Episode # 1324 – “Unity among people is the fundamental success element of a Democracy!” – Bhishmachaarya explains!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya’s detailed explanation on the “Ganatantra-Raajyam” to Yudishtra. Bhishmachaarya commences his explanation by explaining that this “Ganatantra Raajyam” (Democracy) is possible only when people have the basic awareness of value systems and a selfless attitude. If people are going to be selfish, the concept of democracy is going to go for a toss, as it is currently happening in India. Saying thus, Bhishmachaarya is currently explaining about the origin of the concept called “Raajyam” and then subsequently he is going into details of the “Ganatantra-Raajyam”. Bhishmachaarya explains that during the “Satya Yuga” there was no concept of a “Raajyam” at all. People were governing themselves without any unwanted desires, greed, etc. Because people were extremely disciplined, there was no need for a ruler to govern them. Because people were void of unwanted desires, there were no thefts, and other kinds of criminal activities. Hence, there was no requirement of law, judiciary, etc. However, with the passage of time, everything became a necessity because people’s desires started to grow. As a result of desires, selfish attitudes started growing. Because of selfish attitudes, people started to go out of the path of “Dharma” to earn money, name and fame. The moment this happens, ruling, administration, law, justice, etc. become paramount. 

Saying thus, Bhishmachaarya explains how Bhagawan Brahma authored the great “Brahma-Shaastram” keeping all these in mind. With the request of Indra, Bhagawan Brahma gave it to him, which contained more than a lakh “Adhyaayams”. Because of its sheer size, Indra decided to condense it. Subsequently, others like Bhagawan Muruga (Skandha), Sage Shukrachaarya, etc. came up with several revised versions of the “Brahma-Shaastram”, and now we have just over a thousand “Adhyaayams”. In this, Bhagawan Brahma explains enormous nuances on the “Raaja-Dharma” extensively. 

Thus, continuing further, Bhagawan Brahma elucidates the need for kings to rule the country. He says thus, “Because people’s greed started increasing, they started to do whatever it takes to earn wealth. In this way, the path of “Dharma” started to get forgotten. Brahmanas who were dedicated to performing all the offerings towards Bhagawan, started getting attacked for no reason. Thus, as the Brahmanas and Indra went to Bhagawan Brahma to seek protection for the Brahmanas, Bhagawan Brahma created a new “Varnaashrama Dharma” called “Kshatryas”. Thus, the “Kshatryas” were designated to protect the kingdom, especially the Brahmanas, whose duty was to protect the Vedas and Shaastras. This is how several kingdoms started emerging here and there!” 

Saying thus, Bhishmachaarya now quotes further from the Brahma-Shaasthram – “Oh Yudishtra! It is only as per the principles laid down in this “Braham-Shaastram”, every king should operate. It has been fairly followed till now. However, as time progresses, many of these principles would get compromised. Now let me tell you two important things which are important for the success of “Ganatantra Raajyam”. The first requirement here is that people in the country should have a societal awareness. In other terms, because people will be the rulers for themselves in the “Ganatantra Raajyam”, they should know what is right and what is wrong for their own society. Knowledge of this will lead to unity amongst people. If people are united, the “Raajyam” will be very strong. However, if this unity is broken due to several reasons, chances are very high that the “Raajyam” will be invaded by foreign elements and the concept of “Ganatantra Raajyam” will thereby collapse!” 

This is an extremely important point that Bhishmachaarya is making here – In fact, this has been true already in India. If we look at our own history over a thousand-year period, we can see how our unity was broken level after level, and how foreign invaders came in and looted us left right and centre. It is not that we were so weak in terms of military power. The problem was lack of unity amongst ourselves. Earlier when kings like Cheras, Cholas, Pandyas, Rajputs, Marathas, Hoysalas, etc. were ruling our Bhaarata Desha, the country’s boundaries were spanning across a huge geographical area – From almost Iran and Afghanistan in the west, to almost Indonesia and Cambodia in the east. Thus, the entire geography within this region (“Akhanda Bhaaratam”) was originally the land of “Sanaatana Dharma”. However, with a lot of breakdown of unity amongst the erstwhile kings, several muslim invasions and subsequenttly the British invasion ensured that our country was split into several pieces and ruined! Now whatever we are left with as “Bhaarata Desha” is only a miniscule part of the “Akhanda Bhaaratam” that we had earlier. Why do we think this happened? It is primarily because of lack of unity – In fact, we might have read in our history books – Several Indian kings acted against the interests of our country and rather extended support to the British at various points of time. This clearly shows the lack of societal awareness that we’ve had during the past. Subsequently, the British rulers used this lack of unity, in order to push their agenda upon us. This resulted in Indians becoming slaves under the Britishers until 1947. 

