise our fundamental right to select the right person to rule the country.

So for today, let us ponder over this important point – An extended discussion on “Nepotism”. We shall also think what is right for India for the next five years and act accordingly! We shall wait till the next episode to witness Vidura’s next important point of discussion! Stay tuned!

In the previous episode we had witnessed yet another important sloka of the Vidura Neeti wherein he clearly explains three categories of people who would be respected and hailed even by Mother Earth (Goddess Bhooma Devi) herself! This simply means that these categories of people are highly respected by all people in this world. Firstly, those people who have complete control over extremities in anger and joy are respected highly in this world. This is an extremely important quality of a successful leader. Decision making would be accurate and to the point only if the leader can keep himself/herself calm at any situation. It is thus not good to exhibit both extreme happiness and sadness. Secondly, a person who tries to be independent is also hailed and respected highly in this world. This is where we witnessed yesterday that there is a difference between “depending” on others for something and “seeking help” from others in doing something. It should always be remembered that we’re born in this world to accomplish our duties and we should never shy away from performing them by passing the buck on to others’ shoulders. Of course it is perfectly fine if we seek help and guidance from expert people along our path of execution, but that doesn’t mean we shun our responsibility on to the shoulders of those people! The execution part should always rest upon our shoulders at any cost! Thirdly, Vidura explains that those people who maintain a neat record of all monetary matters including income and expense statements, sources of income and destinations of expense, etc. are revered highly in this world.

This is where a leader’s real test lies – At any point in time, a leader should exactly know where is the money coming from and where the money is going to. This is an extremely important aspect even in today’s corporate scenario. It is for this reason we have an exclusive department in any organization that handles all sorts of money-related matters. It is the main responsibility of the leader to ensure that he maintains a tight control of the finances in his organization. Similar is the situation when it comes to the governance of a kingdom or a country and this is exactly where Vidura’s explanation is so valid. He reminds King Dhirdiraashtra that he should not let people in his kingdom to swindle money and power at their own ease, just for their own personal gains. He indirectly invokes the atrocities committed by his son Duryodhana along with his uncle Sahuni.

If we compare Vidura’s words with what is happening in today’s political setups in various parts of the world, we would understand their significance quite easily and on the face value. Today we talk about a deep-rooted problem in many countries called “corruption”.

How does this corruption take place, especially in the government machinery? If we take a look at the current scenario in the Indian government machinery, we would be able to witness widespread corruption right from the grass-root level to the top! Of course, readers should not take this statement in the sense that I’m trying to demean our great nation, but all I’m trying to do is to highlight an important challenge that plagues our nation from progressing swiftly towards the path of excellence. If we look at our seventy years of history, we have witnessed widespread corruption in almost all key areas of the government – Defense, Telecom, Sports, Transportation, etc. at different time periods. If we might remember, the time period of 2008-11 was a crucial phase wherein a majority of the corruption came to light in the public domain! We had witnessed how politicians had swindled our taxpayers’ money without any accountability to the people. Scam after scam broke out in the news and the entire nation was stunned to silence!

If we have a closer look as to why such things happened, we would see that the then leader of the country (Prime Minster in this case) was so weak and powerless that all corrupt activities in the government machinery flourished right under his nose! This is where the problem lies and this is exactly what Vidura is explaining here too. If a leader fails to take stock of the finances of his kingdom or organization or government at the right time, it leads to mass corruption by lower authorities, which would ultimately signal huge disaster ahead of us! Here too, we were witnessing that owing to the widespread corruption during that time period of 2004-14, India was pushed to a disastrous situation wherein the country’s gold reserves were mortgaged for the first time ever in history, for the want of money to run the nation’s everyday activities. The entire treasury of the country was swindled out and it is now taking almost 5 years from then, for the present government dispensation in India to repair the damage.

I do not want to go into more detail in this regard as this would make us enter into an unwanted political debate, which is not the necessity here. I shall leave this point to the readers to do some research upon this point and to know the truth behind my contention.

