The Pyramid of Values: Value-based Leadership Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita

Dev Sanskriti Interdisciplinary International Journal ◽

10.36018/dsiij.v18i.213 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 ◽

pp. 01-9

Author(s):

Nanjundappa S Harshavardhana ◽

Kuravanka G Srinivas

Keyword(s):

Leadership Role ◽

Value Systems ◽

Active Listening ◽

Bhagavad Gita ◽

Religious Perspective ◽

Greater Good ◽

The Will ◽

Nervous Breakdown ◽

Bhagavad Gītā ◽

Leadership Lessons

The Bhagavad Gita (BG) is studied from spiritual, theological and religious perspective. It is a collection of 700 verses wherein beset by compassion and grief, Arjuna loses the will to fight and has a nervous breakdown. The supreme lord Srikrishna’s preachings by which he convincingly manages to motivate Arjuna to fight his enemies with determination constitutes the gist the BG. It is considered as ‘India’s book of Answers’ to all the problems of human civilization and has inspired generations over thousands of years. Srikrishna preaches three-fold path of: i) Action (Karma); ii) Devotion (Bhakti) and iii) Knowledge / Intellect (Jnana) emphasizing that the greatest battles are fought in one’s own mind. Wisdom from the BG is increasingly recognized in the field of leadership and management. It emphasizes that the core of leadership lies in one’s character and is influenced by ‘Value’ systems and combination of three key ‘Personality’ traits. A good leader should cultivate ‘Sattvic’ virtues and act selflessly for greater good of all with judicious use of power that comes with authority. The principle leadership lessons taught by BG are: i) To know thyself; ii) Practice renunciation by selfless service; iii) Fearless action with integrity; iv) Embrace formidable challenges with a prepared mind to face them and v) Moral righteousness. The BG recommends one to approach leadership role with an attitude as a custodian who protects and motivates his team by practising the art of ‘Active Listening’. Incorporating the teachings of BG would facilitate a leader to be free of bias, observe equanimity and make wise decisions leading to contentment and inner peace.

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Leadership Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita

10.4135/9789353287870 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Ace V. Simpson

Keyword(s):

Bhagavad Gita ◽

Bhagavad Gītā ◽

Leadership Lessons

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Leadership Lessons from Bhagavad Gita

Dev Sanskriti Interdisciplinary International Journal ◽

10.36018/dsiij.v3i0.32 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

pp. 19-24

Author(s):

USHA JAISWAL ◽

KARANAM N. RAO

Keyword(s):

Role Model ◽

Bhagavad Gita ◽

Organizational Goals ◽

Managerial Practices ◽

The People ◽

Management Perspective ◽

Bhagavad Gītā ◽

Leadership Lessons ◽

Made In ◽

Management Theories

There has been a flurry of activity in management literature for developing management theories for the last one and half century. People, in general, tend to assume that globally renowned companies adopt the best managerial practices and the management theories of the West are the best worthy of emulation by the Eastern counterparts. In the backdrop of crumbling communist concepts and the near failure of capitalistic models, especially after the fall of Lehman Brothers in USA, scholars have begun to perceive the hollowness of those models and turned their attention to the ancient wisdom of oriental countries. Leadership is having greater significance in managing an organization. Leaders are the persons who motivate and build the morale of the followers in achieving organizational goals to newer heights. Notwithstanding the prevalence of plethora of literature on leadership from the Western management perspective, scholars have begun to take a relook at ancient Indian scriptures which have valuable lessons in the area of leadership. In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna acted as a role model and imparted great lessons of leadership to Arjuna. An attempt is made in this article to draw leadership lessons from Gita which inspired the people from time immemorial.

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Living the Bhagavad Gita at Gandhi’s Ashrams

Religions ◽

10.3390/rel10110619 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 619 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Karline McLain

Keyword(s):

Daily Life ◽

Colonial Period ◽

Intentional Communities ◽

Colonial Rule ◽

Bhagavad Gita ◽

The Core ◽

Greater Good ◽

British Colonial ◽

Bhagavad Gītā ◽

The 19Th Century

The Bhagavad Gita is a philosophical Hindu scripture in which the god Krishna imparts lessons to the warrior prince Arjuna about sacred duty (dharma) and the path to spiritual liberation (moksha). This classical scripture has had a long and active interpretive life, and by the 19th century it had come to be regarded as a core text, if not the core text, of Hinduism. During the colonial period, interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita considered the relevance of Krishna’s lessons to Arjuna in the context of British colonial rule. While some Indians read a call to arms into their interpretation of this scripture and urged their fellow Indians to rise up in armed resistance, Gandhi famously read a nonviolent message into it. This article argues that equally as important as Gandhi’s hermeneutics of nonviolence is his commitment to enacting the lessons of the Bhagavad Gita as he interpreted them in the daily life of his intentional communities. When explored through the lens of daily life in these intentional communities (which Gandhi called ashrams), we see that Gandhi’s interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita emphasized not just nonviolence but also disciplined action, including self-sacrifice for the greater good.

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