Human Values from Bhagwad Gita(4- 6)

HUMAN VALUES FROM BHAGWAD GITA (contnd. from previous posts)
VALUE 4: KSANTI: Attitude of Accommodation:
According to Swami(Dr.) Parthasarthy, Ksanti is a positive attitude (and not painful resignation) signifying ‘accommodation.’ The attitude of ksanti means that ' I cheerfully, calmly accept the extraction or demand that another person(or situation) should make, in order to conform to what I think would be pleasing to me. I accommodate situations and people happily.' All relationships require accommodation. The value must be built upon an understanding of the nature of people and relationships between them. I will never find in one person all qualities which I like, or all qualities which I dislike, having a mixture of things which I find appealing and others which I find non-appealing. Similarly, I am also both appealing and non-appealing. No one is going to find me totally likeable.
When I recognize these facts, I will see that every relationship is going to require some accommodation from me. I am not going to be willing or, perhaps, be able to change and meet all expectations other people have of me, nor are they for themselves. In particular, relationships with such things which I strongly dislike, require accommodation from me. If I can change the person or can put distance between him/her and me without avoiding duty, that is fine. But if I can not, I simply must accommodate happily, taking the person as he/she is. I can expect neither the world nor the people to change in order that I may be happy. It is just not possible to compel people to change to meet my image of what they should be like. More often than not, when I want change from others, they will just as strongly want change from me. It will be a stand –off. Hence, the need for an attitude of ksanti or accommodation.

For an attitude of accommodation(ksanti) I should lessen my expectations from others and place every one, whether a friend or a fool, in the same category. No one should ever be able to disappoint me but should only be able to surprise me. And my attitude should be that I am prepared to accommodate all surprises! I should accommodate people and take them as they are. Swami (Dr.) Parthasarthy has very beautifully stated that : 'I do not ask the sun to quit shining and appreciate the mixed blessing of hot shining sun, nor do I hate honey bees for the fear of receiving a sting and appreciate the place of honey bee and enjoy honey'. Anyway, the world is wide. Variety makes it more interesting. Thus, there is room enough to accommodate all.
To be free to respond to a person I must be free of mechanical reactions and choose the actions deliberately. A reaction is a mechanical non-deliberative behaviour on my part, being rather a conditioned response borrowed from previous experience, which response I measure against the value structure which I am trying to assimilate but which I just allow to happen. Reactions can go against all my wisdom and learning and prior experiences. I may have read all the scriptures of the world, may be a great student of ethical systems, or may be professional counselor to others, but when it comes to a reaction, mine may be just as mechanical as that of every one else. Therefore, until my ethical values become thoroughly assimilated and comprise a ground out of which right attitudes and actions spontaneously arise, I must, through alertness, avoid reactions and, instead, deliberately, reflectively choose my attitudes and actions. When I avoid reactions, I am free to choose my actions and attitudes - I can choose to be accommodative in my thoughts, words and deeds.

Ksanti (accommodation) is a beautiful and saintly quality. Among all the qualities, ahimsa and ksanti constitute the qualities of a saint. One need not have wisdom, one need not have scriptural learning to be saint, but one must have these two values. A saint is a person who never consciously hurts another person by action, word or thought, and who accepts people – good or bad –just as they are. He is the one who has endless capacity to be accommodative, forgiving, merciful, which are included in the quality (or value) called ksanti, which attitude expands one’s heart. Through ksanti, the heart becomes so commodious, it accommodates all people and circumstances just as they are , without desire or demand that they be different.

As a Manager, in order to discover within myself a value for accommodation, I should look at the person behind the act, and respond to the person, not to the action. Usually, when I am responding to the behaviour of the person, or to his action, that I find it difficult to be accommodative. But when I try to understand the cause behind the action(e.g. what is behind the fit of anger or outburst of jealousy or domineering manner) and respond to the person( not to his actions) I find it easy to be accommodative, and the potential conflict situations are minimized.


VALUE 5: “ARJAVAM”: Straight-forwardness:

Arjavam means ‘straightness.’ When used as a value, ‘straightness’ or arjavam is like the English word rectitude (from the Latin word rectus, straight), which means ‘conduct in accordance with one’s thought and words.’ When there is rjubhava (arrow-like straightness) between a physical action and the word, or between the word and the thought, the alignment is called arjavam . When I think of one thing and say another, or when I say one thing and do another, or when I think about one thing and do yet another third thing, all of these constitute a non-alignment of thought, words and deeds on my part. Avoidance of this gap, this division between word and action, word and thought, and action and thought, is arjavam . Arjavam can be considered to be extension of satya vacanam, truthful speech. .Arjavam includes not just speech but thoughts and actions also. For arjavam, my actions must be true to my words and my words true to my thoughts.

Non-alignment ( of thoughts, words and deed) results in a splintered personality. By such non-alignment I become disintegrated, being no longer a whole person. When there is conflict between my values and myself I become splintered. I am not ‘together’. If there is a gulf between me the thinker, and me the speaker or actor, the result will be a restless mind troubled by guilt and conflict. For such a mind, Self-knowledge is a far cry. To be prepared to listen to the teaching of Vedanta, one needs to be ‘together’, not split. Therefore, arjavam, the alignment of thought, word and deed is included as one of the values of jnanam.

A Manager shorn of this value with the splintered and disintegrated personality can not perform the leadership role, as no body will trust and respect him and a crisis of confidence may emerge, where both his seniors and juniors may find him a suspect and unreliable. In contrast, if he sincerely imbibes the Arjavam value, he will certainly be a honourable person to be reliable and worthy enough to become a leader of his team in his/her own right.

VALUE6: ACARYOPASANAM: Service to the Teacher:

Acaryopasanam, which primarily means ‘service to the teacher’, is a value which is deeply embedded in Hindu culture. Its intensity and universality within the culture show the high regard for knowledge and for the teacher who imparts it. It is also used to indicate specific aspects of the student-teacher relationship, including Gurukula vasa. ‘Meditation upon the teacher’, which means meditation upon the teachings by keeping the teacher(acarya), who stands for the vision of the teaching in one’s heart. ‘Service and surrender’ is, however, the general meaning of acaryopasanam, in which sense Lord Krishna uses the term when talking to Arjuna. However, it requires a certain discrimination in its exercise and care must be taken in choosing, as it can lead to exploitation of the value holder, if the teacher is not a responsible person.
Service to the teacher implies a whole frame of mind, characterized by surrender of personal ego, subordination of personal likes and dislikes, a willingness to give without demanding any return, and a general attitude of respect and devotion, towards the teacher. Thus, acaryopasanam ,is a great personal surrender made only to such a person who has no need of this kind of surrender, or service., to be the beneficiary of the attitude of acaryopasanam. Only a person who has clear steady knowledge of the truth of Self is without needs.In acaryopasanam, willingness to serve is the most significant, rather than the particular act of service done. Through such an attitude of unquestioning , complete service the student becomes blessed. When the teacher is true to his name and the nature of service is understood, the surrender of acaryopasanam is a beautiful value, blessing the student and making his mind receptive to the knowledge to be unfolded. In gaining any discipline of knowledge, respect for the teacher is an essential element, and this value is equally essential for the knowledge of Self.

In the management scenario , both the manager and his subordinates need inculcate this value by respecting their seniors from whom they have learnt many professional aspects of management. Such a spirit of service paves way not only to teach and learn more but also better understanding and communication among them. Service to the teacher (acaryopasanam) is a beautiful value as it inculcates a spirit of gratitude towards the teacher /person from whom the particular knowledge or skill has been acquired.

Ved Prakash