Gita & Gandhi – ‘Genesis’ of Entrepreneurship

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. The four pivotal functions of management process are: 1) Planning 2) Organizing 3) Actuating 4) Controlling which are of prime significance even today existed in Indian cultural corpus centuries ago. In Bhagavad Gita the same principles were taught by Lord Sri Krishna to Arjuna 3000 years back through the dialogue between Arjuna and Lord Krishna, which rendered the Gita its status of - 'The Management Epic'. It provides "all that is needed to raise the consciousness of man to the highest possible level." The Bhagavad Gita can be experienced as a powerful catalyst for transformation, upliftment of the soul to meet the lord. The Holy Gita has become a latent driving force behind the unfolding of one's life. 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 world enterprises and probably in Indian enterprises in the present situation of economic slump. 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. One more persona whose ideas and tactics corporate India can emulate is that of the Father of our Nation - Mahatma Gandhi, who is now being held up as an Exemplary Leader and a Management Guru. Mahatma Gandhi's style of leadership as applied to corporate India would involve making even the lowest person in the organization believe in it and also believe in the significance of his contribution towards the organization. The paper brings forth the basic principles of management in the light of the Bhagavad Gita and Mahatma Gandhi's principles as applied to entrepreneurship. It emphasizes how simple principles when applied to an entrepreneurial venture can bring positive results.