So the point that Bhishmachaarya is trying to highlight here is that unity builds a nation together and binds it strongly. Lack of unity will disintegrate the country into pieces, resulting in foreign invasions happening easily without any hiccups! Thus, unity is the fundamental principle upon which “Democracy” thrives. So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall continue this interesting discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

Episode # 1323 – “Origin of ‘Brahma-Shaastram’!” – Bhishmachaarya explains!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Bhishmachaarya’s important accord on “Ganatantra Raajyam” (Democratic administration). We’re amidst a democratic administration in today’s context in several countries, but it is worth noting that Bhishmachaarya has spoken about this around 5000 years ago. Here, as the first prerequisite for the “Ganatantra Raajyam” to be successful, people should have that awareness that they are working for the betterment of the nation as a whole, and not just for their selfish requirements. This seems to be absent completely in today’s context, especially in India, wherein especially those who are in the administrative circles like politicians and government bureaucrats, who are only striving for their personal brownie points and keeping people’s interests at bay, ever since independence. If this is the case, common people in India also lack sense in several issues – We do not understand basic discipline while moving in public places, such as cleanliness, damaging public property like buses, trains, etc., taking / giving bribes for even small tasks – The list goes on and on and because of this, a serious question arises whether India really deserves to have a “Ganatantra Raajyam” in the first place! 

Thus, the point here is that, in a “Ganatantra Raajyam”, people should be empowered as decision-makers. People should be given the power in their hands to run the country. But if people in the country are pathetic like how we are in India, it can easily be understood that the entire concept of “Ganatantra Raajyam” in India is an utter failure. Such countries are better governed using the military force, wherein strict punishments through stricter enforcement of law will be the only way to bring such people to book! With this context, Bhishmachaarya continues further thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Do you know what was the need for all these “Ganatantra Raajyam” and the other types of administration? Let me tell you the origin for all these! Initially during the “Satya Yuga” when the world was created for the first time by Bhagawan Vishnu, people during that time had complete awareness about “Dharma”. Whatever activities / tasks people performed, were per the principles of “Dharma”. At that time, there was no concept of an administration, a king, a kingdom, law, justice, etc. This was because people were highly disciplined and there was no need for anything like these. Oh Yudishtra! Imagine this – If there is no theft, why do we need policing? If people behave according to the principle of “Dharma” that one should not desire for others’ possessions, why do we need “law enforcement”? It is only when people started becoming selfish over time, such necessities began to arise. The moment people started giving priority to “desire”, “wealth”, “name”, “fame”, etc. “Dharma” started getting compromised at several levels. For instance, if I require money urgently, I can resort to any way of earning it – Even via pickpocketing, theft, etc. If such a thing is happening, it is definitely against the principle of “Dharma”. Thus if such incidents start happening, someone has to be there to enforce the “Dharma” through some ways and means!”

Saying thus, Bhishmachaarya continues further – “Oh Yudishtrs! As crimes started increasing and as people started talking about their own preferences more than the welfare of everyone, Indra and the other “Devas” (Celestial Beings) came to a conclusion that we need some law enforcement in this world, so that things are maintained in order. The moment human beings lost their self-control, enforcement became the order of the day. Sensing this, Bhagawan Brahma took it upon himself and authored the revered “Brahma-Suthram”. This is an extensive book containing the various nuances of “Dharma” and its implications. This “Brahma-Shaastram” text that Bhagawan Brahma authored, had more than one lakh “Adhyaayams” and was too extensive. Indra had received the first copy of the book and he tried to read it. Of course, he managed to read the entire book but he felt that this is too big for human beings to read. Hence, he decided to shorten the version by only having around 10,000 “Adhyaayams”. Later on, Skanda (Bhagawan Muruga) had an opportunity to read it, and he further condensed it to around 5,000 “Adhyaayams”. Further later, Brihaspati had a chance to read it, and he too thought who is going to read 5,000 “Adhyaayams” at a stretch! He shortened it to around 3,000 “Adhyaayams”. Further, Sage Shukrachaarya had a chance to go through it, and he further condensed it into a 1,000 “Adhyaayas”. Thus, this 1000-Adhyaayam-”Brahma-Shaastram” contains several important aspects of “Raaja-Dharma”, “Aapad Dharma”, “Ganatantra Raajyam”, etc. covered in it in detail. Subsequently, with the propagation of this “Brahma-Shaastram”, and also with the dire need for enforcing “Dharma”, the concept of a “king” came into being!”

This is an important point that Bhishmachaarya is discussing here with regards to the origin of “Brahma-Shaastram” and is worth noting it. So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall continue this discussion in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂 

Episode # 1322- “For ‘Democracy’ to thrive, people should be mature enough!” – Bhishmachaarya explains!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Bhishmachaarya’s accord on “Aapad-Dharma” to Yudishtra. Now we’re witnessing an important accord within this important section – The “Ganatantra Raajyam”. This could be translated into “Democracy” in today’s terminology. Yudishtra asks a very important question here to Bhishmachaarya that can people be empowered to be leaders and if “yes”, when and how it can be done. For this, we’ve to first understand what Yudishtra exactly means in this context, and in these lines, we’ve understood the real meaning of “Democracy” and how in today’s context, especially in India, the concept of “Democracy” is continuously on the decline. So with this understanding, we shall move forward with Bhishmachaarya’s answer to “Democracy” as asked by Yudishtra. 

