Lord krsna’s Gita is a narrative framework of a dialogue between prince Arjun and his charioteer Krsna who is an avatar of Lord Vishnu on the battlefield of Kurukshetra where Arjun turns to lord krsna for guidance. The invention or composition is traditionally attributed to sage Ved Vyasa. The bhagavad Gita is a 700 verse scripture that projects a part from the great Indian epic Mahabharata.
Lord krsna’s teachings in the Bhagavad Gita are a treasure, but apart from all, the lessons on leadership wisdom are applied in all aspects of life. Even the great personalities across the globe are somehow inspired from the lessons carved in the Bhagavad gita such as J. Robert Oppenheimer, APJ Abdul Kalam, Subash Chandra Bose,Albert Einstein and many more.
The Gita says:
Leaders should embrace challenges rather than ignoring them because they are the greatest strengths of the leaders.
Leaders should be resilient in their actions and should not be weakened by pain and pleasure.
Selfish desires and feelings of hostility, hatred or animosity etc obscure the purpose of leadership.
Leaders achieve lasting power and glory through selfless service and compassion.
Effective leaders do not lead by fear or anger.
Character is a core of effective leadership.
Leaders need to be aware of the surroundings and self.
Out of the above there is one concept that is given more importance and deserves closer examination. That is:
First know yourself
The Bhagavad Gita states that leaders can lead effectively unless they know themselves better. It is not limited till knowing our physical and mental properties and characteristics but goes further down into deepest levels of knowing our consciousness. In the Srimad Bhagavad Gita lord Krsna defines three specific disciplines that are required for effective leadership. They are discipline of learning discipline of speaking properly and discipline of equanimity or staying calm. All of them are important for effective leadership and success. It is not only about teaching people what to do or to follow rules but knowing what to teach them. Similarly, to be an effective leader in life like those great men mentioned above you need to have good communication skills, positive thinking, better knowledge, faith on your people and respect for each other. All the leaders have these qualities in common and are able to carve their names in the hearts of every citizen. To attain self knowledge and enlightenment sadhus and sages of the vedic age used to meditate for years to attain the stage of self consciousness. People who mastered meditation were able to face other worldly experiences with ease. Scientists have found remarkable improvements in the in the human body when it is in a meditative state. The Bhagavad Gita also recommends mediation to connect to our true selves.
Conclusion
The Bhagavad Gita is an ancient manuscript with moral values and recommendations to face challenges the world faces today including leadership challenges. If the world needs peace and harmony it will need effective, strong and compassionate leaders. The Bhagavad Gita focuses on this in a very precise and narrative manner and is still followed till date. As it is always said “The gita is one the greatest conversations in the world to listen into because what krsna is telling Arjuna is really a message he is sending out to all of us, on how to live lives in the most honest and best possible way”
“Yadyad aacharati shreshthas tattadevetaro janah; Sa yat pramaanam kurute lokas tad anuvartate”
‘Whatever a great man does, other men also do; whatever standards he sets, the world follows’
