Living Happily (4) - Personality Development

Personality Development

Maharashtra VyavasAya MArgadarshan Kendra, Mumbai published in April-June 2003 issue of their magazine SaptarShI my article in Marathi - व्यक्तिमत्त्व-विकासासम्बंधी गीतेतील मार्गदर्शन (vyaktimattva-vikaasaasambandhI gIteteel mArgadarshan). It comes to mind that I should make do by just translating that article. But thinking and writing afresh would bring out more, newer thoughts. So, I shall compose this post by keeping that article on hand for reference.

There are various definitions of "Personality". There is a proverb in Hindi एक नूर आदमी तो दस नूर कपड़ा If a person himself is one count, good dress will get him ten counts ! Good dress may get him an admission into an assembly of the elite. But his culture and upbringing will show him out, if he is asked to speak. There is another English proverb which says exactly this, You can take a boy out from a village. But you may not be able to take the village out of the boy ! Personality Development should bring about a cultural change.

Sanskrit word for culture is संस्कृति sanskRuti. It is derived from the verb सं + कृ (= to refine comprehensively). Possibly local dialects prevailed much before Sanskrit emerged as a refined language, maybe, refined from local dialects only. For refinements, there needs to be something raw. Steel is refined from iron ore. The refinements were possibly in terms well-defined rules of grammar and refinements by literary elements. But Sanskrit is also the language of Veda-s. Veda-s contain edicts of good, noble personal and social dispositions. Refined tongue bespeaks an elite person. In times of British rule of 190-odd years in India (On June 23rd, 1757 at Plassey, a small village and mango grove between Calcutta and Murshidabad, the forces of the East India Company under Robert Clive met the army of Siraj-ud-Doula, the Nawab of Bengal. Clive won the battle "by promoting treason and forgery". British rule in India had "an unsavory beginning", as noted by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru in his Discovery of India), English became the language of the elite. Since British empire spread across the world so much, that the sun never set on the British empire, English became the language of the elite all around the world and continues to be so. In terms of being a really refined language, Sanskrit should rightfully be the language of all elitist communications. That is of course beside the point. 

In the context of Personality Development, a person should strive for overhaul and improvement over what one is. That does not require change of one's facial features. Personality Development demands qualitative change. The 16th chapter of गीता begins with three verses which enlist some 26 good qualities.

अभयं सत्त्वसंशुद्धिर्ज्ञानयोगव्यवस्थितिः |

दानं दमश्च यज्ञश्च स्वाध्यायस्तप आर्जवम् ||१६-१||

अहिंसा सत्यमक्रोधस्त्यागः शान्तिरपैशुनम् |

दया भूतेष्वलोलुप्त्वं मार्दवं ह्रीरचापलम् ||१६-२||

तेजः क्षमा धृतिः शौचमद्रोहो नातिमानिता |

भवन्ति संपदं दैवीमभिजातस्य भारत ||१६-३||

In गीता such list of good qualities can be seen at many places. For example,

अमानित्वमदम्भित्वमहिंसा क्षान्तिरार्जवम् |

आचार्योपासनं शौचं स्थैर्यमात्मविनिग्रहः ||१३-८||

इन्द्रियार्थेषु वैराग्यमनहंकार एव च |

जन्ममृत्युजराव्याधिदुःखदोषानुदर्शनम् ||१३-९||

असक्तिरनभिष्वङ्गः पुत्रदारगृहादिषु |

नित्यं च समचित्तत्वमिष्टानिष्टोपपत्तिषु ||१३-१०||

मयि चानन्ययोगेन भक्तिरव्यभिचारिणी |

विविक्तदेशसेवित्वमरतिर्जनसंसदि ||१३-११||

अध्यात्मज्ञाननित्यत्वं तत्त्वज्ञानार्थदर्शनम् |

एतज्ज्ञानमिति प्रोक्तमज्ञानं यदतोऽन्यथा ||१३-१२||

 

Here, cultivating good qualities is called as the path of Knowledge ज्ञानम्. There are repetitions in the qualities listed here and in the three verses of 16th chapter, for example अहिंसा, शौचं, नातिमानिता><अमानित्वम्, etc. 