Bhishmachaarya explains thus, “Oh Yudishtra! You’ve asked a very important question here. Yes. The “Ganatantra Raajyam” is possible, but before that, there are certain parameters that you need to fulfil. Firstly, for a “Ganatantra Raajyam” to be successful, people should be aware of what their roles and responsibilities are. People should be physically and mentally capable of handling themselves in the path of “Dharma”. If this is not there, the first thing that a leader should do is to create awareness amongst people to inculcate the necessary value systems into them. Only if this is done, the “Ganatantra Raajyam” is possible in the first place!” Now this is an extremely important point that Bhishmachaarya is stressing here. We are talking of “Democracy” in today’s context, but Bhishmachaarya has already spoken about this 5000 years ago! If we’ve to expand upon these important words of Bhishmachaarya, we’ve to understand an analogy – When we were a child and we’re going to school for the first time, our parents ensured that we were dropped and picked up from the school campus every day, didn’t they? They hand-holded us in whatever we did – Both in terms of our studies and also in terms of satisfying our basic needs such as food, clothing, etc. However, as we grew older, the same parents arranged an auto rickshaw or a school bus to take us to school, rather than coming and dropping us every day. This is because we were old enough to walk to the street corner to board the school bus on our own. However, as we came into the crucial 10’th or 12’th standard classes, we ourselves started going to school, either in a two-wheeler or a cycle. Even if our parents would have wanted to drop and pick us up from the school, we would have openly denied it because our peers would start mocking us! Thus, we can see here that at every stage of life, we were becoming mature and till we attained that maturity of going to school on our own, our parents were hand-holding us at every stage. Similarly, Bhishmachaarya is explaining here that until the point when people have that maturity to be their own rulers, the leader’s responsibility is to hand-hold them to bring them to that level. 

Now based on what Bhishmachaarya is saying here, we’ve to see why “Democracy” is failing in India big time – When India attained independence in 1947, we never came out of the slavery mindset which the British put us into for the past 200 years or so! This is a generational problem which we imbibed. In other words, we might have physically got independence, but mentally we were still slaves. Thus, when “Democracy” was suddenly introduced in India, people were not mature-enough to handle themselves correctly, and this started resulting in widespread corruption at several levels. People were not mature enough to think that we should rule ourselves per the principles of “Dharma” and value systems. People were not ready to see the bigger picture of the country’s development at a holistic level. Instead, those who came into politics started having a very narrow-minded thought process – They started thinking of their own progression with regards to money, name and fame, rather than putting the country in front of them. This is why we’ve seen successive governments in India until today, failing to reduce corruption in the system. In other words, the main reason behind India not being able to develop beyond a point is because people are immature. “Democracy” is still not a good way of administration in India. With the present mindset of people, the only way to bring things in order is to have a military-like rule wherein punishments are made severe for those who loot the system. In the present democratic setup, the judiciary has been reduced to a mere joke, because people in several higher echelons of the society can virtually get away by doing any kind of crime in India – Be it murder, looting public money, etc. If such is the case, what is the purpose of having a law & order, courts, etc.? Recently in India, there has been a stunning revelation that judges take bribes to deliver verdicts! Can there be a more shameful situation than this? Given such low levels to which people can go, where is the “Maturity” for India being a “Democratic Republic”? Do we really deserve “Democracy” at all? This is something that the society has to ponder over in a collective manner. 

Of course, I’m not trying to criticize anybody in particular here – But it is very sad to see that we Indians are not mature enough to be part of a “Democratic” setup. We’ve to raise awareness amongst ourselves per Bhishmachaarya’s words. We should ponder over our actions, to check whether we are doing things for our own private interests or for the interest of our nation. So for today, let us understand this point very clearly, and let us start this thought process within ourselves individually. The moment we start introspecting, we will definitely become better individuals in the near future! We shall wait till the next episode to continue further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

Episode # 1321 – “What is “Ganatantra-Rajyam” (Democracy)?” – Yudishtra asks Bhishmachaarya!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya continuing with his lengthy accord on the “Raaja-Dharma”, within which he is currently talking on the “Aapad-Dharma”. Here, we’ve witnessed a detailed accord on “Mithra” (Friendship), wherein Bhishmachaarya is explaining for the past few episodes as to how a leader should decide whom to trust and whom not to. This is an extremely important discussion going on here, both in terms of Yudishtra’s “Raajya-Paripaalanam” (Administration), and also in terms of modern-day leadership and management. Moreover, Bhishmachaarya is explaining about “Delegation” of authority / tasks amongst people – How to delegate? To whom should we delegate? How many people should be delegated a task? These are the questions that Bhishmachaarya is answering here. Yesterday, we witnessed Bhishmachaarya explaining that while delegation should be done for an overall task only to a single person, sub-tasks within the main tasks can be delegated to several other people. However, the control for the entire main task to be executed, should lie within the ambit of the leader, because obtaining accountability for the progress of work is easier this way. 

Moving on further, Yudishtra asks thus, Oh Bhishmachaarya! So far you’ve explained a lot pertaining to characteristics of a king, friendship, trust, delegation of authority, etc. I’m now interested in understanding what is “Ganatantra-Raajyam”. I’ve heard in this type of administration that people can be empowered to become rulers themselves. How can this be possible? When can it happen? Can you explain this in detail?” This is a very important question that Yudishtra is asking. Before we go into Bhishmachaarya’s important answer, we shall first understand what is “Ganatantra-Raajyam”. In today’s terms, we can translate this into “Democracy” – “For the people, of the people and by the people”! In other words, people selecting their leader, people taking accountability for whatever is happening, and people deciding who should represent them. We can see this democracy being followed in our Bhaarata Desam” today, and also in several other countries across the world. 

