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World Management Lessons from
India and Bhagavad Gita
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"Your
e-Coach is
beautiful, informative and
excellent. Humble request
that my article may be published
on your website after editing if
necessary."
~
M.P. Bhattathiri
Retired Chief Technical
Examiner,
Govt. of Kerala, India
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Table of Contents
Abstract
Introduction
Management guidelines from the
Bhagavad Gita
Old truths in a new context
The source of the problem
Utilisation of available
resources
Work commitmentMotivation – self
and self-transcendence
Work culture
Work results
Manager's mental health
Management needs those who
practice what they preach
In
conclusion
A
note on the word "yoga".
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Abstract
One of the greatest
contributions of
India to the world is
Holy Gita which is
considered to be one of the
first revelations from
God.
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If you want to see the
brave, look to those who can return
love for hatred.
If you wan to see heroic, look to those who can
forgive. |
Bhagavad
Gitta |
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The management lessons in this
holy book were brought in to
light of the world by divine
Maharshi Mahesh Yogi and Sri Sri
RaviShankar, and the spiritual
philosophy by Sr. Srila
Prabhupada Swami and humanism by
Mata Amritanandamayi Devi and
Satya Sai Baba.
Maharishi calls the
Bhagavad-Gita the essence of
Vedic Literature and a complete
guide to practical life. It
provides "all that is needed to
raise the consciousness of man
to the highest possible level."
Maharishi reveals the deep,
universal truths of life that
speak to the needs and
aspirations of everyone.
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Arjuna got mentally depressed
when he saw his relatives with
whom he has to fight. (Mental
health has become a major
international public health
concern now). To motivate him
the Bhagavad Gita is
preached in the battle field
Kurukshetra by Lord Krishna to
Arjuna as a counseling to do his
duty while multitudes of men
stood by waiting. It has got all
the management tactics to
achieve the mental equilibrium
and to overcome any crisis
situation.
The
Bhagavad Gita can be experienced as a powerful catalyst for transformation.
Bhagavad gita means song of the Spirit, song of the Lord.
The
Holy Gita has become a secret driving force behind the unfoldment of one's life.
In the days of doubt this divine book will support all spiritual searches.
This
divine book will contribute to self reflection, finer feeling and deepen one's
inner process. Then life in the world can become a real education—dynamic, full
and joyful—no matter what the circumstance.
May
the wisdom of loving consciousness ever guide us on our journey?
What
makes the Holy Gita a practical psychology of transformation is that it offers
us the tools to connect with our deepest intangible essence and we must learn to
participate in the battle of life with right knowledge? |
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For one who has conquered his
mind, a mind is best of friends, but for one who has failed
to do so, a mind is the greatest
enemy. |
Bhagavad
Gitta |
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The Holy Gita is the essence of the Vedas,
Upanishads. It is a universal scripture applicable
to people of all temperaments and for all times.
It
is a book with sublime thoughts and practical
instructions on Yoga, Devotion, Vedanta and Action.
It is profound in thought and sublime in heights of
vision.
It brings peace and solace to souls that are
afflicted by the three fires of mortal existence,
namely, afflictions caused by one's own body
(disease etc), those caused by beings around one
(e.g. wild animals, snakes etc.), and those caused
by the gods (natural disasters, earth-quakes, floods
etc).
Mind can be one's friend or enemy. Mind is the cause
for both bondage and liberation. The word mind is
derived from man to think and the word man derived
from manu (sanskrit word for man).
"The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O
Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all
living entities, who are seated as on a machine,
made of the material energy."
There is no theory to be internalized and applied in
this psychology. Ancient practices spontaneously
induce what each person needs as the individual and
the universal coincide. |
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The work proceeds through intellectual knowledge of
the playing field (jnana yoga), emotional devotion
to the ideal (bhakti yoga) and right action that
includes both feeling and knowledge (karma yoga). With ongoing purification we approach wisdom.
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Gain the
Highest though Knowledge
Rama
Integral
Yoga |
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The Bhagavad Gita is a message
addressed to each and every human individual to help
him or her to solve the vexing problem of overcoming
the present and progressing
towards a bright future.