 

Good qualities are enlisted in a different context in 18th chapter also -

शमो दमस्तपः शौचं क्षान्तिरार्जवमेव च |

ज्ञानं विज्ञानमास्तिक्यं ब्रह्मकर्म स्वभावजम् ||१८-४२||

शौर्यं तेजो धृतिर्दाक्ष्यं युद्धे चाप्यपलायनम् |

दानमीश्वरभावश्च क्षात्रं कर्म स्वभावजम् ||१८-४३||

कृषिगौरक्ष्यवाणिज्यं वैश्यकर्म स्वभावजम् |

परिचर्यात्मकं कर्म शूद्रस्यापि स्वभावजम् ||१८-४४||

 Although good qualities are enlisted here as ब्रह्मकर्म, क्षात्रं कर्म, वैश्यकर्म and शूद्रस्य कर्म these mentions of ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय, वैश्य, शूद्र have been sadly mistaken as divisions of society on the basis of castes. As is clear from -

ब्राह्मणक्षत्रियविशां शूद्राणां च परन्तप |

कर्माणि प्रविभक्तानि स्वभावप्रभवैर्गुणैः ||१८-४१||

the mentions here are in the context of division of labour, कर्माणि प्रविभक्तानि forthrightly on the basis of strengths of skills and aptitudes of a person, स्वभावप्रभवैर्गुणैः and not on the basis of caste of his birth. Even in 4th chapter itself it has been made clear -

 चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुणकर्मविभागशः |

तस्य कर्तारमपि मां विद्ध्यकर्तारमव्ययम् ||४-१३||

 

Personality Development certainly does not mean imitating others. Any such attempt or effort will not only be fruitless but may even prove fret with dire consequences, as cautioned in -

श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् |

स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः ||३-३५||

 

The first line seems to be so important that it is repeated letter-by-letter, dot-by-dot in 

श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् |

स्वभावनियतं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम् ||१८-४७||

 

 The first line seems to lay down the approach to Personality Development - "Do not imitate, know thy self" Know what is your स्वधर्म. All people conducting Aptitude Tests should know that they and the tests should help the person to know his स्वधर्म.

When speaking of धर्म I feel sad to note that its English translation as "religion" is pathetically poor. Mention of स्वधर्म here refers to the totality of skills, aptitudes, capabilities and indulgences eminently suited to bring the best of a person for himself and for the society. Hence कर्माणि प्रविभक्तानि स्वभावप्रभवैर्गुणैः ||१८-४१|| That is the basis and purpose of चातुर्वर्ण्य, division of labour according to what job a person is best suited for गुणकर्मविभागशः. 

There was possibly confusion in Arjuna's mind also, when he spoke of both वर्ण and जाति in one breath

 दोषैरेतैर्कुलघ्नानां वर्णसंकरकारकैः |

उत्साद्यन्ते जातिधर्माः कुलधर्माश्च शाश्वताः ||१-४३||

 

Possibly one reason for Krishna telling गीता was also to dispel these confusions. वर्णसंकर does not become any malady दोष. If one has the aptitudes and skills, one is welcome to undertake ब्रह्मकर्म, क्षात्रकर्म, वैश्यकर्म whatever. Lord Krishna was on the battlefield not because he was a क्षत्रिय. In fact he had vowed that he would not wield any weapon. What गीता he narrated is proof that he was well-versed in the scriptures, more well-versed than any ब्राह्मण.  