So, Yudishtra’s question here is very simple – “If people have to be empowered to be leaders, what kind of understanding should people have? What kind of a culture should people possess, so that they can be efficient leaders? If there are leaders within several segments of people – Both in professional and personal spaces, how should these leaders behave? In turn, these leaders should be ably and efficiently guided by learned “Panditas” (Scholars), isn’t it? So how should these “Panditas” behave? What should be the qualities of these “Panditas”?” Only if people are cultured and disciplined in a country, will democracy flourish. Only if the leaders within several circles of people in the country are disciplined and principled, will democracy flourish. Leaders at various levels in a democracy should be selfless and should devote their time and work towards the benefit of people. At the same time, only if leaders listen to the “Panditas” for obtaining important knowledge and guidance, will they be able to prosper. Similarly, only if the “Panditas” are ably qualified and only when they provide apt guidance to the leaders, will democracy flourish! 

Whereas, if people are uncivilized and uncaring, the entire fabric of “Democracy” will start crumbling! We can see this in India today – The main reason why corruption is going unchecked in India at several levels is because, people are completely aloof and unaware of what is going on in the leadership circles. People are completely not vigilant about what is happening, and this is why leaders at several levels take this as an opportunity to loot money and wealth. Because these leaders are corrupt in nature, administration is coming to a complete standstill. We can illustrate this ignorance of people of India through an example – Whenever a new bus or a train set is introduced by the government for the purpose of public transport, are we able to maintain it with utmost cleanliness? Rather than maintaining these public properties well, we as people are more interested in spoiling them. It brings tears to my eyes to see public property like buses, trains, etc. being destroyed and burnt down by angry mobs in the name of protests! Little do we realize that these public properties come out of our own taxpayers’ money. If we’re destroying these public properties, we are wasting our own money! As people, are we realizing this simple thing? If there is widespread corruption, are we having the guts to stand up and question? Are we standing up and questioning our politicians and useless bureaucrats who are looting our taxpayers’ money and leading a luxurious life at the expense of our wealth? None of these are happening in India, isn’t it? Hence, given this case, it is evident that we as a society in India are still uncultured and uncivilized even after 75 years of independence! Hence, is “Democracy” really a valid form of governance for India? This is something that all of us as Indians need to think and introspect. 

So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall witness Bhishmachaarya’s important answer on “Democracy”, not only to Yudishtra, but also to all of us who still chest-thump about being a part of a “Democratic Republic”! Stay tuned! 🙂 

Episode # 1320 – “Role Clarity for every subordinate is key to avoid confusion / politics!” – Bhishmachaarya explains!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Bhishmachaarya’s important accord on the “Aapad-Dharma”, which is part of the bigger discussion on the “Raaja-Dharma” with Yudishtra. In this, Bhishmachaarya is talking about the significance of “Mithra” (Friendship / Relationship) and how it is important for a leader to be successful. While talking about “Mithra”, Bhishmachaarya has categorized “Mithra” into four different categories and subsequently he is now talking about whom to trust and whom not to. In these lines, Bhishmachaarya explains that it is very dangerous to trust people blindly for anything. A leader should be very careful if someone is coming close voluntarily all of a sudden. This can mean several things – A person can be opportunistic upon seeing potential in us and he / she can use our situation to gain personal brownie points. While this might be common, a leader should be able to keep such highly opportunistic people at bay and not encourage them beyond a point. Now the question comes – How do we understand whether people coming close to us are opportunistic or not? For this, Bhishmachaarya explains that before we let someone come close, we have to test them for their credibility and efficiency. Only if they pass these tests, we should encourage them into our closer circle. Sugriva did exactly this with Bhagawan Rama Himself! We’ve seen this in our previous episode as to how Sugriva wanted to test Bhagawan Rama’s valour before accepting Him wholeheartedly as his “Mithra”. 

Moving on further thus, Bhishmachaarya explains further – “Oh Yudishtra! You should ensure that a task should be given only to one person at a time. If you give the task to several people, nobody will do anything. Instead, people will be passing the buck on to the others and creating unwanted politics! Ultimately, your task will not get completed!” As Bhishmachaarya explains thus, Yudishtra gets confused. I’m sure all of us are getting confused here as well – Two episodes ago, we had discussed Bhishmachaarya explaining that a task should not be entrusted with just one person and it should be split and given to two or more people for efficient completion. However, Bhishmachaarya seems to explain things contrary to what he did earlier, isn’t it? Here he says that a task should be completely entrusted to one individual to avoid confusion and politics! Why is he saying both? What is the in-depth meaning of this contradiction? 

