BHAGAVAD GITA AND MANAGEMENT

[bhattathiri]

Mind is very restless, forceful and strong,O Krishna, it is more difficult

to control the mind than to control the wind"

Arjuna to Sri Krishna



Introduction



India's one of the greatest contributions to the world is Holy Gita.





Arjuna got mentally depressed when he saw his relatives with whom he has to

fight. The Bhagavad Gita is preached in the battle field Kurukshetra by Lord

Krishna to Arjuna as a counselling to do his duty. It has got all the

management tactics to achieve the mental equilibrium..







Management has become a part and parcel in everyday life, be it at home,

office, factory, Government, or in any other organization where a group of

human beings assemble for a common purpose, management principles come into

play through their various facets like management of time, resources,

personnel, materials, machinery, finance, planning, priorities, policies and

practice.



Management is a systematic way of doing all activities in any field of human

effort. It is about keeping oneself engaged in interactive relationship with

other human beings in the course of performing one's duty. Its task is to

make people capable of joint performance, to make their weaknesses

irrelevant -so says the Management Guru Peter Drucker.



It strikes harmony in working -equilibrium in thoughts and actions, goals

and achievements, plans and performance, products and markets. It resolves

situations of scarcities be they in the physical, technical or human fields

through maximum utilization with the minimum available processes to achieve

the goal



The lack of management will cause disorder, confusion, wastage, delay,

destruction and even depression. Managing men, money and material in the

best possible way according to circumstances and environment is the most

important and essential factor for a successful management. Managing men is

supposed have the best tactics. Man is the first syllable in management

which speaks volumes on the role and significance of man in a scheme of

management practices. From the pre-historic days of aborigines to the

present day of robots and computers the ideas of managing available

resources have been in existence in some form or other. When the world has

become a big global village now, management practices have become more

complex and what was once considered a golden rule is now thought to be an

anachronism.



Management Guidelines from The Bhagavad Gita



There is an important distinction between effectiveness and efficiency in

managing.



Effectiveness is doing the right things and



Efficiency is doing things right.



The general principles of effective management can be applied in every

fields the differences being mainly in the application than in principles.

Again, effective management is not limited in its application only to

business or industrial enterprises but to all organisations where the aim is

to reach a given goal through a Chief Executive or a Manager with the help

of a group of workers.



The Manager's functions can be briefly summed up as under :



Forming a vision and planning the strategy to realise such vision.



Cultivating the art of leadership



Establishing the institutional excellence and building an innovative

organisation.



Developing human resources.



Team building and teamwork



Delegation, motivation, and communication and



Reviewing performance and taking corrective steps whenever called for.



Thus Management is a process in search of excellence to align people and get

them committed to work for a common goal to the maximum social benefit.



The critical question in every Manager's mind is how to be effective in his

job. The answer to this fundamental question is found in the Bhagavad Gita

which repeatedly proclaims that 'you try to manage yourself'. The reason is

that unless the Manager reaches a level of excellence and effectiveness that

sets him apart from the others whom he is managing, he will be merely a face

in the crowd and not an achiever.



In this context the Bhagavad Gita expounded thousands of years ago by the

Super Management Guru Bhagawan Sri Krishna enlightens us on all managerial

techniques leading to a harmonious and blissful state of affairs as against

conflicts, tensions, lowest efficiency and least productivity, absence of

motivation and lack of work culture etc common to most of the Indian

enterprises today.



The modern management concepts like vision, leadership, motivation,

excellence in work, achieving goals, meaning of work, attitude towards work,

nature of individual, decision making, planning etc., are all discussed in

the Bhagavad Gita with a sharp insight and finest analysis to drive through

our confused grey matter making it highly eligible to become a part of the

modem management syllabus.



It may be noted that while Western design on management deals with the

problems at superficial, material, external and peripheral levels, the ideas

contained in the Bhagavad Gita tackle the issues from the grass roots level

of human thinking because once the basic thinking of man is improved it will

automatically enhance the quality of his actions and their results.



The management thoughts emanating from the Western countries particularly

the U.S.A. are based mostly on the lure for materialism and a perennial

thirst for profit irrespective of the quality of the means adopted to

achieve that goal. This phenomenon has its source in abundance in the West

particularly the U.S.A. Management by materialism caught the fancy of all

the countries the world over, India being no exception to this trend.