 

Personality Development should then mean building upon one's strengths. One builds up one's strengths by perseverance, hard work, intense studies in his chosen field. This is called as तप. How to carry on तप is very elaborately detailed in following verses -

देवद्विजगुरुप्राज्ञपूजनं शौचमार्जवम् |

ब्रह्मचर्यमहिंसा च शारीरं तप उच्यते ||१७-१४||

अनुद्वेगकरं वाक्यं सत्यं प्रियहितं च यत् |

स्वाध्यायाभ्यसनं चैव वाङ्मयं तप उच्यते ||१७-१५||

मनः प्रसादः सौम्यत्वं मौनमात्मविनिग्रहः |

भावसंशुद्धिरित्येतत्तपो मानसमुच्यते ||१७-१६||

Observance of तप is detailed here in three contexts - physical शारीरं, speech-level वाङ्मयं, mental/spiritual level मानसं.

Rishi-s and Muni-s observed तप. It comes to mind that as observing तप, they really did focused study of the subject of their choice. For example भरतमुनि is well-known for नाट्यशास्त्र, because he did focused study of नाट्यशास्त्र and his work became a reference treatise on the subject. PaNini did focused study of Sanskrit grammar and his work has become reference treatise on the subject. So तप need not mean doing harsh penance for spiritual attainment. It can result in that also !

 

It is pertinent to note that speech-level वाङ्मयं तप has some deeper connotation to it, because speech or वाक् is itself recognized to emanate at four levels - परा, पश्यन्ती, मध्यमा and वैखरी Observance of वाङ्मयं तप would imply its observance at all the four levels.

To focus on subject of one's choice is then observing स्वधर्म. To excel will need तप. When observing स्वधर्म and undertaking needed तप will demand cultivating right interpersonal relationships. To my mind codes of interpersonal relationships also is another meaning of the word धर्म. We shall discuss this next.

-o-O-o-

 

 

Living Happily (3) - Training the mind

Training the mind

It was noted earlier that happiness is in one's own mind. So, to be happy, one needs to train the mind to be happy.

One way of training the mind is to do Yoga. In fact YogasootraaNi योगसूत्राणि of Paatanjali पातञ्जलि starts with the aphorism

योगः चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः
yogaH chitta-vRutti-nirodhaH
Yoga means control/regulation of mind.

Starting with this aphorism, Paatanjali delineates eight-fold path of Yoga अष्टाङ्ग-योग aShTaanga-yoga, यम-नियम-आसन-प्राणायाम-प्रत्याहार-ध्यान-धारणा-समाधि yama-niyama-aasana-praaNaayaama-pratyaahaara-dhyaana-dhaaraNaa-samaadhi

Every chapter of Geetaa has a title ending with the word योग. So, if as many as eighteen chapters of Geetaa have such title, understanding योग should mean understanding it in so many perspectives.

Actually the word Yoga has many facets of meaning. Grammatically it is a noun derived from the verb युज् 'yuj'. Grammarian PaaNini details this verb by three aphorism -

• युज् संयमने = Verb युज् for regulation/control
• युज् समाधौ = Verb युज् for equanimity or balance of mind
• युजिर् योगे = Verb युज् for joining

Did somebody say, "Mind is a monkey" ? Training the mind is of course as difficult, rather more difficult. Arjuna expressed this difficulty when he said,

चञ्चलं हि मनः कृष्ण प्रमाथि बलवद्दृढम् ।
तस्याहं निग्रहं मन्ये वायोरिव सुदुष्करम् ।।६-३४।।
chanchalam hi manaH kRuShNa pramaathi balavaddRuDham |
tasyaaham nigraham manye vaayoriva suduShkaram ||6-34||

Oh, Krishna, mind is known to be very fickle, adamant and strong, difficult to reign. I reckon that controlling the mind is as difficult as controlling the wind.

Krishna could not have disagreed. He said as much, but added -

असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम् ।
अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते ।।६-३५।।
asamshayam mahaabaaho mano durnigraham chalam |
abhyaasena tu kaunteya vairaagyeNa cha gRuhyate ||6-35||

No doubt, oh you with strong arms, mind is fickle and difficult to control. But it can be controlled by studied practice and by aloofness.