Thus the main message from this episode is that, as a leader, it is a bound duty to keep a tight vigil on the finances and should never ever give a room for unwanted corrupt activities to take place, which would lead to disaster. It should be remembered that the root cause of all sorts of corruption in any organization or government is only the sheer negligence of a leader to keep a clear account of the monetary matters. Hence for today, let us ponder over this important aspect of “Raaja Dharma” that Vidura is explaining. We’ve taken couple of episodes to bring out the significance of this point because of its high relevance to the modern day scenario and the important lesson that we need to learn from it! We shall thus wait for the next episode to witness Vidura’s next important point of advice. Stay tuned! 😊

In the previous episode we had witnessed an extended discussion on why should a king  be extremely careful while choosing his ministers. A king should never compromise the meritorious qualities of a person while appointing him as his close and trusted aid. It is only then that the advice on various matters pertaining to the administration of the kingdom would be of the highest quality. If a king resorts to “Nepotism” while inducting ministers, it can have a cascading effect on the quality of decisions made, which in turn would affect the “Raaja Dharma” in the kingdom. We had witnessed the practical application of this “Nepotism” in the modern day scenario as well. We witnessed how this factor is a widespread problem in many organizations, including that of political parties in India and how it plagues effective decision making and effective administration. Thus the message for the present day leaders from this discussion is that, “Nepotism” is one poisonous weed that would hamper the growth of an organization and leaders should exercise due jurisdiction to eradicate the weed with utmost sincerity. It should always be remembered that a person having the right qualifications and who deserves a top position in the organization, should never be denied an opportunity to serve.

Having emphasized on this point, Vidura now moves on to the next important point thus. Here he is going to explain three categories of people who would be hailed and respected very highly by Mother Earth herself! This directly means that the whole world would respect such people of high caliber! Who are those people? Vidura explains thus:

“Amohah krodha harshascha svayam krithyaannyavekshanaha!

Aatman pratyaya koshasya vasudaiva vasundharaa!!”

Here Vidura lists down three important categories of people who are highly respected and revered by the world and Mother Earth (“Bhoomi Maata”) Herself!

The first category of people – ““Amohah krodha harshascha” – Those people who do neither get immensely angry nor immensely joyous for any situation in life would be hailed by the world! The message is very clear here – Here again VIdura lays stress upon the importance of having a balanced frame of mind at all times. Whatever might be the situation, we should not get carried away completely into it. We should learn to distance ourselves a bit, observe and analyze the situation for effective handling and decision making. If we get emotionally carried away, we tend to get enormously happy (if there is something good arising from it) or enormously sad, angry or frustrated (if there is something bad arising from the situation). We should be careful not to go to either of the extremes of behavior. Only if we have this balanced frame of mind, we would be able to understand and come out of the situation easily, especially if the going gets tough.

Secondly Vidura explains, “Svayam krithyaannyavekshanaha!” – Here Vidura explains that a person who tries to be independent and executes all of his/her tasks on their own without depending on others, is also hailed by the world! This is also very important in today’s world – As much as possible, we should try to do our duties and tasks without anybody’s dependence. Of course I’m not saying that we shouldn’t approach anyone for queries or help. We should differentiate these two very carefully. “Depending” upon others for completing a task is different from “Obtaining help” from others for completing the task. If we’re going to depend upon someone for getting our job done, it means that we’re getting lazy and are trying to “pass the buck” on to the shoulders of others! Whereas, if we’re “obtaining help” from others, it means that we’re just consulting with others for ideas and suggestions on how to do the job better. However in this situation we should remember that we are still performing the task by ourself. This is exactly what Vidura explains here – Rather than depending upon others completely for executing our tasks, it is always better to take on the responsibility for our tasks, however, consultations with others for quality improvement is perfectly fine!

