Śrī Kṛṣṇa's Masterful Marketing: What Does Success Really Look Like?

November 29, 2013

There is an aphorism in Samskritam that says प्रयोजनमनुद्दिश्य न मन्दोऽपि प्रवर्तते (prayojanam-anuddishya na mando.api pravartate), "even a fool does not act without asking 'what do I gain from it'?"

Dr Stephen Covey’s seminal book on leadership, “The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People” is a wildly successful management best-seller. It is also one of my all-time favorite books on leadership because at its core, Dr Covey echoes the "You Change" message of the Bhagavad Geeta. According to Dr Stephen Covey, the 2nd habit that is crucial to success in Management guru is “Begin with the end in mind”. He expands further:

Habit 2 is based on imagination--the ability to envision in your mind what you cannot at present see with your eyes. It is based on the principle that all things are created twice. There is a mental (first) creation, and a physical (second) creation. The physical creation follows the mental, just as a building follows a blueprint.

In the corporate world, when projects are launched, you often hear questions such as: "What are the critical success factors?" or "What does Good look like?" That is why I found it fascinating that Śrī Kṛṣṇa masterfully lays out the end game for the seeker. He does it repeatedly in the Bhagavad Geeta but the one stand-out verse for me is 6-22:

यं लब्ध्वा चापरं लाभं मन्यते नाधिकं ततः |
यस्मिन्स्थितो न दुःखेन गुरुणापि विचाल्यते ||६-२२||
yaM labdhvaa chaaparaM laabhaM manyate naadhikaM tataH .
yasminsthito na duHkhena guruNaapi vichaalyate .. 6-22..
Having obtained which, he (the wise man) thinks there is no other gain superior to it; wherein established, he is not moved even by heavy sorrow.

With one crisp verse, Śrī Kṛṣṇa says:

Nothing you gain in this world will be equal to what you gain by this quest!
Having gained this, not even the most catastrophic tragedy can disturb you

Of course, by this time, Śrī Kṛṣṇa has also set out a clear roadmap for succeeding in this quest. Naturally, being human, we protest, "It is too hard, takes too long." Fortunately, Śrī Kṛṣṇa has already addressed this in 2-40.
नेहाभिक्रमनाशोऽस्ति प्रत्यवायो न विद्यते |
स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात् ||२-४०||
nehaabhikramanaasho.asti pratyavaayo na vidyate .
svalpamapyasya dharmasya traayate mahato bhayaat.h .. 2-40..
In this path, there is no loss of effort, nor is there any harm (production of contrary results) . Even a little of this knowledge, even a little practice of this Yoga, protects one from the great fear.

Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post

PS: The image above is posted by Chinmaya Mission, New Delhi on Facebook based on talks by Param Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayanandaji titled "Action to Perfection" conducted in November 2013 in New Delhi.

Geeta Dhyānaṁ 2 - Vyāsā's Vast Intellect

January 7, 2013 Previously on Geeta Jayanti, I had posted on the eternal debt of gratitude to Mother Geeta that is the basis of Geeta Dhyānaṁ. I love Param Pujya Gurudev 's commentary on the Geeta Dhyānaṁ. Pujya Gurudev's commentary is after the introduction to the Bhagavad Geeta in the commentary on Chapters 1 & 2 published by the the Chinmaya Mission. I personally believe it should be a book by itself. After invoking Mother Geeta, we now pay tribute to the wise Vyāsa Rishi - the Guru whose Jayanti marks Guru Pūrnima every year. Pujya Gurudev starts His tribute to Veda Vyāsā in his commentary on the 1st verse of the Dhyānaṁ. Vyāsa, the father of the Vedās, who, first collected, edited and published the Veda texts and who thereafter, gave us the dialectics of Vedānta in his Brahma Sūtra, himself a great man of realization, was indeed well fitted for the job. The ancient seer had both the mastery of the theoretical science of religion - Hinduism and also the practical expe

In every field, let Dharma flourish - क्षेत्रे क्षेत्रे धर्म कुरु

August 9, 2012 Swamini Vimalanandaji has done a series of talks at the Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) called "406 SMS – Sure Mantras for Success from Bhagwad Geeta" (item 406 at this AMA link ). In this she has a very interesting take on the 1st line of the Bhagavad Geeta. धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे १-१ dharmakShetre kurukShetre 1-1 <i> on the holy plain of Kurukshetra... </i> Swamini turns that slightly and says, क्षेत्रे क्षेत्रे धर्म कुरु - kShetre kShetre dharma kuru. Swamini goes on to establish that we can use this mantra to make that: "In every aspect of society, must be pervaded by Dharma" Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post

Geeta in Literature - IF by Rudyard Kipling

September 12, 2011 I came across a nice YouTube video that is an animation of Rudyard Kipling reading his famous poem IF . The full text sourced from wikisource is below: If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too: If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise; If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim, If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same: If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools; If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And los

Everyday Geeta

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