Krishna has given important hints here for training the mind viz. study, aloofness, perseverance, practice. Possibly all aspects of training oneself in any subject, are summarized in verse 4-34. I have underlined the words any subject to imply training in any subject including training the mind. A detailed study of this verse is presented in http://slabhyankar.wordpress.com/2010/06/23/learning-sanskrit-by-a-fresh-approach-lesson-17/.

How to do meditation as one method of training the mind is detailed in following verses -

शुचौ देशे प्रतिष्ठाप्य स्थिरमासनमात्मनः ।
नात्युच्छ-रितं नातिनीचं चैलाजिनकुशोत्तरम् ।।६-११।।
By setting oneself steadfast in clean and pure environ, such that the seat is neither too high nor too low, on a clean deerskin laid on a bed of grass

तत्रैकाग्रं मनः कृत्वा यतचित्तेन्द्रियक्रियः ।
उपविश्यासने युञ्ज्याद्योगमात्मविशुद्धये ।।६-१२।।
By bringing focus and concentration of the mind, with consummate control of mind and all organs and actions, one should practice Yoga (meditation) for cleansing oneself
समं कायशिरोग्रीवं धारयन्नचलं स्थिरः ।
संप्रेक्ष्य नासिकाग्रं स्वं दिशश्चानवलोकायन् ।।६-१३।।
Holding the body, head and chin level, unmoving and steadfast focusing on the tip of nose and not looking in any specific/other direction (not being distracted by anything around)

प्रशान्तात्मा विगतभीर्ब्रह्मचारिव्रते स्थितः ।
मनः संयम्य मच्चित्तो युक्त आसीत मत्परः ।।६-१४।।
Experiencing Peace of soul, devoid of any fear whatsoever, attuned to the conduct commensurate with that of Brahma, by controlling the mind with Me in mind and heart
युञ्जन्नेवं सदात्मानं योगी नियतमानसः ।
शान्तिं निर्वाणपरमां मत्संस्थामधिगच्छति ।।६-१५।।
Such Yogi who intertwines his faculties with mine will experience and attain ultimate Peace, such as what is characteristic of Me.

It is important to note that the final objective is शान्ति shaanti Peace, not just happiness !

Geetaa also recognizes that to be able to do good meditation, body also has to be also ship-shape. Following verses detail this -

युक्ताहारविहारस्य युक्तचेष्टस्य कर्मसु ।
युक्तस्वप्नावबोधस्य योगो भवति दुःखहा ।।६-१७।।
yuktaahaara-vihaarasya yuktacheShTasya karmasu |
yuktasvapna-avabodhasya yogo bhavati duHkha-haa ||6-17||

Yoga will remove pains and sorrows (only for one) who observes right diet, right involvements, right actions, right amount of sleeps/dreams and right amount of being awake.

Actually complete chapter 6 in Geetaa delineates training of the mind.

What is detailed in above verse is how to take care of oneself or "Personality Development", if one may say so. Yes, Personality Development is important and essential for LIVING HAPPILY ! Let us discuss that in the next post.

-o-O-o-

Living Happily (2) - Don't worry, be happy !

Don't worry, be happy !

To know how to be happy, we need to know what makes us unhappy. We need to know how to be free from worries.

Definition of Economics speaks of satisfaction of human wants. Obviously if wants are not satisfied, one becomes unhappy. Human wants are further classified as needs, comforts and luxuries.

Interestingly, if one has a pet dog at home, and if the dog is not happy, the dog's owner would not be happy ! If a tiger in the jungle is not happy, that does not necessarily make us unhappy. Is not happiness relative ?

Geetaa advocates striving for Peace than for just happiness !

विहाय कामान्यः सर्वान् पुमांश्चरति निःस्पृहः ।
निर्ममो निरहंकारः स शान्तिमधिगच्छति ।।२-७१।।

He, who has forsaken all desires and lives with no aspirations whatsoever, such person devoid of all attachments and egos attains Peace !