As Yudisthra asks thus, Bhishmachaarya explains with clarity – “Oh Yudishtra! You should be very clear here – When I said that you should entrust more than one person for a task, I only meant “Monitoring” – You should only entrust a task to a single person, however, you should appoint people to monitor the progress of the task. If you have the time, you can also continuously monitor the progress. If that person is faltering somewhere or if he / she faces challenges at some point, you should step in immediately and resolve the challenge. However, you should not entrust the same task to multiple people. Delegating the task by splitting it is fine. However, there should not be an overlap of the same task with multiple people. This is where the confusion comes. You should give clarity to each of your people as to what exactly they are supposed to do!” 

In Management, we refer to this as “Role Clarity”. Even in an organization, as a leader when we depute people to tasks, we should ensure that the role of each employee is clearly defined. For instance, if there is a task of “Hiring” new employee’s into the organization, the whole task of “Hiring / Recruitment” should be under the Director of Human Resources (HR). Under him / her, one person can perform the sub-task of scanning the CV’s, one person can do the next level of screening, arranging for the written test for prospective candidates, etc. The next couple of people can be incharge of conducting the face-to-face interviews with candidates, so on and so forth. The HR Director will entrust all his people under him with all these sub-tasks, however, it doesn’t mean that the HR Director will sit idle after this. He / she should constantly keep monitoring the process from end to end. Moreover, per Bhishmachaarya’s explanation here, more than one person should not be delegated the same sub-task. This would create “Job Duplication”, which would lead to unwanted confusion. For instance, if two people are made in-charge of CV scanning, one person will try to pass the buck on to the other and vice versa. Ultimately, none of them will take up the responsibility to finish the task. Only if the CV’s are scanned and shortlisted, the next sub-task can be performed, isn’t it? Thus, the “Role Clarity” for each and every employee in the organization is important. If this CV scanning exercise is not done, subsequently the work of other employee’s get affected as well. Hence, the leader (HR Director in this case) should constantly monitor the progress of the sub-tasks at all times. If there’s a challenge or a roadblock in any sub-task, the HR Director should immediately step in and try to resolve it. 

Thus, the point here is very simple – While the leader should delegate tasks in such a way that multiple sub-tasks are delegated to multiple people, the entire task (Integrated) should be only under one person. Here in this case, if the Recruitment process itself is delegated to multiple HR Directors, it rakes up confusion, isn’t it? Hence, one leader per process is important. So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall continue with this discussion further in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂 

Episode # 1319 – “Do not trust anyone blindly!” – Bhishmachaarya’s important advice to Yudishtra!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya continuing his accord on the “Aapad Dharmam”, wherein he is talking about “Mithra” (Friendship / Relationship). In this, he is explaining that when work is being delegated by the leader, he / she should do it in such a way that it is equally distributed towards many people, and should not be delegated to just one person. If this is done so, chances are high that the work quality would be compromised. Secondly, Bhishmachaarya is explaining that while sharing resources, a leader should be patient. He should not think of harming others, just for the resource to be obtained at any cost. This is a very important point that needs to be stressed upon. We’ve seen yesterday how two states in India – Karnataka and Tamil Nadu keep fighting for the resource called “Water” in the River Cauvery. While Karnataka is an extremely greedy state, not to share even a single drop of water with Tamil Nadu in River Cauvery, Tamil Nadu is not a state which goes soft on the issue either. Tamil Nadu keeps hammering the tongs on Karnataka for the Cauvery River water, which ends up in a bitter fight. Tamil Nadu also doesn’t understand that one needs to be patient for the monsoon rains to happen, so that Karnataka is automatically going to open the flood gates of the river. 

Thus, the point is very clear – When a resource has to be shared, one needs to be patient. The leader has to wait for things to happen on its own, so as to avoid unnecessary fights with the other party. Moving on further thus, Bhishmachaarya explains the next allied point. He says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Just like how you’ve to play the waiting game when it comes to resource-sharing, as a leader, you should play the waiting game to accept people as close aides. When people come closer to you all of a sudden, it might not be with good intentions every time. You need to examine them, test them and then accept them. You should not blindly trust people, just because they talk very nicely and come closer to you!” 

This is a very important point here – Many times in our lives too, we might get carried away by the talks of certain people, who might come very close to us, but little would we know at that point that they’ve come to loot us left, right and centre! For instance, there might be certain people who are into “Sales” and “Marketing” who can talk very nicely to us, so as to convince us to buy their product / service. They might butter us with all juicy words and with this, we also would get convinced and get carried away! Finally we would end up buying their product. However, after the purchase is over, we would realize that they’ve sold a faulty product for a high price! Now when we need a repair of this product and when we call the people who had earlier convinced us beautifully to buy it, these people will disappear completely and would never pick up our phone calls even! This is why Bhishmachaarya explains that when some people come abruptly closer to us by talking very nicely, we should be very alert. We should not give in directly to their gimmicks and fall for them. 