Within its eighteen chapters is revealed a human
drama. This is the experience of everyone in this
world, the drama of the ascent of man from a state
of utter dejection, sorrow and total breakdown and
hopelessness to a state of perfect understanding,
clarity, renewed strength and triumph.
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"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
In this modern world the art of management has
become a part and parcel of everyday life, be it at
home, in the office or factory and in Government. In
all organizations, where a group of human beings
assemble for a common purpose irrespective of caste,
creed, and religion, management principles come into
play through the management of resources, finance
and planning, priorities, policies and practice.
Management is a systematic way of carrying out
activities in any field of human effort.
"The task of management is to make people capable of
joint performance, to make their weaknesses
irrelevant," said the management guru
Peter Drucker. It creates harmony in working
together - equilibrium in thoughts and actions,
goals and achievements, plans and performance,
products and markets. It resolves situations of
scarcity, be they in the physical, technical or
human fields, through maximum utilization with the
minimum available processes to achieve the goal.
Lack of management causes disorder, confusion,
wastage, delay, destruction and even depression.
Managing men, money and materials in the best
possible way, according to circumstances and
environment, is the most important and essential
factor for a successful management.
Management guidelines from the Bhagavad Gita
There is an important distinction between
effectiveness and efficiency in managing.
Effectiveness is doing the right things.
Efficiency is doing things right.
The general principles of effective management can
be applied in every field, the differences being
more in application than in principle. The Manager's
functions can be summed up as:
Forming a vision
Planning the strategy to realize the vision.
Cultivating the art of leadership.
Establishing institutional excellence.
Building an innovative organization.
Developing human resources.
Building teams and teamwork.
Delegation, motivation, and communication.
Reviewing performance and taking corrective steps
when called for.
Thus, management is a process of aligning people and
getting them committed to work for a common goal to
the maximum social benefit - in search of
excellence.
The critical question in all managers' minds is how
to be effective in their job. The answer to this
fundamental question is found in the Bhagavad Gita,
which repeatedly proclaims that "you must try to
manage yourself." The reason is that unless a
manager reaches a level of excellence and
effectiveness, he or she will be merely a face in
the crowd.
Old truths in a new context
The Bhagavad Gita, written thousands of years ago,
enlightens us on all managerial techniques leading
us towards a harmonious and blissful state of
affairs in place of the conflict, tensions, poor
productivity, absence of motivation and so on,
common in most of Indian enterprises today – and
probably in enterprises in many other countries.
The modern (Western) management concepts of vision,
leadership, motivation, excellence in work,
achieving goals, giving work meaning, decision
making and planning, are all discussed in the
Bhagavad Gita. There is one major difference. While
Western management thought too often deals with
problems at material, external and peripheral
levels, the Bhagavad Gita tackles the issues from
the grass roots level of human thinking. Once the
basic thinking of man is improved, it will
automatically enhance the quality of his actions and
their results.
The management philosophy emanating from the West is
based on the lure of materialism and on a perennial
thirst for profit, irrespective of the quality of
the means adopted to achieve that goal. This
phenomenon has its source in the abundant wealth of
the West and so 'management by materialism' has
caught the fancy of all the countries the world
over, India being no exception to this trend. My
country, India, has been in the forefront in
importing these ideas mainly because of its
centuries old indoctrination by colonial rulers,
which has inculcated in us a feeling that anything
Western is good and anything Indian, is inferior.
The result is that, while huge funds have been
invested in building temples of modem management
education, no perceptible changes are visible in the
improvement of the general quality of life -
although the standards of living of a few has gone
up. The same old struggles in almost all sectors of
the economy, criminalization of institutions, social
violence, exploitation and other vices are seen deep
in the body politic.
The source of the problem
The reasons for this sorry state of affairs are not
far to seek. The Western idea of management centers
on making the worker (and the manager) more
efficient and more productive. Companies offer
workers more to work more, produce more, sell more
and to stick to the organization without looking for
alternatives. The sole aim of extracting better and
more work from the worker is to improve the
bottom-line of the enterprise. The worker has become
a hirable commodity, which can be used, replaced and
discarded at will.
Thus, workers have been reduced to the state of a
mercantile product. In such a state, it should come
as no surprise to us that workers start using
strikes (gheraos) sit-ins, (dharnas) go-slows,
work-to-rule etc. to get maximum benefit for
themselves from the organisations. Society-at-large
is damaged. Thus we reach a situation in which
management and workers become separate and
contradictory entities with conflicting interests.