In Preface I had underlined the words "and much more" The difference between striving for happiness and striving for peace becomes the big difference between what Geetaa advocates and what the widely read western books seem to discuss.

All the essentials for attaining Peace seem to be also summarized in the above verse - no desires, no aspirations, no attachments, no egos !

From theory of economics, we recognize that one becomes unhappy if wants are not satisfied. In Geetaa towards the end of seventh chapter and in the beginning of eighth chapter there is mention of three concepts, which in philosophy are recognized as त्रिताप three types of unhappinesses - आधिभौतिक, आधिदैविक, आध्यात्मिक physical/personal afflictions, natural calamities and spiritual and/or mental indispositions. Arjuna raises the queries -

किं तद्ब्रह्म किमध्यात्मं किं कर्म पुरुषोत्तम ।
अधिभूतं च किं प्रोक्तं अधिदैवं किमुच्यते ।।८-१।।

The words/queries which are relevant in the context of this discussion are underlined above. These queries are answered by Lord Krishna श्रीकृष्णभगवान् by the following specific phrases -

स्वभावोऽध्यात्ममुच्यते । (in verse 8-3) = spiritual or mental indispositions are by one's own nature/character.
अधिभूतं क्षरो भावः । in verse 8-4) = physical/personal afflictions are perishable.
पुरुषश्चाधिदैवतम् । in verse 8-4) = natural calamities are superhuman.

I have interpreted the phrases more in the context of त्रिताप unhappinesses/displeasures. They are equally valid for happiness ! We can rewrite the phrases to say -

स्वभावोऽध्यात्ममुच्यते । = spiritual or mental happiness is by one's own nature/character.
अधिभूतं क्षरो भावः । = physical/personal happiness is perishable/temporary.
पुरुषश्चाधिदैवतम् । = natural happenings are superhuman.

To LIVE HAPPILY,

1. Since, happiness is in one's own mind, to be happy, it is necessary to mould one's own mind/character.
2. We should always bear in mind that whatever happiness we may enjoy whenever, shall always be temporary.
3. There will be superhuman factors which will also influence what the result will be of any effort for happiness.

If happiness is in one's own mind, the natural question is how one should train one's mind to be happy. We shall discuss this next.

-o-O-o-

Living Happily (1) - Preface

Preface

When I read Steven Covey's "7 Habits", it came to mind that much of what Covey says is already mentioned in Geetaa. But Indians, especially in America more read Covey than Geetaa. When I said so to Mr. Guru Parulkar, he asked back, "Is Geetaa presented as readable as Covey, rather is Geetaa presented for as direct adoption in one's life as 7 Habits ?" A fantastic and very pertinent point !

Guru's question has been bogging my mind ever since. If there is no such presentation of Geetaa available, can I attempt ? But to rewrite Geetaa in such manner, I had ask myself, "Do I know Geetaa adequately ?" That prompted me to study Geetaa, word by word, phrase by phrase, in as much detail as possible. To get critical view of my study, I started a blog http://study1geetaa2sanskrit.wordpress.com This blog and its precursor संस्कृताध्ययनम् at http://slabhyankar.wordpress.com set up a pattern for studying any Sanskrit verse. Learned readers of my blogs have been kind enough to give their lucid comments and it has also greatly widened my circle of acquaintances across the world.

From among the acquaintances, Mr. Ananth Sundara-Rajan of Norman, Oklahama urges upon me to read "How to live in the World and still be Happy" by Hugh Prather.

In early stages of my career, I was deputed to settle a big amount which was outstanding from a customer. I was worried how I shall handle this assignment. I had grabbed at that time Dale Carnegie's "How to stop worrying and start living".

Over the last 45 years and more, I keep coming across books by American authors discussing success, happiness, and all such matters of urges of human mind. Geetaa also is exactly about that and much more. Since in Geetaa there is certainly "and much more", it becomes all the more important that it be presented in that manner, good enough for as direct adoption in one's life, as possible.