Finally Vidura explains the third point – “Aatman pratyaya koshasya” – Here Vidura drops a bombshell! He says that those people who keep a neat record of income and expenses and those who exactly know the sources from which money comes and the destinations to which money goes, are hailed highly by the world! From this important point, Vidura tries to emphasize to King Dhirdiraashtra the fact that he should keep a tight watch on the monetary aspects of the kingdom. This is part of an important “Raaja Dharma” wherein the king should directly keep a clear account of money that is present in the treasury of the kingdom. It is only then, can the king know where and how much to spend on the welfare activities of his kingdom.

So for today, let us ponder upon these three important aspects, which Vidura is trying to emphasize. There is an important extension to this discussion coming up in the next episode. Stay tuned till tomorrow for more! 😊

In the previous episode we had witnessed a very important discussion wherein Vidura spoke about the significance of a king appointing the right people as ministers under him. We’ve already witnessed in few other occasions before this in terms of “Recruitment” as explained by the Vidura Neeti, however Vidura stresses on this important point once more because there is a lack of clarity in this aspect with respect to King Dhirdiraashtra. The people who are appointed as ministers are supposed to be key advisers to the king on all the aspects pertaining to the “Raaja Dharma” and effective administration of the kingdom. Before appointing ministers, it is the bound duty of the king to test them adequately to know their levels of competence in decision-making amidst tough situations.

Vidura emphasizes this point repeatedly because he finds it evident that King Dhirdiraashtra has missed a trick here! Rather than appointing competent people as his minsters, King Dhirdiraashtra had ended up appointing tainted people for the posts, who were constantly misleading the King on various occasions. Moreover, King Dhirdiraashtra had appointed some of his close family members as his ministers, irrespective of whether they’re competent or not to be in that position! This is what we call in today’s HR Management terms as “Nepotism”. The term Nepotism simply means, appointing close aides or friends or family members to key positions, without understanding their strengths and capabilities on the job. In this way, he had appointed Sahuni and even Bhishma for that matter! At a critical time when Dharma had to be upheld in terms of protecting a woman from being insulted, all of his ministers were sitting silent without condemning the grave crime! In fact, Sahuni was literally encouraging Duryodhana to execute the heinous crime in front of the whole courtroom as people watched on! Such was the level of King Dhirdiraashtra’s ministry and this irked Vidura to the maximum! This is the main reason why he laments and slams King Dhirdiraashtra for selecting fools to be ministers and tries to explain to him the ill-effects of having such people in key positions of the kingdom.

In today’s scenario too, we are witnessing similar instances on a larger scale wherein less-talented people are preferred more than genuinely qualified people for jobs, promotions, etc. just because these less-talented people are close aides to the people of the top management of the organization. Of course there are laws, rules and regulations prohibiting such brazen nepotist practices, but are they implemented in such a way that the qualified person gets an opportunity that he truly deserves? Even in today’s political scenario in India we can see many political parties today having incompetent leaders although there might be other people in the party who might be genuinely qualified to assume key leadership positions. For instance, in one of the main north-Indian states, the son of a major political party that had won the state elections was “coronated” as the “Deputy Chief Minister” of that state. If we look at the educational qualification of this so-called “Deputy Chief Minister”, he hadn’t even completed his basic schooling! Now my question is, if such unqualified people are pushed to occupy higher ranks, doesn’t it spoil the intentions and aspirations of thousands of youngsters in the country who desire to achieve good career growth with their genuine qualifications? This is exactly what Vidura is talking here too. If we give the top ranks to unqualified people, not only does the administration suffer, but also it throws the aspirations of qualified people to shambles, which results in mass exodus of highly qualified people to other foreign countries, thus ultimately resulting in what we call “Bran-drain”.

This “Nepotism” happens not only in the political arena, but also across other organizations in various industries. Hence the message from yesterday’s and today’s episodes is that, leaders should be extremely careful in selecting the right people for the top ranks in their respective organizations. The productivity of the organization would go down if merit is compromised for unqualified people who are close aides to the leader.