There is no common goal or understanding. This,
predictably, leads to suspicion, friction,
disillusion and mistrust, with managers and workers
at cross purposes. The absence of human values and
erosion of human touch in the organizational
structure has resulted in a crisis of confidence.
Western management philosophy may have created
prosperity – for some people some of the time at
least - but it has failed in the aim of ensuring
betterment of individual life and social welfare. It
has remained by and large a soulless edifice and an
oasis of plenty for a few in the midst of poor
quality of life for many.
Hence, there is an urgent need to re-examine
prevailing management disciplines - their
objectives, scope and content. Management should be
redefined to underline the development of the worker
as a person, as a human being, and not as a mere
wage-earner. With this changed perspective,
management can become an instrument in the process
of social, and indeed national, development.
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.
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Utilization of
Available Resources
The first lesson of management science is to choose
wisely and utilize scarce resources optimally.
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
the nature of the effective manager – the former
chose numbers, the latter, wisdom.
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Bhagavad
Gita and Indian Management
Gita-style
Positive Thinking and Creative
Management in India
Jugaad |
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Work commitment
A popular verse of the Gita advises "detachment"
from the fruits or results of actions performed in
the course of one's duty. Being dedicated work has
to mean "working for the sake of work, generating
excellence for its own sake." If we are always
calculating the date of promotion or the rate of
commission before putting in our efforts, then such
work is not detached. It is not "generating
excellence for its own sake" but working only for
the extrinsic reward that may (or may not) result.
Working only with an eye to the anticipated
benefits, means that the quality of performance of
the current job or duty suffers - through mental
agitation of anxiety for the future. In fact, the
way the world works means that events do not always
respond positively to our calculations and hence
expected fruits may not always be forthcoming. So,
the Gita tells us not to mortgage present commitment
to an uncertain future.
Some people might argue that not seeking the
business result of work and actions, makes one
unaccountable. In fact, the Bhagavad Gita is full of
advice on the theory of cause and effect, making the
doer responsible for the consequences of his deeds.
While advising detachment from the avarice of
selfish gains in discharging one's accepted duty,
the Gita does not absolve anybody of the
consequences arising from discharge of his or her
responsibilities.
Thus the best means of effective performance
management is the work itself. Attaining this state
of mind (called "nishkama karma") is the right
attitude to work because it prevents the ego, the
mind, from dissipation of attention through
speculation on future gains or losses.
Motivation – self and self-transcendence
It has been presumed for many years that satisfying
lower order needs of workers - adequate food,
clothing and shelter, etc. are key factors in
motivation. However, it is a common experience that
the dissatisfaction of the clerk and of the Director
is identical - only their scales and composition
vary. It should be true that once the lower-order
needs are more than satisfied, the Director should
have little problem in optimizing his contribution
to the organization and society. 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
schoolteacher, or a self-employed artisan, may well
demonstrate higher levels of self-actualization
despite poorer satisfaction of their lower-order
needs.
This situation is explained by the theory of
self-transcendence propounded in the Gita.
Self-transcendence involves renouncing egoism,
putting others before oneself, emphasizing team
work, dignity, co-operation, harmony and trust –
and, indeed potentially sacrificing lower needs for
higher goals, the opposite of Maslow.
"Work must be done with detachment." It is the ego
that spoils work and the ego is the centerpiece of
most theories of motivation. We need not merely a
theory of motivation but a theory of inspiration.
The Great Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore
(1861-1941, known as "Gurudev") says working for
love is freedom in action. A concept which is
described as "disinterested work" in the Gita where
Sri Krishna says,
"He who shares the wealth generated only after
serving the people, through work done as a sacrifice
for them, is freed from all sins. On the contrary
those who earn wealth only for themselves, eat sins
that lead to frustration and failure."
Disinterested work finds expression in devotion,
surrender and equipoise. The former two are
psychological while the third is determination to
keep the mind free of the dualistic (usually taken
to mean "materialistic") 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 embodied individual intelligence. Such
de-personified intelligence is best suited for those
who sincerely believe in the supremacy of
organizational goals as compared to narrow personal
success and achievement.