I cannot wait for my study of Geetaa at http://study1geetaa2sanskrit.wordpress.com to be complete. There I am only at verse 40 of Chapter 2. So, I am venturing to start off along side, on this "Guidance in Geetaa for LIVING HAPPILY".

How good this will proceed and come forth is all to be left to His grace. That also will be an important chapter "Importance of God's grace" in LIVING HAPPILY !

यत्र योगेश्वरः कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धरः ।
तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर्ध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम ।।१८-७८।।
सर्वेभ्यः शुभमस्तु ।

Mumbai, 29th October 2011.

-o-O-o-

Evolution of Management Thought

Although I have been a long-time student of Management Thoughts, there have been a few specific occasions, which gave me opportunities to give expression to my studies of Management Thoughts.

(1) In 1979 at the Silver Jubilee Convention of Bombay Productivity Council, the theme of the convention was "Management Perspectives for the '80's". The first session was devoted to "Management of Men". During the discussions, I put forth an observation as follows -

• In the context of Industrial productivity, it is generally considered that in an industry there are two classes of people - the workers and the Management staff.
• It is also generally considered that the workers are not as motivated to Corporate goals as the management staff is.
• Responsibility of motivation of the workers vests or should vest with the management.
• The episode of गीतोपदेश arose, because Arjuna all of a sudden lost his motivation to fight. As the manager on the spot it became Lord Krishna's responsibility to motivate Arjuna. This being so, गीतोपदेश can be considered as the digest of the science and philosophy of Motivation !
• Although गीतोपदेश seems to be a case-study in one-to-one motivation, Lokamanya Tilak saw in it the capability to provide Motivation of the masses, motivating the masses to rise against foreign rule, motivating the masses to act. Hence he wrote his commentary on गीता the title गीतारहस्य i.e. कर्मयोगशास्त्र

(2) In 1989, I was invited to speak at the Silver Jubilee Convention of Indian Institute of Industrial Managers. I opted to speak on "Management Challenges in the Third Millenium"

• At the outset, I submitted a confession that I cannot credit myself with any astrological faculties to make predictions of the future, certainly not for predicting what the Management Challenges would be, certainly not for a period of one Millenium, one thousand years !
• While preparing my speech, I based it upon a technique of statistical extrapolation. To extrapolate what the Management Challenges would be over another one thousand years, one needs to have a database of Management Thought 100, 500, 1000 years or more old.
• I landed upon two verses in गीता, which seem to present a gist of an old enough Management Thought. गीता itself is at least 3500 years old. Let me quote the verses -

पञ्चैतानि महाबाहो कारणानि निबोध मे ।
साङ्ख्ये कृतान्ते प्रोक्तानि सिद्धये सर्वकर्मणाम् ।।१८-१३।।
अधिष्ठानं तथा कर्ता करणम् च पृथग्विधम् ।
विविधाश्च पृथक्चेष्टाः दैवं चैवात्र पञ्चमम् ।।१८-१४।।

• The phrase सिद्धये सर्वकर्मणाम् means for fulfillment of tasks. We can appreciate that fulfillment of tasks is Management. And detailed here are five elements पञ्चैतानि कारणानि necessary for fulfillment of tasks, i.e. for Management.
• The phrase साङ्ख्ये कृतान्ते प्रोक्तानि endorses that the five-elemental analysis is quoted from साङ्ख्य philosophy which emerged towards कृतान्त i.e. end of कृत era. Chronologically, the sequence of eras is कृत, त्रेता, द्वापार, कलि. Mahabharata and गीतोपदेश are said to belong to द्वापार era. So this five-elemental analysis belonging to end of कृत era and quoted in गीतोपदेश of द्वापार era is so old that whole of त्रेता era had passed in-between.
• This justifies taking reference of this Management Thought for statistical extrapolation to another one thousand years.
• For the next database item of Management Thought what comes to mind is the theory of Four Factors of Production detailed in classical Economics. The Four Factors of Production detailed there are - Land, Labour, Capital and Organisation.
• In Modern Management Thought, mention is made of 6 M's of Management, viz. of
  1. Men
  2. Machines
  3. Materials
  4. Methods
  5. Money and
  6. Markets
  
  It becomes interesting to tabulate these elements of Management to see one-to-one correspondence.
  