So for today, let us introspect this important point once more and let us do the needful. We should always remember that a right deserving person should never be denied his/her rightful opportunity for growth and such a thing is against the professional ethics of a leader. We shall wait till the next episode to witness Vidura’s next point of explanation. Stay tuned! 😊

In the previous episode we had witnessed a very important point of discussion pertaining to the confidentiality and secrecy behind key decision making and implementation. We had witnessed that until a policy or decision is implemented successfully, it should be maintained a secret within the closed leadership group, by not disclosing about it in advance for other people to sense. The implication here in the business sense is that, if key policy decisions are leaked out, competitors would prey on them and would take full advantage of it to nail us left right center! For instance, if an organization is into manufacturing of mobile phones and a policy decision within the company is to upgrade an existing mobile phone product with some additional features, why do we say that these policy decisions are strictly maintained confidential? It is because, if these new upcoming features of the mobile phone are leaked out, the competitor companies who manufacture mobile phones would adopt these new features into their products and release it before we do! If that happens, where is the business opportunity for us? It is grabbed by the competitior, isn’t it? This is why, trade secrets are maintained strictly confidential within the four walls of the company in such a way that the competitor would never even have a clue about what this company is doing!

Of course once the mobile phone is out in the market, and if it gains huge popularity, the company can disclose its manufacturing secret at that point in time. This too should be done in a tactful manner and not in a rush and in a hasty manner. The procedure of manufacturing would be patented first, so that nobody else replicates or copies the procedure to make money! Such is the importance given to secrecy and confidentiality of key decisions taken within an organization with respect to its policy, especially with respect to new product/service development.

Now moving on further, Vidura explains the next important point. He explains who should be employed as the key “Mantris” or ministers by a king in his courtroom. Vidura explains thus:

“Naa pareekshya maheepaalaha kuryaah sachivamaatmanaha!”

This is an important point to ponder – Even for all of us in today’s world. This can be considered an extension of the point on recruitment, 2 episodes ago wherein we discussed that the right person should be recruited for the right job! Here Vidura talks about the ministry of King Dhirdiraashtra and warns him that he unfortunately did not have such right people to advise him. Especially when heinous crimes in the form of the infamous gambling game and public insult of a woman took place in front of the entire courtroom, none of his ministers had the guts to interfere and stop those proceedings! Hence Vidura poses indirect questions to King Dhirdiraashtra if at all his so-called ministers are even qualified enough to adorn such an important role!

Saying thus, Vidura explains the “Raaja Dharma” that when a king appoints his ministers, he should be extremely careful in doing so, by checking each and every person whether he/she is really qualified enough to be in that position. This is because, the role of the minister to a king is an extremely critical one, wherein he/she should advise the king on several sensitive matters, while decision making. We’ve previously spoken about secrecy and confidentiality in decision making and having qualified people as ministers helps a king in doing so. This is applicable widely in today’s scenario too. It is a requirement that any leader in the top position of a machinery, for instance the Prime Minister of the country or a Chief Minister of a particular state should have a cabinet (group of trusted ministers) that comprises of highly qualified people, both in terms of education as well as in terms of experience. Ultimately, the effectiveness of any decision being made with respect to policy frameworks and implementation lies at the behest of these selected and handful set of cabinet ministers. Hence the leader should be extremely careful in recruiting people for these positions.

So for today, let us introspect upon this important point in Human Resources Management and Leadership. Let us understand and appreciate the significance of recruiting the right person for the right job because this is the fundamental requirement for the success of any team or organization or even the government as a whole! We shall wait till the next episode to witness Vidura’s next important point of discussion. Stay tuned! 😊

In the previous episode we had witnessed yet another important message from Vidura, this time about who should be employed with what work. He says that all “Antahpura” related works are to be handed over to the father or the male member of the family. Similarly all the kitchen-related work with respect to cooking various kinds of dishes are to be handed over to the mother or the female member of the house. Effective maintenance of the cowshed and its allied activities are to be handed over to a trusted person of equal stature of ours, in the family. Finally when it comes to business dealings and strategic decisions pertaining to trade and business activities are to be exclusively handled by the king himself.