Work culture
An effective work culture is about vigorous and
arduous efforts in pursuit of given or chosen tasks.
Sri Krishna elaborates on two types of work culture
– "daivi sampat" or divine work culture and "asuri
sampat" or demonic work culture.
Daivi work culture - involves 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 - involves egoism, delusion,
personal desires, improper performance, work not
oriented towards service.
Mere work ethic is not enough. The hardened criminal
exhibits an excellent work ethic. 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 technique of work which is an indispensable
component of a work ethic. " Yogah" is defined in
the Gita itself as "samatvam yogah uchyate" meaning
an unchanging equipoise of mind (detachment.) Tilak
tells us that acting with an equable mind is Yoga.
(Bal Gangadhar Tilak, 1856-1920, the precursor of
Gandhiji, hailed by the people of India as "Lokmanya,"
probably the most learned among the country's
political leaders. For a description of the meanings
of the word "Yoga", see foot of this page.)
By making the equable mind the bed-rock of all
actions, the Gita evolved the goal of unification of
work ethic with ethics in work, for without ethical
process no mind can attain an equipoise. The guru,
Adi Sankara (born circa 800 AD), says that the skill
necessary in the performance of one's duty is that
of maintaining an evenness of mind in face of
success and failure. The calm mind in the face of
failure will lead to deeper introspection and see
clearly where the process went wrong so that
corrective steps could be taken to avoid
shortcomings in future.
The principle of reducing our attachment to personal
gains from the work done is the Gita's prescription
for attaining equanimity. It has been held that this
principle leads to lack of incentive for effort,
striking at the very root of work ethic. To the
contrary, concentration on the task for its own sake
leads to the achievement of excellence – and indeed
to the true mental happiness of the worker. Thus,
while commonplace theories of motivation may be said
to lead us to the bondage or extrinsic rewards, the
Gita's principle leads us to the intrinsic rewards
of mental, and indeed moral, satisfaction.
Work results
The Gita further explains the theory of "detachment"
from the extrinsic rewards of work in saying:
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, the cause of the modem
managers' companions of diabetes, high blood
pressure and ulcers.
Assimilation of the ideas of the Gita leads us to
the wider spectrum of "lokasamgraha" (general
welfare) but there is also another dimension to the
work ethic - if the "karmayoga" (service) is blended
with "bhaktiyoga" (devotion), then the work itself
becomes worship, a "sevayoga" (service for its own
sake.)
Along with bhakti yoga as a means of liberation, the
Gita espouses the doctrine of nishkamya karma or
pure action untainted by hankering after the fruits
resulting from that action. Modern scientists have
now understood the intuitive wisdom of that action
in a new light.
Scientists at the US National Institute of Mental
Health in Bethesda, found that laboratory monkeys
that started out as procrastinators, became
efficient workers after they received brain
injections that suppressed a gene linked to their
ability to anticipate a reward. The scientists
reported that the work ethic of rhesus macaques
wasn't all that different from that of many people:
"If the reward is not immediate, you procrastinate",
Dr Richmond told LA Times.
(This may sound a peculiarly religious idea but it
has a wider application. It could be taken to mean
doing something because it is worthwhile, to serve
others, to make the world a better place – ed.)
Manager's mental health
Sound mental health is the very goal of any human
activity - more so management. Sound mental health
is 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 businesses are speed
and competition. There is a distinct danger that
these forces cause erosion of the moral fiber, that
in seeking the end, one permits oneself immoral
means - tax evasion, illegitimate financial
holdings, being "economical with the truth",
deliberate oversight in the audit, too-clever
financial reporting and so on. This phenomenon may
be called as "yayati syndrome".
In the book, the Mahabharata, we come across a king
by the name of 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
thousand years. However, he found the pursuit of
sensual enjoyments ultimately unsatisfying and came
back to his son pleading him to take back his youth.
This "yayati syndrome" shows the conflict between
externally directed acquisitions (extrinsic
motivation) and inner value and conscience
(intrinsic motivation.)
Management needs those who practice what they preach
"Whatever the excellent and best ones do, the
commoners follow," says Sri Krishna in the Gita. The
visionary leader must 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.