This is exactly how Surgriva was careful, when Bhagawan Rama and Lakshmana came to them. We’ve seen this during our earlier “Shrimad Ramayana” project – When Bhagawan Rama pledged to Sugriva that both of them would be friends for life, Sugriva was not ready to believe Bhagawan Rama straightaway. He wanted to test Bhagawan Rama’s prowess, before accepting the fact that Bhagawan Rama is all-powerful in nature! So, Sugriva pointed out to the “Dundubhi Shareeram” and asked Bhagawan Rama to kick it with all His force to prove His strength. Bhagawan Rama obeyed Surgriva’s words. He kicked the dead body of Dundubhi and it went and fell at a far distance. This showed Bhagawan Rama’s prowess, but Sugriva wasn’t convinced as yet. He wanted Bhagawan Rama to hit seven trees which were in a straight line with seven arrows and plunder them. Bhagawan Rama accepted this challenge too, but in a different and a more convincing way – He plundered all the seven trees at the same time with just one arrow, and this happened within a split of a second! Before Sugriva even realized what was going on, all the seven trees were plundered by Bhagawan Rama! Thus, only after Bhagawan Rama “cleared” these two tests, Sugriva accepted Bhagawan Rama as a good friend, whom he can utilize to kill his brother Vaali! 

Thus, this is a great characteristic of a leader – Whatever Sugriva did here is exactly right – Even though Bhagawan Rama was all-pervasive and supreme, Sugriva wasn’t ready to believe straightaway. He wanted Bhagawan Rama to undergo the tests, so that the trust can build. Bhagawan Rama Himself accepted both the tests and proved to Sugriva that He could be a trustable aide! So for today, let us ponder over this important point and let us wait till the next episode to continue further with Bhishmachaarya’s accord! Stay tuned! 🙂 

Episode # 1318 – “Patience is the key while sharing resources” – Bhishmachaarya explains to Yudishtra!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya continuing with his detailed accord on “Aapad Dharma”, wherein he highlights the importance of friendships / relationships to Yudishtra. Upon a very important question put forth by Yudishtra, Bhishmachaarya explains which categories of people should we encourage into our close circles, which category of people we should appoint as trusted aides and which categories of people should be constantly kept at bay. In these lines, Bhishmachaarya subsequently explains the importance of “Monitoring” people. Here, a leader’s ability to be on top of the task at all times comes to the forefront. Bhishmachaarya explains that while giving autonomy to people is an important aspect of leadership, this should not become 100%. A leader should have the control in his / her hand every time. However, this doesn’t mean that the leader should start micromanaging with his / her employee’s at all times. There should be a fine balance between giving absolute control and micromanaging. 

Moving on further thus, Bhishmachaarya explains – “Oh Yudishtra! While delegating tasks to someone else, you should be careful not to delegate the entire work to just one person. Even if this person might be a great “Dharma-Atman”, he / she could spoil the entire work within no time. Instead, you should hand over the work to a team (more than one person), so that one can monitor the other effectively!” This is an extremely important point that Bhishmachaarya is highlighting here – If we’re delegating work to people, we should first judge who is good at what. Secondly, while delegating, we should be careful not to give the entire task to one person. It is rather advisable to split the task into multiple sub-tasks and distribute the work according to people’s competence. This would be a better option, as monitoring also becomes easier for the leader. This is why in today’s context, we have brought in the concept of “Team work” in corporate organizations. Rather than an individual sitting and breaking his head on a certain complex task, if it is broken down into smaller granules of work and allocated to multiple people, the work gets completed easily, faster and more efficiently. This is exactly what Bhishmachaarya is explaining here. 

Moving on further, Bhishmachaarya explains a very important point, which is directly applicable in today’s context in several places. Bhishmachaarya explains thus, “Oh Yudishtra! For instance, let us assume that you have an agricultural land parcel. Adjacent to yours, your friend has his parcel of land where he is doing agriculture like you. There is a pipe carrying water to both of your fields. Since the pipe passes through your friend’s field first, your friend gets a lion’s share of the water. Whereas, you get whatever water that is remaining after his usage in the field. Upon seeing this, you  become jealous of your friend, and just because you’re not getting enough water, you break open the pipe at your friend’s field and take away his share of water – Is this the right thing to do? The answer is “No”! If your friend gets a greater share of water, let it be. At a time when it rains bountifully, and when there is excessive water discharge at his side, he will have no option but to automatically open the pipe for you to get the water, isn’t it? Hence, the point here is that, as a leader, you should develop patience when it comes to obtaining and using resources. You should not constantly keep fighting with others to obtain resources. When the right time comes, you will automatically get the resource that you’re looking for!” 

Now this is a very important point, which is applicable in several states within India. For instance, two southern Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are perennially fighting over the waters of River Cauvery for several decades now! While Karnataka being an upper-riparian state, claims that the entire water from River Cauvery is theirs, and it should only be at their discretion that Tamil Nadu should get water, Tamil Nadu claims otherwise – Because the river is a shared resource between two states, water should be shared equally between the two parties! The fight is ongoing perennially. However, when there is excessive rainfall in the catchment areas of the river (Karnataka’s side), Karnataka will have no option but to open the sluice gates of its dams to release water into Tamil Nadu! During drought conditions, Karnataka will play politics! However, Tamil Nadu keeps pressing its demands every now and then, and this becomes a point of friction between the two states. This is exactly what Bhishmachaarya wants Yudishtra to avoid as a leader. 