Our country has been in the forefront in importing those ideas mainly

because of its centuries old indoctrination by the colonial rulers which

inculcated in us a feeling that anything Western is always good and anything

Indian is always inferior. Hence our management schools have sprung up on

the foundations of materialistic approach wherein no place of importance was

given to a holistic view.



The result is while huge funds have been invested in building these temples

of modem management education, no perceptible changes are visible in the

improvement of the quality of life although the standard of living of a few

has gone up. The same old struggles in almost all sectors of the economy,

criminalisation of institutions, more and more social violence, exploitation

and such other vices have gone deep in the body politic.



The reasons for this sorry state of affairs are not far to seek. The western

idea of management has placed utmost reliance on the worker (which includes

Managers also) -to make him more efficient, to increase his productivity.

They pay him more so that he may work more, produce more, sell more and will

stick to the organisation without looking for alternatives. The sole aim of

extracting better and more work from him is for improving the bottom-line of

the enterprise. Worker has become a hireable commodity, which can be used,

replaced and discarded at will.



The workers have also seen through the game plan of their paymasters who

have reduced them to the state of a mercantile product. They changed their

attitude to work and started adopting such measures as uncalled for strikes,

Gheraos, sit-ins, dharnas, go-slows, work-to-rule etc to get maximum benefit

for themselves from the organisations without caring the least for the

adverse impact that such coercive methods will cause to the society at

large.



Thus we have reached a situation where management and workers have become

separate and contradictory entities wherein their approaches are different

and interests are conflicting. There is no common goal or understanding

which predictably leads to constant suspicion, friction, disillusions and

mistrust because of working at cross purposes. The absence of human values

and erosion of human touch in the organisational structure resulted in a

permanent crisis of confidence.



The westem management thoughts although acquired prosperity to some for some

time has absolutely failed in their aim to ensure betterment of individual

life and social welfare. It has remained by and large a soulless management

edifice and an oasis of plenty for a chosen few in the midst of poor quality

of life to many. Hence there is an urgent need to have a re-look at the

prevalent management discipline on its objectives, scope and content.



It should be redefined so as to underline the development of the worker as a

man, as a human being with all his positive and negative characteristics and

not as a mere wage-earner. In this changed perspective, management ceases to

be a career-agent but becomes an instrument in the process of national

development in all its segments.



Bhagavad Gita And Managerial Effectiveness



Now let us re-examine some of the modern management concepts in the light of

the Bhagavad Gita which is a primer of management by values.



Utilisation of Available Resources



The first lesson in the management science is to choose wisely and utilise

optimally the scarce resources if one has to succeed in his venture. During

the curtain raiser before the Mahabharata War Duryodhana chose Sri Krishna's

large army for his help while Arjuna selected Sri Krishna's wisdom for his

support. This episode gives us a clue as to who is an Effective Manager.



Attitude Towards Work



Three stone-cutters were engaged in erecting a temple. As usual a H.R.D.

Consultant asked them what they were doing. The response of the three

workers to this innocent-looking question is illuminating.



'I am a poor man. I have to maintain my family. I am making a living here,'

said the first stone-cutter with a dejected face.



'Well, I work because I want to show that I am the best stone-cutter in the

country,' said the second one with a sense of pride.



'Oh, I want to build the most beautiful temple in the country,' said the

third one with a visionary gleam.



Their jobs were identical but their perspectives were different. What Gita

tells us is to develop the visionary perspective in the work we do. It tells

us to develop a sense of larger vision in one's work for the common good.



Work Commitment



The popular verse 2.47 of the Gita advises non- attachment to the fruits or

results of actions performed in the course of one's duty. Dedicated work has

to mean 'work for the sake of work'. If we are always calculating the date

of promotion for putting in our efforts, then such work cannot be

commitment-oriented causing excellence in the results but it will be

promotion-oriented resulting in inevitable disappointments. By tilting the

performance towards the anticipated benefits, the quality of performance of

the present duty suffers on account of the mental agitations caused by the

anxieties of the future. Another reason for non-attachment to results is the

fact that workings of the world are not designed to positively respond to

our calculations and hence expected fruits may not always be forthcoming .



