Aakash Parihar

H14063

Veda Vyasa

Vyasa is a focal and respected figure in most Hindu customs. He is likewise now and again called
Veda Vysa or Krishna Dvaipyana. He is the creator of the Mahabharata, and in addition a
character in it. He is thought to be the recorder of both the Vedas and Puranas. As per Hindu
convictions, Vyasa is a symbol of the god Vishnu. Vyasa is additionally thought to be one of the
seven Chiranjivins (enduring, or immortals), who are still in presence as indicated by Hindu
conviction.
Vyasa lived around the third thousand years BCE. The celebration of Guru Purnima is devoted to
him. It is otherwise called Vyasa Purnima, for it is the day accepted to be both his birthday and the
day he partitioned the Vedas.
Vyasa was grandfather to the Kauravas and Pandavas. Their fathers, Dhritarashtra and Pandu, the
children of Vichitravirya by the imperial family, were fathered by him. He had a third child, Vidura,
by a serving house keeper Parishram
The following qualities of Veda Vyasa will be emulated and a parallel will be drawn with the
modern context:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Selfless
Intellect
Immortal
Foresight

Selflessness:

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Veda Vyasa was one of the greatest sages to

have taken birth in this planet. He was
famous for his deeds of selflessness. He was
called upon to father the sons of Vichitravirya
by the royal family. Apart from that, the
Mahabharata is full of examples where Veda
Vyasa showcased the quality of being
selfless. In the Mahabharata there are
numerous instances such as the fact that
Vyasa lived in a small hut and not lavish
palaces created for kings itself is proof
enough that he had chosen a life of
selflessness and penance.
In the modern context, when it comes to our
personal lives, we see this everyday when
mothers always keep the childs needs before
her needs and the father always puts himself
last when it comes to fulfilling the wishes of
the family. This is illustrated by a story given
in Mahabharata itself as told by Veda Vyasa
himself. The story is of Indra and Suravi
(Mother of cows) and is illustrated below:
Vyasa said, 'O ruler, O child of
Vichitravirya, what thou sayest is
valid! We know it well that a child
is the best for goodness' sake and
that nothing is so great as a child.
Trained by the tears of Suravi,
Indra came to realize that the
child surpasseth in worth other
significant belonging. O ruler, I
will, in this association, identify
with thee that magnificent and
best of stories, the discussion in
the middle of Indra and Suravi. In
days of yore, Suravi, the mother
of bovines was once sobbing in
the heavenly areas. O youngster,
Indra took sympathy upon her,
and asked her, saying, 'O
promising one! why dost thou
sob? Is everything great with the
celestials? Hath any hardship,
little, come to pass for the
universe of men or serpents?'
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Suravi answered, 'No malice hath come upon thee that I see. In any case, I am
bothered because of my child, and it is in this manner, O Kausika, that I sob! It
couldn't be any more obvious, O head of the celestials, there savage planter is
harping on my feeble child with the wooden stick, and mistreating him with the
(heaviness of the) furrow, in outcome of which my tyke fomented with misery is
falling upon the ground and is at the purpose of death. At sight of this, O master of
the celestials, I am loaded with sympathy, and my brain is fomented! The one that is
the more grounded of the pair is bearing his burthen of more noteworthy weight
(effortlessly), however, O Vasava, the other is incline, and frail and is a mass of
veins and corridors! He beareth his burthen with trouble! What's more, it is for him
that I lament. It's just plain obvious, O Vasava, sore delivered with the whip, and
bothered exceedingly, he is not able to tolerate his burthen. What's more, it is for
him that, moved by misery, I sob in greatness of heart and these tears of sympathy
stream down my eyes!' (Vyasa, n.d.)
This motherly love which has been told in the story can be extrapolated to the modern
organisational context wherein a leader in todays organisation needs to be aware of the needs
and aspirations of each of his subordinates. He should help them grow and prosper and lead in
such a way that all gain from that leadership. The leader should also be aware of the needs of
the customer so that the organisation as a whole is able to focus on the needs of the customer
and is able to delight him always with product or service they provide.
Intellect:
Veda Vyasa has been credited with reciting the Mahabharata to Lord Ganesha in one go and also
writing Yoga Bhashya, Brahma Sutra, etc. He is also said to be the one who broke the Vedas in
different parts and wrote them down (hence the name Veda Vyasa), until then the Vedas were
verbally passed down from generation to generation. This clearly shows the high intellectual
capacity that Veda Vyasa possessed. Also when Vyasa quotes Senajit on happiness and misery, it
exhibits the intellect he possessed. A few lines from the same are quoted below:
O Yudhishthira, is the thing that Senajit of awesome shrewdness said, that
individual who was acquainted with what is great or awful in this world, with
obligations, and with satisfaction and wretchedness. He who is lamented at other
individuals' griefs can never be cheerful. There is no end of melancholy, and pain
emerges from bliss itself. Satisfaction and wretchedness, success and misfortune,
addition and misfortune, passing and life, in their turn, hold up upon all animals.
Hence the astute man of quiet soul ought to nor be elated with euphoria nor be
discouraged with distress. To be occupied with fight has been said to be the
Sacrifice for a lord; a due recognition of the investigation of reprimand is his
Yoga; and the endowment of riches in penances as Dakshina is his Renunciation.
All these ought to be viewed as acts that purify him. By representing the kingdom
with knowledge and strategy, pushing off pride, performing gives up, and taking a
gander at everything and all persons with generosity and absence of bias, a highsouled lord, after death, sports in the district of the divine beings. By winning
fights, securing his kingdom, drinking the Soma juice, propelling his subjects,
wielding sensibly the pole of Chastisement, and pushing off his body finally in
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battle, a lord appreciates satisfaction in paradise. Having concentrated every one