  

  No.	from साङ्ख्य philosophy	Factors of Production	6 M's of Modern Management Thought
  1	अधिष्ठानम्	Land	?
  2	कर्ता	Labour	Men
  3	पृथग्विधम् करणम्	Capital	Machines, Materials, Money
  4	विविधा: पृथक्चेष्टाः	?	Methods, Markets
  5	दैवम्	Organization	?

  
  Some observations -

• The word करणम् is interesting. Considering that by the word पृथग्विधम् it would also includes many tools उपकरणानि, it corresponds well with Machines, Materials, Money and in turn corresponds well with “Capital” among Factors of Production.
• English translation of दैवम् is providence or providential coincidence. The word “coincidence” is derived from co+in+cidence, meaning going together, putting together, “Organising” to coincide in right proportion, in right time !
• By statistical extrapolation one can guess that in evolution of Management Thought, possibly no new element will be identified. But weightages of different elements may change.
• In a world of great influence of Information technology, there is not much difference in the intellectual acumen or in information and knowledge available to people. So, Management becomes a challenge of managing among equals. One can manage a herd of sheep riding on a camel’s back. But it is challenging to manage a herd of sheep by being among sheep.
• In conclusion, Management of Men, there again Management among Equals always becomes the most daunting challenge.

-o-O-o-

Musings - What this blog is about

Musings are thinking by oneself. But they can as well be prompted inquisitively or by queries from others. I wish to start off with one prompted by Bhau-mama. Here it is.

Dear SL

Please enlighten........

1) Who started the practice of taking oath in court of law keeping hand on Bhagwat Gita and swear he will tell truth ,nothing but the truth.Whose idea was it? Why?

2) Do they believe that Bhagwan was a reality? Or Gita is a writing of some wise Rishi and not the work of Bhagwan?

3) Do they believe Shrikrisna's Dwarka really existed and it got engulfed by ocean?

On hearing from you I have some more questions .

With Regards

Andhar far zala, Panati japun theva

Yete wadal vismrutiche, Nati japun theva

Dear Bhau-mama,

I think the practice in courts is primarily to remind the witness to be true at least to his/her faith. I think the practice must have been instituted by the British. In the times of Rajas and Maharajas, their judgement was final. I don't think there was any practice of argument of both sides and lawyers presenting their views and witnesses and all that. Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Swatantryaveer Savarkar, Babasaheb Ambedkar got their Barristerships in England. Dadasaheb Khaparde was Lokmanya Tilak's lawyer!!

I am always fascinated when I realise that like our "Satyameva Jayate", the motto of USA is "In God we trust". It is generally understood that, more scientifically advanced a country becomes, the general culture tends to question age-old beliefs.

One most questionable belief is about the existence of God, "The Supreme Being". My father once told me that Gurudev Ranade was once engrossed in drawing a distinction between God and Godhood. Having studied Shree Sai Sat Charita and Shree Gajanan Vijay, I too attempted drawing such distinction. In श्रीसाई-सच्चरित , in the 41 st chapter, there is one ओवी, "यश-श्री-औदार्य-ज्ञान | शान्ति-वैराग्य हे षड्गुण | इहीं श्रीसाई भगवन्त पूर्ण | ऐश्वर्य संपूर्ण हरि जैसा ||१७|| So, in this ओवी हेमाडपन्त has given a ready list of six virtues, which seems to be his list of qualities of Godhood.