So, the Gita tells us not to mortgage the present commitment to an uncertain

future. If we are not able to measure up to this height, then surly the

fault lies with us and not with the teaching.



Some people argue that being unattached to the consequences of one's action

would make one un-accountable as accountability is a much touted word these

days with the vigilance department sitting on our shoulders. However, we

have to understand that the entire second chapter has arisen as a sequel to

the temporarily lost sense of accountability on the part of Arjuna in the

first chapter of the Gita in performing his swadharma.



Bhagavad Gita is full of advice on the theory of cause and effect, making

the doer responsible for the consequences of his deeds. The Gita, while

advising detachment from the avarice of selfish gains by discharging one's

accepted duty, does not absolve anybody of the consequences arising from

discharge of his responsibilities.



This verse is a brilliant guide to the operating Manager for psychological

energy conservation and a preventive method against stress and burn-outs in

the work situations. Learning managerial stress prevention methods is quite

costly now days and if only we understand the Gita we get the required cure

free of cost.



Thus the best means for effective work performance is to become the work

itself. Attaining this state of nishkama karma is the right attitude to work

because it prevents the ego, the mind from dissipation through speculation

on future gains or losses.



It has been presumed for long that satisfying lower needs of a worker like

adequate food, clothing and shelter, recognition, appreciation, status,

personality development etc are the key factors in the motivational theory

of personnel management.



It is the common experience that the spirit of grievances from the clerk to

the Director is identical and only their scales and composition vary. It

should have been that once the lower-order needs are more than satisfied,

the Director should have no problem in optimising his contribution to the

organisation. But more often than not, it does not happen like that; the

eagle soars high but keeps its eyes firmly fixed on the dead animal below.

On the contrary a lowly paid school teacher, a self-employed artisan,

ordinary artistes demonstrate higher levels of self- realization despite

poor satisfaction of their lower- order needs.



This situation is explained by the theory of Self-transcendence or

Self-realisation propounded in the Gita. Self-transcendence is overcoming

insuperable obstacles in one's path. It involves renouncing egoism, putting

others before oneself, team work, dignity, sharing, co-operation, harmony,

trust, sacrificing lower needs for higher goals, seeing others in you and

yourself in others etc. The portrait of a self-realising person is that he

is a man who aims at his own position and underrates everything else. On the

other hand the Self-transcenders are the visionaries and innovators. Their

resolute efforts enable them to achieve the apparently impossible. They

overcome all barriers to reach their goal.



The work must be done with detachment.' This is because it is the Ego which

spoils the work. If this is not the backbone of the Theory of Motivation

which the modern scholars talk about what else is it? I would say that this

is not merely a theory of Motivation but it is a theory of Inspiration.



The Gita further advises to perform action with loving attention to the

Divine which implies redirection of the empirical self away from its

egocentric needs, desires, and passions for creating suitable conditions to

perform actions in pursuit of excellence. Tagore says working for love is

freedom in action which is described as disinterested work in the Gita. It

is on the basis of the holistic vision that Indians have developed the

work-ethos of life. They found that all work irrespective of its nature have

to be directed towards a single purpose that is the manifestation of

essential divinity in man by working for the good of all

beings -lokasangraha. This vision was presented to us in the very first

mantra of lsopanishad which says that whatever exists in the Universe is

enveloped by God. How shall we enjoy this life then, if all are one? The

answer it provides is enjoy and strengthen life by sacrificing your

selfishness by not coveting other's wealth. The same motivation is given by

Sri Krishna in the Third Chapter of Gita when He says that 'He who shares

the wealth generated only after serving the people, through work done as a

sacrifice for them, is freed from all the sins. On the contrary those who

earn wealth only for themselves, eat sins that lead to frustration and

failure.'



The disinterested work finds expression in devotion, surrender and

equipoise. The former two are psychological while the third is the

strong-willed determination to keep the mind free of and above the dualistic

pulls of daily experiences. Detached involvement in work is the key to

mental equanimity or the state of nirdwanda. This attitude leads to a stage

where the worker begins to feel the presence of the Supreme Intelligence

guiding the empirical individual intelligence. Such de-personified

intelligence is best suited for those who sincerely believe in the supremacy

of organisational goals as compared to narrow personal success and

achievement.