of the Vedas and alternate sacred texts appropriately, having ensured the kingdom
legitimately, and having brought on all the four requests to stick to their separate
obligations, a lord gets to be blessed lastly wears in paradise. He is the best of
lords whose behavior, even after his passing, is extolled by the occupants of city
and nation and by his guides and companions." (Vyasa, THE MAHABHARATA
VOLUME 12, n.d.)
This kind of intellectual capacity and superiority is still revered in the Indian society wherein
Doctors, Scientists and Professors are held in high esteem and are respected. This is also a
quality that is required in todays leaders. Be it in any field. The authors alma mater BITSPilani also followed the same rationale and hence the tag line they have used since their
inception is Gyanam Param Balam which translates to English as Knowledge is Power
Supreme.
Knowledge has, unintentionally or intentionally, been a creator of power. He who holds
knowledge holds immense power over others. That is why countries which hold higher
knowledge in terms technological advancements hold power over other countries. In fact the
other countries automatically become followers and they try to emulate the knowledge intensive
countries to reach their point of development. This also holds true in modern organisations
wherein a leader who has knowledge almost always fares better that his peers who do not
possess the same amount of knowledge. For the subordinates also the leader who possesses
knowledge is the one with which the subordinates want to work, since they get more chances to
grow both intellectually and professionally.
Immortal:
Veda Vyasa is said to have been a Chiranjivin, which is an immortal. Even though he himself
might not be alive today but the books he wrote, especially the Mahabharata, have attained
immortality for him. Also, the ideas that Veda Vyasa talked about have stayed in the Indian
traditions since. This is the only way to attain immortality. An example of this is when he
speaks to Yudhisthir about the duties of a king. A few lines from the same are given below:
There is no wrongdoing, O Yudhishthira, in doing a demonstration with
healthiness, after full pondering, and discussion with men equipped for offering
solid counsel. Our errands fizzle or succeed through predetermination. In the
event that effort, then again, be connected, sin would not touch the lord. I should
discuss to thee, O tiger among rulers, the account of what happened to an old lord
of the name of Hayagriva, O child of Pandu, the story, viz., of the gallant
Hayagriva of unstained deeds, who in the wake of having killed countless enemies
in fight, was himself crushed and killed while without an adherent close by.
Having accomplished all that ought to be finished holding enemies under check
and received each one of those first of means by which men may be secured,
Hayagriva gained awesome acclaim from the fights he battled and is currently
getting a charge out of extraordinary joy in paradise. Mutilated by thieves with
weapons, intensely battling with them, and pushing off his life in fight, the highsouled Hayagriva, ever mindful to his (royal) obligations, accomplished the object
of his life and is currently getting a charge out of incredible joy in paradise. The
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bow was his (conciliatory) stake and the bowstring was the string for tying the
casualties. Shafts constituted the littler scoop and the sword the vast one, and
blood was the elucidated margarine that he poured. The auto was the sacrificial
stone and the fierceness he felt in fight was the flame, and the four premier of
steeds yoked unto his vehicle were the four Hotris. Having poured upon that
conciliatory flame his adversaries as drinks and afterward his own life-breaths
toward the culmination of the penance, that incredible lion among rulers, viz.,
Hayagriva, got to be liberated from sin and is currently wearing in the districts of
the divine beings. Having secured his kingdom with strategy and insight, the highsouled Hayagriva of surrendered self and awesome quality of brain and usual to
the execution of penances filled every one of the universes with his distinction and
is currently wearing in the district of the divine being. (Vyasa, THE
MAHABHARATA VOLUME 12, n.d.)