So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall witness an important reason as to why Bhishmachaarya is saying this! Stay tuned! 🙂 

Episode # 1317 – “MONITORING  – An important duty of a leader!” – Bhishmachaarya outlines!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya continuing with his accord on the “Aapad-Dharmam” to Yudishtra, which is part of a bigger discussion on the “Raaja-Dharma”. As part of this discussion, we’ve also witnessed thirty-six qualities of a leader, beyond which, he is now talking about the nuances behind “Mithram” (Friendship) for a leader. While alliances / friendships are essential and integral part of leadership, who are the ones to be considered as close aides or opportunists need a lot of introspection within all of us as well, in today’s context. Given that today’s world is extremely competitive, it is quite natural that people around us would be opportunistic in some way or the other. It is this element which Bhishmachaarya is also explaining in-depth in subsequent pointers that he’s giving here. In these lines, we’ve seen yesterday as to “who should be kept where” when it comes to allowing people to come into our closer circles. Those who are opportunistic and expect something in return from us all the time, should always be kept at a distance. Whereas, those who are kith and kin with us both during happiness and suffering, should be kept near us at all times. However, those people who are “Dharmatmas” should be kept as our extremely close-aides, because they would be the people who will guide us correctly in our path. 

This is exactly what we see in a modern-day leadership concept called “Situational Leadership Theory”, wherein it is said that those people who are “Able” and “Unwilling” should be monitored the most. This theory categorises people into four different types. For those people who have infinite abilities but are unwilling to do anything, a leader should be on top of them everytime, to monitor their working periodically. This is because these people have “attitude issues”. Second category is those who are “Unable” and “Unwilling”. In this case, this person neither has the ability nor has a good attitude to learn to do things. In such cases, a leader has his task cut out! In fact, these are the toughest lot of people that a leader has to handle. Whereas, the third category of people – “Unable” and “Willing”, are quite easy to manage – This is because these people have a good attitude and are ready to learn. For such people, imparting necessary skills is easy, and hence, the amount of monitoring that the leader has to do becomes lesser. Finally, those people who are “Able” and “Willing” need not be monitored at all. They are self-motivated individuals and the leader’s role here becomes that of a facilitator. 

If we compare this theory with whatever Bhishmachaarya has explained here, there are enormous resemblances. While this “Situational Leadership Theory” of Hersey and Blanchard (1969) explains that the last category (“Able” & “Willing”) should be given the maximum autonomy, Bhishmachaarya (5000+ years ago) says that those people who are “Dharmatmas” should be given the most autonomy! Those people who are “Bhajamana” and “Sahaja” will stand by us at all times and will be loyal and high-performing, and can be entrusted with any job with little monitoring and mentoring. This can be equated to the two categories of “Unable & Willing” and “Able & Willing” of Hersey and Blanchard (1969). Finally, those who are opportunistic, per Bhishmachaarya (“Sahaartha” & “Krithrima”) are the ones who fall under the “Able & Unwilling” and “Unable & Unwilling” categories of people. These are the ones who can never be trusted and can ditch you at any point! 

From this discussion, it is very interesting as to how parallels can be drawn from ancient wisdom of leadership and the contemporary theories / ideas of leadership. Moving on further, Bhishmachaarya outlines the important role of a leader – “Monitoring”. This is extremely important. Bhishmachaarya explains to Yudishtra thus, “Oh Yudishtra! If you’re deputing some task to your people, you should not become complacent that they will do everything! You need to monitor the progress of work very carefully from time to time. Else, people will sleep on the task and ultimately the outcome will get affected! You need to be on top of people at all times, so that the task is finished successfully! As a king, you should have this skill of monitoring your people effectively!” 

This is a very important point, which needs an elaborate discussion. So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall continue this further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

Episode # 1316 – Whom to monitor and whom not to? Bhishmachaarya’s key leadership lesson!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya continuing with his important accord on “Aapad Dharmam” wherein he explains which categories of friends we’ve to keep as close aides and which categories of friends we’ve to limit to specific purposes only. In these lines, Bhishmachaarya explains that the categories of “Sahaartha” and “Krithrima” should always be kept at a distance at all times, whereas the categories of “Bhajamana” and “Sahajan” can be encouraged into our close circles. However, the most important category called “Dharmatma” should always be our priority and should be kept as our most trusted aide. If we’ve to explain this in simpler terms for our understanding, the people who are trying to be opportunistic with us, should always be kept at a safe distance at all times. Whereas, those people who try to be with us during all happy and suffering moments can be allowed into our closer circles, and the ones who are ardent followers of “Dharma” and those who would only talk and perform actions pertaining to “Dharma” should always be our advisors at any point of time. 

In leadership, this is an extremely important requirement for being successful. If we look at leaders who have been victorious (it can be across several domains like corporate CEO’s, political leaders across the world, sports leaders, etc.) over the years and who have stamped their authority in whatever they do, we will be able to see that their advisors would be extremely “Dharmic” in nature. When we say “Dharmic” in this context, we can equate this to dedication, hard work, and highly focused individuals.  Only if a leader has such advisors who are extremely focused and dedicated, will he / she be able to give proper advice to the leader pertaining to several problems / situations. Whereas if opportunistic people come to this level of being an advisor to the leader, the entire mission would go for a toss, isn’t it? Hence, it is important for a leader to identify who falls under which category of “Mithra” and deploy them accordingly! 