Work culture means vigorous and arduous effort in pursuit of a given or

chosen task. When Bhagawan Sri Krishna rebukes Arjuna in the strongest words

for his unmanliness and imbecility in recoiling from his righteous duty it

is nothing but a clarion call for the highest work culture. Poor work

culture is the result of tamo guna overtaking one's mindset. Bhagawan's

stinging rebuke is to bring out the temporarily dormant rajo guna in Arjuna.

In Chapter 16 of the Gita Sri Krishna elaborates on two types of Work Ethic

viz. daivi sampat or divine work culture and asuri sampat or demonic work

culture.



Daivi work culture - means fearlessness, purity, self-control, sacrifice,

straightforwardness, self-denial, calmness, absence of fault-finding,

absence of greed, gentleness, modesty, absence of envy and pride.



Asuri work culture - means egoism, delusion, desire-centric, improper

performance, work which is not oriented towards service. It is to be noted

that mere work ethic is not enough in as much as a hardened criminal has

also a very good work culture. What is needed is a work ethic conditioned by

ethics in work.



It is in this light that the counsel 'yogah karmasu kausalam' should be

understood. Kausalam means skill or method or technique of work which is an

indispensable component of work ethic. Yogah is defined in the Gita itself

as 'samatvam yogah uchyate' meaning unchanging equipoise of mind. Tilak

tells us that performing actions with the special device of an equable mind

is Yoga. By making the equable mind as the bed-rock of all actions Gita

evolved the goal of unification of work ethic with ethics in work, for

without ethical process no mind can attain equipoise. Adi Sankara says that

the skill in performance of one's duty consists in maintaining the evenness

of mind in success and failure because the calm mind in failure will lead

him to deeper introspection and see clearly where the process went wrong so

that corrective steps could be taken to avoid such shortcomings in future.



The principle of reducing our attachment to personal gains from the work

done or controlling the aversion to personal losses enunciated in Ch.2 Verse

47 of the Gita is the foolproof prescription for attaining equanimity. The

common apprehension about this principle that it will lead to lack of

incentive for effort and work, striking at the very root of work ethic, is

not valid because the advice is to be judged as relevant to man's overriding

quest for true mental happiness. Thus while the common place theories on

motivation lead us to bondage, the Gita theory takes us to freedom and real

happiness.



Work Results



The Gita further explains the theory of non- attachment to the results of

work in Ch.18 Verses 13-15 the import of which is as under:



If the result of sincere effort is a success, the entire credit should not

be appropriated by the doer alone.



If the result of sincere effort is a failure, then too the entire blame does

not accrue to the doer.



The former attitude mollifies arrogance and conceit while the latter

prevents excessive despondency, de-motivation and self-pity. Thus both these

dispositions safeguard the doer against psychological vulnerability which is

the cause for the Modem Managers' companions like Diabetes, High B.P. Ulcers

etc.



Assimilation of the ideas behind 2.47 and 18.13-15 of the Gita leads us to

the wider spectrum of lokasamgraha or general welfare.



There is also another dimension in the work ethic. If the karm ayoga is

blended with bhaktiyoga then the work itself becomes worship, a seva yoga.



Manager's Mental Health



The ideas mentioned above have a close bearing on the end-state of a manager

which is his mental health. Sound mental health is the very goal of any

human activity more so management. An expert describes sound mental health

as that state of mind which can maintain a calm, positive poise or regain it

when unsettled in the midst of all the external vagaries of work life and

social existence. Internal constancy and peace are the pre- requisites for a

healthy stress-free mind.



Some of the impediments to sound mental health are



Greed -for power, position, prestige and money.



Envy -regarding others' achievements, success, rewards.



Egotism -about one's own accomplishments.



Suspicion, anger and frustration.



Anguish through comparisons.



The driving forces in today's rat-race are speed and greed as well as

ambition and competition. The natural fallout from these forces is erosion

of one's ethico-moral fibre which supersedes the value system as a means in

the entrepreneurial path like tax evasion, undercutting, spreading canards

against the competitors, entrepreneurial spying, instigating industrial

strife in the business rivals' establishments etc. Although these practices

are taken as normal business hazards for achieving progress, they always end

up as a pursuit of mirage -the more the needs the more the disappointments.