Men are mortals but the ideas stay forever. In todays context also, leaders who have
revolutionised the world have passed away but the ideas that they preached have stayed after
them. A good example of this is Mahatma Gandhi, who preached non-violence and Satyagraha
is still considered the Father of the Nation for the ideas he gave to world.
Similar is the case for organisational leaders today, a leader should be able to ideate and give a
purpose and direction to the organisation he leads. This is the primary role of a leader. The
people who believe in the idea and the organisations purpose are the ones who are required in
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the organisation and the leader also ensures that. A very good example of these kinds of
organisations are Apple and Google. Steve Jobs on the one hand defined what Apple stood for
on the other he hired to work with him only those kinds of people who believed in the purpose.
Same is the case with Google. Google allows its employees to have free time in the office so
that they can work on their own ideas. This has been so successful that last year more than fifty
percent of Googles new products came from these ideas generated by the employees of the
company. This was possible only because of the fact that the founders of Google defined a
purpose for the organisation and hired only those kinds of people who believed in that purpose.

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Foresight:
Veda Vyasas foresight can be established from the fact that when Lord Ganesha asked
Veda Vyasa to recite the whole of Mahabharata in one go, he did so without any
hesitation. Also when the Pandavas re-begin the battle. Yudhishthira against Karna.
Vyasa tells Yudhishthira he will be king in 5 days. To illustrate this a few lines from
Mahabharata have been given below:
O Yudhishthira! O first one of Bharata's race, (if this had happen), then
awesome would have been thy sorrow. O supplier of distinctions, by good
fortunes the Rakshasa hath been killed in fight by the Suta's child. For sure,
Ghatotkacha hath been killed by death himself making the dart of Vasava an
instrument just. For thy great it is, O sire, that the Rakshasa hath been
killed in fight. Try not to respect outrage, O principal one of Bharata's race,
and don't set thy heart on sorrow. O Yudhishthira, this is the end of all
animals in this world. Uniting with thy siblings and every one of the famous
lords (of the host), battle with the Kauravas in fight, O Bharata! On the fifth
day from this, the earth will be thine. O tiger among men, dependably
consider righteousness. With a happy heart, O child of Pandu, practice
graciousness (to all animals), compensations, philanthropy, pardoning, and
truth. Triumph arrives where exemplary nature is." Having said these words
unto the child of Pandu, Vyasa made himself undetectable there and
afterward.' (Vyasa, THE MAHABHARATA VOLUME 7, n.d.)
This kind of foresight is of utmost importance for a leader in the modern organisation.
The leader should have the ability to understand the business and judge what the market
would look like 5-10 years from now. This kind of foresight helps the organisation be
prepared for the future and gives it a competitive advantage over others. This foresight
also allows the employees of the company to be able to cope up with sudden changes in
the organisation as when the leader communicates what he sees in the future for the
company the employees also gear up for the same.
In conclusion, it has been established that the qualities that made a man great in the ancient
times still hold good and can be emulated by the leaders of the modern times too. The
qualities discussed above, namely Selflessness, Intellect, Immortality and Foresight can be
considered to be the four cardinals of leadership. How they hold good has been discussed at
great length.

References
Vyasa, K.-D. (n.d.). THE MAHABHARATA VOLUME 1. Retrieved from Gutenberg:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15474/15474-h/15474h.htm#link2H_4_0331
Vyasa, K.-D. (n.d.). THE MAHABHARATA VOLUME 12. Retrieved from Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/15476/pg15476-images.html
Vyasa, K.-D. (n.d.). THE MAHABHARATA VOLUME 12. Retrieved from Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/15476/pg15476-images.html
Vyasa, K.-D. (n.d.). THE MAHABHARATA VOLUME 7. Retrieved from Gutenberg:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15475/15475-h/15475-h.htm
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