Of course if we outwardly look at the sloka, it might seem a bit outdated or incoherent but if we look deeper into the meaning, we can find something significant. Here is where Vidura stresses two important points – Firstly, the right person should be allocated and employed to perform the right job at the right place. This is a very important concept in modern day “Human Resources Management” as every day in and out and in every organization around the world, managers scramble to get this combination right. Secondly, all business deals at the strategic level should directly be handled by the leader of the organization. Of course in the sloka, Vidura mentions that the king should directly oversee trade activities closely, but in today’s world we can infer that all strategic decisions pertaining to the organization in terms of enhancing its business outcomes should directly be dealt with by the CEO or the top executive board members of the organization. Here is where we witnessed a famous theory in the domain of Leadership studies wherein a leader tends to form an “IN-Group” & an “OUT-Group”. Members of the “IN-Group” are a handful of trusted people of the leader who aids his strategic decision making activities. Members of the “OUT-Group” are those who are responsible for the implementation of the decisions that are taken by the “IN-Group”. These “OUT-Group” members are not involved in the decision making process for whatsoever reasons. Thus we can see here that the strategic decision making is highly concentrated within a few people in the top brass of an organization and this is exactly what Vidura explains here too!

Now moving on further, Vidura explains the next important point. Here he says that a king or a leader who is able to maintain his policies as a secret until the successful implementation is over becomes a great person whom the world hails with name, fame and praise! Vidura explains thus:

“Yasya mantram na jaananti bhaagya sa antharaschaye!

Sa raja sarvataschakshuhu chiram aishwaryamasnuthe!!”

Here Vidura explains an extremely important point in Leadership – He says that a leader should be a person who can keep certain important things within himself and not disclosing them to others! These important things might be pertaining to key strategic decisions that are to be taken for the welfare of the kingdom or an organization or a country. Secrecy behind certain policy decisions and implementation is always a key behind the success of the policy.

We can consider many examples to prove this point – One perfect example for this is the the policy of “Demonetisation” brought about by our Honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri. Narendra Modi ji. The secrecy behind the implementation of this policy was behind the huge success that it brought about in transforming the economy of India and cleansing it. For the benefit of our readers, “Demonetization” was a policy brought in by the Indian Government to clean up the economy from stashes of black money that was hidden by various groups of people like politicians and businessmen. On November 8’th 2016, the Prime Minister of India came out in the public and announced to the nation that from that evening onward, high value currency notes such as 500 and 1000 rupee notes would go invalid and to compensate this, new notes would be printed and circulated across the country!

Of course this was not just a weird announcement as many opposition ranks would see it. If we deeply introspect, there is a trail of instances leading to this big decision of demonetizing the currency! There were repeated warnings by the Income Tax department of the Government of India to the citizens that all of them come clean with respect to their taxable incomes. It is after such repeated appeals and warnings, the decision was implemented! Thus we can see that there were a series of planned actions, that were kept highly confidential within the government sources and this confidentiality is what took those people with stashes of black money by surprise! When the decision was announced, people who were hiding their black money started to scramble here and there, running for shelter! This is why the “Demonetization” policy is hailed to be a “game-changer” and is considered to be a huge success. Of course this is a debatable topic with respect to the success and the economic implications, but that can be for another day! The point here to be emphasized here through this example is the “Secrecy” and “Confidentiality” of decision making and how this secrecy helps in the successful implementation of the decisions for the benefit of the company or the country as a whole.

So for today let us think about this important point of “Secrecy” and “Confidentiality” and its importance in day to day life as well as in business and key policy decision-making. It should always be remembered that key decisions (even at home) are to be maintained within a closed group until the decision is implemented successfully. Once the successful implementation is done, we can talk about the “secret of success” later on in the public domain! 😊 We shall wait till the next episode to witness the next important point that Vidura is going to explain. Stay tuned! 😊