This phenomenon may be called as yayati-syndrome.



In Mahabharata we come across a king called Yayati who, in order to revel in

the endless enjoyment of flesh exchanged his old age with the youth of his

obliging youngest son for a mythical thousand years. However, he lost

himself in the pursuit of sensual enjoyments and felt penitent. He came back

to his son pleading to take back his youth. This yayati syndrome shows the

conflict between externally directed acquisitions, motivations and inner

reasoning, emotions and conscience.



Gita tells us how to get out of this universal phenomenon by prescribing the

following capsules.



Cultivate sound philosophy of life.



Identify with inner core of self-sufficiency



Get out of the habitual mindset towards the pairs of opposites.



Strive for excellence through work is worship.



Build up an internal integrated reference point to face contrary impulses,

and emotions



Pursue ethico-moral rectitude.



Cultivating this understanding by a manager would lead him to emancipation

from falsifying ego-conscious state of confusion and distortion, to a state

of pure and free mind i.e. universal, supreme consciousness wherefrom he can

prove his effectiveness in discharging whatever duties that have fallen to

his domain.



Bhagawan's advice is relevant here :



"tasmaat sarveshu kaaleshu mamanusmarah yuddha cha"



'Therefore under all circumstances remember Me and then fight' (Fight means

perform your duties)



Management Needs those Who Practise what the Preach



Whatever the excellent and best ones do, the commoners follow, so says Sri

Krishna in the Gita. This is the leadership quality prescribed in the Gita.

The visionary leader must also be a missionary, extremely practical,

intensively dynamic and capable of translating dreams into reality. This

dynamism and strength of a true leader flows from an inspired and

spontaneous motivation to help others. "I am the strength of those who are

devoid of personal desire and attachment. O Arjuna, I am the legitimate

desire in those, who are not opposed to righteousness" says Sri Krishna in

the 10th Chapter of the Gita.



The Ultimate Message of Gita for Managers



The despondent position of Arjuna in the first chapter of the Gita is a

typical human situation which may come in the life of all men of action some

time or other. Sri Krishna by sheer power of his inspiring words raised the

level of Arjuna's mind from the state of inertia to the state of righteous

action, from the state of faithlessness to the state of faith and

self-confidence in the ultimate victory of Dharma(ethical action). They are

the powerful words of courage of strength, of self confidence, of faith in

one's own infinite power, of the glory, of valour in the life of active

people and of the need for intense calmness in the midst of intense action.



When Arjuna got over his despondency and stood ready to fight, Sri Krishna

gave him the gospel for using his spirit of intense action not for his own

benefit, not for satisfying his own greed and desire, but for using his

action for the good of many, with faith in the ultimate victory of ethics

over unethical actions and truth over untruth. Arjuna responds by

emphatically declaring that all his delusions were removed and that he is

ready to do what is expected of him in the given situation.



Sri Krishna's advice with regard to temporary failures in actions is 'No

doer of good ever ends in misery'. Every action should produce results: good

action produces good results and evil begets nothing but evil. Therefore

always act well and be rewarded.



And finally the Gita's consoling message for all men of action is : He who

follows My ideal in all walks of life without losing faith in the ideal or

never deviating from it, I provide him with all that he needs (Yoga) and

protect what he has already got (Kshema).



In conclusion the purport of this essay is not to suggest discarding of the

Westem model of efficiency, dynamism and striving for excellence but to make

these ideals tuned to the India's holistic attitude of lokasangraha -for the

welfare of many, for the good of many. The idea is that these management

skills should be India-centric and not America-centric. Swami Vivekananda

says a combination of both these approaches will certainly create future

leaders of India who will be far superior to any that have ever been in the

world.



s/d



M.P.Bhattathiry











Finally let us see what great people opine about this sacred text.



"No work in all Indian literature is more quoted, because none is better

loved, in the West, than the Bhagavad-gita. Translation of such a work

demands not only knowledge of Sanskrit, but an inward sympathy with the

theme and a verbal artistry. For the poem is a symphony in which God is seen

in all things....The Swami does a real service for students by investing the

beloved Indian epic with fresh meaning. Whatever our outlook may be, we

should all be grateful for the labor that has lead to this illuminating

work."