Moving on further thus, Bhishmachaarya is continuing his explanation on the four categories of “Mithra”. He says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! When you’re employing all the four categories of people, you should treat them differentially. You cannot treat all the four categories in the same way. Categories 1 and 4 – “Sahaartha” and “Krithrima” need constant monitoring. This is because the former is a one who constantly looks for something in return from you for whatever he does. Hence, chances are high that if he doesn’t get whatever he wants from you, he might start acting against you! The latter is even more dangerous – If you do not keep satisfying him with some sort of reward or wealth, he is going to ditch you at any moment! Hence, both these categories of people warrant extra bit of monitoring and attention from your end. You cannot be complacent and should not give them complete autonomy in any task. You should have the control in your hands, when you’re dealing with such people!” 

Saying thus, Bhishmachaarya continues further thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Categories 2 and 3 – “Bhajamana” and “Sahajan” can be trusted, as they would stand by you at all times. However, they might not be as talented as you might want them to be and hence you’ll have to train them from time to time. Having said thus, you can be assured that unlike the previous two categories, these people might not ditch you so easily! Now when it comes to the category of “Dharmatma”, these people will need no monitoring from you at all! You can trust them completely – both in terms of talent and trust. You just need to give them the task and they will ensure that it is completed in the best way possible. However, Oh Yudishtra! You need to understand that if you start monitoring these people like the other categories, they will not like it! You’ve to give them autonomy in whatever they are doing!”

These are extremely important points of leadership which Bhishmachaarya is explaining here. In the modern day Management and Leadership context, we have all these points under the theory called “Situational Leadership Theory”. So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall take this “Situational Leadership Theory” along with Bhishmachaarya’s points forward for a more detailed discussion as we move on further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

Episode # 1315 – “Whom to trust and whom to avoid?” – Bhishmachaarya’s tactful explanation!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed a very important and an interesting accord from Bhishmachaarya pertaining to the context of “Aapad-Dharma” – Four kinds of “Mithra” (Friendships). This comes at a time when Yudishtra asks an important question as to how to identify whether a person is a true friend to us or not. For this, Bhishmachaarya categorizes friendship into four different types, namely “Sahaartha”, “Bhajamaana”, “Sahajan” and “Krithrima”. While “Sahaartha” means friendship with some kind of expectation at all times, “Bhajamanam” means friendship that occurs due to family bondings of various types (relatives). “Sahajan” indicates those people who are with us through kith and kin – happy and difficult times, and “Krithrima” indicates those people who are opportunistic in nature. With this, Bhishmachaarya explains different types of people who are in connection with us at all times during our lives. 

Even in our own context today, we will have people around us who might fall into any of these four categories. There might be many people whom we come across all through our life journey – Both personal and professional. At our workplace we come across several colleagues all through our career tenure, but does everyone stick to us as “Sahaja” (friendship through kith and kin)? The obvious answer is “No”! Only a very few people fall into this category, and those people should be of the same wavelength of mind, thought process, etc., isn’t it? It might be amazing to also introspect that when we are working with an organization for a span of maybe 3 to 4 years, we might have developed extremely close friendships with a few of our colleagues. However, when we move on to another organization for our own career growth and upliftment, many of our so-called “close colleagues” in our previous organization will slowly go out of touch! We might remember them, but we might not have anything to talk / share with them in due course of time, and thus, the friendship slowly vanishes! This is exactly what Bhishmachaarya also says here – There can be no permanent friends / enemies throughout our lives. These are sublime things that keep changing day after day, and we’ve to accept and move on with it. 

Moving on further from here, Bhishmachaarya is now adding a fifth dimension to friendship – “Dharmatma” – A person who is an epitome of “Dharma” at all times. We also might have some people like this in our lives – Someone who can appreciate us when we do the right thing, and at the same time, criticize us when we do something wrong. This is a very important category of friendship. Many times we might get carried away by those people who constantly keep appreciating us for everything that we talk and do. We might think that they are our best buddies! But the story isn’t that! A friend should also be able to confront us if we’re deviating from our path of “Dharma”. If this is not happening, there is no point in having a friend, isn’t it? This is what the old English proverb captures beautifully – “A friend in need is a friend indeed!”, and this is exactly what Bhishmachaarya explains here. 

Saying this, now Bhishmachaarya goes into the next part of Yudishtra’s question. Readers might remember that Yudishtra had asked earlier that which person should be encouraged up to what level. Bhishmachaarya is providing a beautiful explanation here – “Oh Yudishtra! You should always keep “Mithra” number 1 and 4 (“Sahaartha” and “Krithrima”) at bay! In other words, you should not encourage them beyond a certain point, as they are opportunistic in nature! “Mithra” number 2 and 3 (Bhajamana and Sahajan) can be encouraged more closely, as they will be trusted aides of yours. Whereas, when it comes to “Mithra” number 5 – “Dharmatma”, you should always worship them and keep them with you at all times! This is because these are the people who will guide you in the right path at all times!” 

These are beautiful words of explanation from Bhishmachaarya, which requires enormous introspection within our own selves! We shall take this important discussion forward into the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