In conclusion
The despondency of Arjuna in the first chapter of
the Gita is typically human. Sri Krishna, by sheer
power of his inspiring words, changes Arjuna's mind
from a state of inertia to one of righteous action,
from the state of what the French philosophers call
"anomie" or even alienation, to a state of
self-confidence in the ultimate victory of "dharma"
(ethical action.)
When Arjuna got over his despondency and stood ready
to fight, Sri Krishna reminded him of the purpose of
his new-found spirit of intense action - not for his
own benefit, not for satisfying his own greed and
desire, but for the good of many, with faith in the
ultimate victory of ethics over unethical actions
and of truth over untruth.
Sri Krishna's advice with regard to temporary
failures 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.
My purport is not to suggest discarding of the
Western model of efficiency, dynamism and striving
for excellence but to tune these ideals to India's
holistic attitude of " lokasangraha" - for the
welfare of many, for the good of many. There is
indeed a moral dimension to business life. What we
do in business is no different, in this regard, to
what we do in our personal lives. The means do not
justify the ends. Pursuit of results for their own
sake, is ultimately self-defeating. ("Profit," said
Matsushita-san in another tradition, "is the reward
of correct behavior." – ed.)
A note on the word "yoga".
Yoga has two different meanings - a general meaning
and a technical meaning. The general meaning is the
joining together or union of any two or more things.
The technical meaning is "a state of stability and
peace and the means or practices which lead to that
state." The Bhagavad Gita uses the word with both
meanings.
M.P.Bhattathiri.
Let us go through what scholars say about Holy Gita.
"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
"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
"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"
Emerson's reaction to the Gita
"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
"The Gita is one of the clearest and most
comprehensive one, of the summaries and systematic
spiritual statements of the perennial philosophy
ever to have been done"
__________________________________________Aldous
Huxley
"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
Yoga has two different meanings - a general meaning
and a technical meaning. The general meaning is the
joining together or union of any two or more things.
The technical meaning is "a state of stability and
peace and the means or practices which lead to that
state." The Bhagavad Gita uses the word with both
meanings. Lord Krishna is real Yogi who can maintain
a peaceful mind in the midst of any crisis."
Mata Amritanandamayi Devi.
"Karma, Bhakti, and Jnana are but three paths to
this end. And common to all the three is
renunciation. Renounce the desires, even of going to
heaven, for every desire related with body and mind
creates bondage. Our focus of action is neither to
save the humanity nor to engage in social reforms,
not to seek personal gains, but to realize the
indwelling Self itself."
~ Swami Vivekananda
"Science describes the structures and processess;
philosophy attempts at their explaination.----- When
such a perfect combination of both science and
philosophy is sung to perfection that Krishna was,
we have in this piece of work an appeal both to the
head annd heart." ~ Swamy Chinmayanand on Gita
I seek that Divine Knowledge by knowing which
nothing remains to be known!' For such a person
knowledge and ignorance has only one meaning: Have
you knowledge of God? If yes, you a Jnani! If not,
you are ignorant.As said in the Gita, chapter
XIII/11, knowledge of Self, observing everywhere the
object of true Knowledge i.e. God, all this is
declared to be true Knowledge (wisdom); what is
contrary to this is ignorance."
Sri Ramakrishna
Maharishi calls the Bhagavad-Gita the essence of
Vedic Literature and a complete guide to practical
life. It provides "all that is needed to raise the
consciousness of man to the highest possible level."
Maharishi reveals the deep, universal truths of life
that speak to the needs and aspirations of everyone.
Maharshi Mahesh Yogi
The Gita was preached as a preparatory lesson for
living worldly life with an eye to Release, Nirvana.
My last prayer to everyone, therefore, is that one
should not fail to thoroughly understand this
ancient science of worldly life as early as possible
in one's life.
--- Lokmanya Tilak
I believe that in all the living languages of the
world, there is no book so full of true knowledge,
and yet so handy. It teaches self-control,
austerity, non-violence, compassion, obedience to
the call of duty for the sake of duty, and putting
up a fight against unrighteousness (Adharma). To my
knowledge, there is no book in the whole range of
the world's literature so high above as the
Bhagavad-Gita, which is the treasure-house of Dharma
nor only for the Hindus but foe all mankind. --- M.
M. Malaviya
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