Dr. Geddes MacGregor, Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Philosophy

University of Southern California



"The Gita can be seen as the main literary support for the great religious

civilization of India, the oldest surviving culture in the world. The

present translation and commentary is another manifestation of the permanent

living importance of the Gita."



Thomas Merton,

Theologian



"I am most impressed with A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's scholarly

and authoritative edition of Bhagavad-gita. It is a most valuable work for

the scholar as well as the layman and is of great utility as a reference

book as well as a textbook. I promptly recommend this edition to my

students. It is a beautifully done book."



Dr. Samuel D. Atkins

Professor of Sanskrit, Princeton University



"...As a successor in direct line from Caitanya, the author of Bhagavad-gita

As It Is is entitled, according to Indian custom, to the majestic title of

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The great interest

that his reading of the Bhagavad-gita holds for us is that it offers us an

authorized interpretation according to the principles of the Caitanya

tradition."



Olivier Lacombe

Professor of Sanskrit and Indology, Sorbonne University, Paris



"I have had the opportunity of examining several volumes published by the

Bhaktivedanta Book Trust and have found them to be of excellent quality and

of great value for use in college classes on Indian religions. This is

particularly true of the BBT edition and translation of the Bhagavad-gita."



Dr. Frederick B. Underwood

Professor of Religion, Columbia University



"...If truth is what works, as Pierce and the pragmatists insist, there must

be a kind of truth in the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, since those who follow its

teachings display a joyous serenity usually missing in the bleak and

strident lives of contemporary people."



Dr. Elwin H. Powell

Professor of Sociology

State University of New York, Buffalo



"There is little question that this edition is one of the best books

available on the Gita and devotion. Prabhupada's translation is an ideal

blend of literal accuracy and religious insight."



Dr. Thomas J. Hopkins

Professor of Religion, Franklin and Marshall College



"The Bhagavad-gita, one of the great spiritual texts, is not as yet a common

part of our cultural milieu. This is probably less because it is alien per

se than because we have lacked just the kind of close interpretative

commentary upon it that Swami Bhaktivedanta has here provided, a commentary

written from not only a scholar's but a practitioner's, a dedicated lifelong

devotee's point of view."



Denise Levertov,

Poet



"The increasing numbers of Western readers interested in classical Vedic

thought have been done a service by Swami Bhaktivedanta. By bringing us a

new and living interpretation of a text already known to many, he has

increased our understanding manyfold."



Dr. Edward C Dimock, Jr.

Department of South Asian Languages and Civilization

University of Chicago



"The scholarly world is again indebted to A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Prabhupada. Although Bhagavad-gita has been translated many times,

Prabhupada adds a translation of singular importance with his

commentary...."



Dr. J. Stillson Judah,

Professor of the History of Religions and Director of Libraries

Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California



"Srila Prabhupada's edition thus fills a sensitive gap in France, where many

hope to become familiar with traditional Indian thought, beyond the

commercial East-West hodgepodge that has arisen since the time Europeans

first penetrated India.

"Whether the reader be an adept of Indian spiritualism or not, a reading of

the Bhagavad-gita As It Is will be extremely profitable. For many this will

be the first contact with the true India, the ancient India, the eternal

India."



Francois Chenique, Professor of Religious Sciences

Institute of Political Studies, Paris, France



"As a native of India now living in the West, it has given me much grief to

see so many of my fellow countrymen coming to the West in the role of gurus

and spiritual leaders. For this reason, I am very excited to see the

publication of Bhagavad-gita As It Is by Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Prabhupada. It will help to stop the terrible cheating of false and

unauthorized 'gurus' and 'yogis' and will give an opportunity to all people

to understand the actual meaning of Oriental culture."



Dr. Kailash Vajpeye, Director of Indian Studies

Center for Oriental Studies, The University of Mexico



"...It is a deeply felt, powerfully conceived and beautifully explained

work. I don't know whether to praise more this translation of the

Bhagavad-gita, its daring method of explanation, or the endless fertility of

its ideas. I have never seen any other work on the Gita with such an

important voice and style....It will occupy a significant place in the

intellectual and ethical life of modern man for a long time to come."