Now if Yash is an essential quality of Godhood, I pity the Christian faith that crucifixtion of Jesus which is blatantly defeatist does not stop the Christians from regarding Christ at the pedestal of Godhood, if not God. Yet, according to Christian faith Jesus was only the son of the "Father in the Heavens". So a fine distinction between God and Godhood seems to be recognized by Christians.

I am more interested in understanding the Buddha religion, which does not recognize God!! So, how would you ask Buddhists to take the oath in the courts? Edicts of Buddhism are mostly in Pali. In many such Prakrut languages, a letter made of conjunction of two different consonants is simplified by doubling the first consonant. Hence Dhamma instead of Dharma and Sattam instead of Satyam.

A finer study of Geeta brings to mind that Sat and Satyam are again different things. In the 17th chapter of Geeta, the Shloka 23, starting with "Om Tat Sat Iti Nirdeshah" is followed by three further Shlokas. Studying these four Shlokas as a cascade, I find that within "Om Tat Sat", "Om" is a concept of the highest order, professed by "Brahmavadinah", "Tat" is a little inferior to "Om" professed by "Mokshakankshibhih"; and "Sat" is further inferior, because it is worldly and mundane. "Mokshakankshee" still has "akanksha" of Moksha. Title of 18th Chapter is Moksha-Sanyasa-yoga, Sanyasa of even Moksha!!

Geeta is very subtle. In 18th Chapter, for example, there is the Shloka 12, "Anishtam-Ishtam-Mishram cha Trividham karmanah Falam | Bhavati-Atyaginam Pretya Na tu Sanyasinam kwachit" Every karma can yield results, which can be either improper or benevolent or mixed. But the quality of the result is a matter of concern for those, who have not evolved to be beyond the anxiety of the results of Karma. Sanyasi is unconcerned of the Quality of result of Karma. This is actually a further elaboration of the line "Na cha Sanyasanad-eva Siddhim Samadhi Gachchhati" in the Shloka 4 in the 3rd chapter.

Ooph! You asked a question and I have started on a Pravachan on Geeta!!

Did Geetopadesh actually take place? Who knows? I once made a remark to my father, putting forth an observation that even as a novelist, Vyas-maharshi wanted to put in Mahabharata, the essence of philosophy and preferably to be narrated by Lord Krishna and to his most ardent devotee Arjuna. He found the start of the battle as the most appropriate event for Lord Krishna to narrate the philosophy!!

Speaking of Vyas-Maharshi, there is a phrase in the 10th chapter "Muneenam Api-aham Vyasah!" Now would a novelist eulogise himself like that in his own composition?

Some people seem to contend that actual Geeta could not have been 700-verses long. There is supposed to be a compilation of some 70 select verses, which are said to be original Geeta.

Have you noticed that the last Shloka of 1st Adhyay is an utterance of Sanjaya and so is the first Shloka of 2nd Adhyaya? Did Sanjaya stop a while to say "Here ends first chapter"? That is something most unlikely of Sanjaya to have done!! This itself suggests that what Geeta is seen and read, is a finely edited text, maybe, by Maharshi Vyas himself. Afterall, he is also known as Veda-Vyas, because he organized even the Vedas in an order, which he thought was the most appropriate order to learn them. If he did that with Vedas, he would have certainly done that with Mahabharat. We call Vedas as "Apourusheya". But what Vedas are available to us as of date are at best, as edited by Maharshi Veda-Vyas.

If the courts want that by taking oath, the person should vouch a commitment to be true at least to his/her faith, for Hindus, Vedas are more sacred than Geeta. But British might have opted for Geeta, being the most easily available and most commonly known scripture. In fact that practice has given room to the concept that Geeta is the scripture of the Hindus. By setting the practice that Geeta is the scripture of Hindus, the British, in effect, ‘institutionalized’ their belittling the universality of the philosophy in Geeta.

As far as Dwarka is concerned I give here below a link to an article about archaeological findings at Dwarka. http://drs.nio.org/drs/bitstream/2264/507/1/Migration_Diffusion_6_56.pdf