Dr. Shaligram Shukla

Professor of Linguistics, Georgetown University



"I can say that in the Bhagavad-gita As It Is I have found explanations and

answers to questions I had always posed regarding the interpretations of

this sacred work, whose spiritual discipline I greatly admire. If the

aesceticism and ideal of the apostles which form the message of the

Bhagavad-gita As It Is were more widespread and more respected, the world in

which we live would be transformed into a better, more fraternal place."



Dr. Paul Lesourd, Author

Professeur Honoraire, Catholic University of Paris





When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this

universe everything else seems so superfluous.



Albert Einstein









When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see

not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-gita and find a verse

to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming

sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new

meanings from it every day.



Mahatma Gandhi









In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal

philosophy of the Bhagavad-gita, in comparison with which our modern world

and its literature seem puny and trivial.



Henry David Thoreau











The Bhagavad-Gita has a profound influence on the spirit of mankind by its

devotion to God which is manifested by actions.



Dr. Albert Schweitzer









The Bhagavad-Gita is a true scripture of the human race a living creation

rather than a book, with a new message for every age and a new meaning for

every civilization.



Sri Aurobindo







The idea that man is like unto an inverted tree seems to have been current

in by gone ages. The link with Vedic conceptions is provided by Plato in his

Timaeus in which it states..." behold we are not an earthly but a heavenly

plant." This correlation can be discerned by what Krishna expresses in

chapter 15 of Bhagavad-Gita.



Carl Jung







The Bhagavad-Gita deals essentially with the spiritual foundation of human

existence. It is a call of action to meet the obligations and duties of

life; yet keeping in view the spiritual nature and grander purpose of the

universe.



Prime Minister Nehru









The marvel of the Bhagavad-Gita is its truly beautiful revelation of life's

wisdom which enables philosophy to blossom into religion.



Herman Hesse







I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-gita. It was the first of books; it

was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large,

serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age

and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which

exercise us.



Ralph Waldo Emerson







In order to approach a creation as sublime as the Bhagavad-Gita with full

understanding it is necessary to attune our soul to it.



Rudolph Steiner







From a clear knowledge of the Bhagavad-Gita all the goals of human existence

become fulfilled. Bhagavad-Gita is the manifest quintessence of all the

teachings of the Vedic scriptures.



Adi Shankara







The Bhagavad-Gita is the most systematic statement of spiritual evolution of

endowing value to mankind. It is one of the most clear and comprehensive

summaries of perennial philosophy ever revealed; hence its enduring value is

subject not only to India but to all of humanity.



Aldous Huxley







The Bhagavad-Gita was spoken by Lord Krishna to reveal the science of

devotion to God which is the essence of all spiritual knowledge. The Supreme

Lord Krishna's primary purpose for descending and incarnating is relieve the

world of any demoniac and negative, undesirable influences that are opposed

to spiritual development, yet simultaneously it is His incomparable

intention to be perpetually within reach of all humanity.



Ramanuja







The Bhagavad-Gita is not seperate from the Vaishnava philosophy and the

Srimad Bhagavatam fully reveals the true import of this doctrine which is

transmigation of the soul. On perusal of the first chapter of Bhagavad-Gita

one may think that they are advised to engage in warfare. When the second

chapter has been read it can be clearly understood that knowledge and the

soul is the ultimate goal to be attained. On studying the third chapter it

is apparent that acts of righteousness are also of high priority. If we

continue and patiently take the time to complete the Bhagavad-Gita and try

to ascertain the truth of its closing chapter we can see that the ultimate

conclusion is to relinquish all the conceptualized ideas of religion which

we possess and fully surrender directly unto the Supreme Lord.



Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati







The Mahabharata has all the essential ingredients necessary to evolve and

protect humanity and that within it the Bhagavad-Gita is the epitome of the

Mahabharata just as ghee is the essence of milk and pollen is the essence of

flowers



Madhvacarya

[ZC]

After reading Peter Drucker, Stephen Covey et al.,



i feel



dump all the management books in the sea and read your



Holy Book



properly and follow it.

[Mayavi Morpheus]

Be honset ZC, did u read the first post before posting ur reply?