BUSINESSMEN INFLUENCED BY

BHAGWAD GITA

SUBMITTED BY-
RASHMI SAINI (20180106)
MUKESH KUMAR MISHRA (20180105)
BHUPESH TYAGI (20180102)
SATYAJEET (20180108)
INTRODUCTION

If you are a first-time business owner or a newbie

entrepreneur, you are bound to receive endless
suggestions and comments from people around you.
These are sometimes redundant and repetitive, potentially
confusing you on which to follow thereby leaving you in
the lurch as far as obtaining quality guidance is
concerned.
With quality entrepreneurial advice being the criteria, the
Bhagavad Gita contains certain unconventional tips that
are totally relevant even in today's business scene. With
unconventional and unexplored aspects, offered by the
Bhagavad Gita, being the criteria; Entrepreneur India
attempts at exploring the best of these.
RATAN TATA

Take the case of Tatas, a salt-to-software

business conglomerate which has more than
one hundred companies in its fold, spread
over more than one hundred countries. Their
businesses might be as diverse as chalk and
cheese but much like beads strung together
by a string, what holds all these outfits
together is a common set of values which the
group stands for. The name stands for
dependability and better value for money.
Around two-thirds of the profits of the group
flow into Tata trusts which channelize these
back to the society in myriad ways.
Products and organizations have life cycles of
their own. Just like the human body is prone
to many changes – birth, existence, growth,
decay, disease and death. But values outlive
these perils of life; somewhat akin to the Self
which Gita holds to be eternal and deathless.
Values pervade all arms of any organization.
अअअअअअअ अअ अअअअअअअअअ अअअ
अअअअअअअअ अअअअ |
अअअअअअअअअअअअअअअअअ अ
अअअअअअअअअअअअअअअअअअ || 2.17 ||
avināśhi tu tadviddhi yena sarvam idaṁ tatam
vināśham avyayasyāsya na kaśhchit kartum
arhati
That which pervades the entire body,
know it to be indestructible. No one can
cause the destruction of the imperishable
soul.

An inner connection to handle myriad

challenges with aplomb
Hapless CEOs face myriad challenges. There
are pinpricks from customers, employees,
suppliers and many other stakeholders. The
directors and the shareholders have to be
kept in a positive frame of mind. Regulatory
agencies and government departments have
to be kept in good humour. Concerns for
upholding norms of corporate governance
keep snapping at their heels. Only nerves of
chilled steel and deep reserves of inner
resilience can help them to keep performing
on all the twelve cylinders. An inner
connection surely helps.
In an indirect manner, Gita touches upon the
importance of an inner connection for
business leaders. It holds that wise are those
who enjoy a tranquility and calmness within
themselves. Their inner being is in harmony
with their outer being. Their decision-making
is based on balanced, well-considered and a
holistic view of the facts of the case. They do
not manage crises in business with knee-jerk
reactions. They deal with people according to
their nature and with occurrences in the
business environment according to their force
and the truth or hard reality they represent.
Impartial they are.

Ratan Tata's Audacious Philanthropic

Retirement Plans
These quotes from bhagwad gita show the retirement plan
for the employees working in TATA.
One does not attain freedom from the bondage of
Karma
by merely abstaining from work.
No one attains perfection merely by giving up work

Because no one can remain action less even for a

moment.
Everyone is driven to action, helplessly indeed,
by the Gunas of nature

The deluded ones, who restrain their organs of

action
but mentally dwell upon the sense of enjoyment,
are called hypocrites

The one who controls the senses by the mind and

intellect
and engages the organs of action to Nishkam
Karma-yoga
is superior, O Arjuna

Perform your obligatory duty,

Because action is indeed better than inaction.
Even the maintenance of your body
would not be possible by inaction

Shri Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagwad Gita

BHARATI AIRTEL

The Bharti Airtel chairman quoted the Bhagwad

Gita: “No one who does good work will ever come to
a bad end, either here or in the world to come.”

Mittal appealed to his senior executives to keep

giving their best and continue winning in the
marketplace. “For me, one of our biggest
achievements at Bharti Airtel has been our ability to
build a world-class institution where we have
insulated the operations from being distracted by
sometimes very vicious attacks from our business
rivals,” he said.

ANANYA BIRLA

Ananya Birla, an entrepreneur and singer, fitness

entails finding inner happiness. She has her own
unique mantra of keeping calm and staying
ahead. Ananya is the founder of Svatantra Microfin,
a company that provides microfinance to women in
rural India.[5] Ananya is also the founder of
CuroCarte[6] and cofounder of Mpower.[7] Birla has
received awards for her work and entrepreneurship,
including the ET Panache Trendsetters of 2016
award for Young Business Person.

Soul
“I would recommend that everyone read the
'Bhagavad Gita;, or at least parts of it. It teaches you
about life, but in a very open-ended way. It doesn’t
tell you things but encourages you question them
yourself. I was inspired to take up meditation after
reading it, which is now something I try to practice as
often as possible — though not as much as I should.
Meditation creates serenity and calm that helps me
deal with life’s ups and downs. It helps me switch off
recharge. It also boosts creativity. It encourages me
to look at projects (and sometimes myself) more
objectively and tap into deeper thoughts and
emotions.

Mind
“Even a bit of exercise can encourage your body to
release mood enhancing chemicals like endorphins,
which improve your self-esteem and reduce anxiety.
Getting out in nature is great for mental health —
surfing or even just taking the dog out for a walk are
some of the things I enjoy doing. I find taking an
hour to focus during stressful or challenging times, is
a great way to clear your head.”

Body
“I know that if I take care of my body, it will take care
of me. My voice is the first thing to go when I am
feeling run-down, which is not good when I am
spending hours singing in the studio. I mix up my
fitness routine to keep it fun. Sometimes I’ll do
weights and cardio in the gym, but I prefer classes
like Pilates or kickboxing. I love yoga too. When I am
back home in Mumbai, I’ll always set aside some
time in the week to play football with my friends. I’ve
finally found places to play in London and LA too,
which has been great considering all the travelling I
have been doing with my music this year. I try to
exercise five times a week for about an hour, but I’m
not always successful because I am on the road.
People shouldn’t beat themselves up if they miss a
day. Exercise should make you feel better about
yourself, not worse.
RAJAT GUPTA

Rajat Gupta, the former managing director of

McKinsey and the chairman of the Indian School
of Business (ISB in quickspeak) has finally decided
to step down from the board of the school. A
statement from ISB on March 21 says: "Rajat Gupta
has requested the ISB Executive Board to relieve him
of his Board responsibilities till his pending matter
with the US SEC (relating to insider trading
allegations) is resolved. This, and the appointment of
the new Chairman, will be tabled at the upcoming
Board meeting on April 2."

This has put to rest doubts on his course of action as

far as one of the prestigious B-school is concerned.

Management gurus on the subject of

entrepreneurship have often tended to observe that
entrepreneurs typically find it difficult to distance
themselves from their pet projects. In ISB's case,
since the school often gets described as the
brainchild of Gupta, there was speculation on what
his stand would be.

The school has also been maintaining that he would

continue as chairman of its executive board and in
fact came out in his support. A statement issued
earlier had stated: "We note that the US Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) has initiated
administrative and civil proceedings against our
Chairman Rajat Gupta. We also note the statement
of the counsel for Rajat Gupta, which asserts that
the allegations are totally baseless. The ISB
community is confident that Rajat Gupta will be
vindicated. He continues to be the Chairman of the
ISB Executive Board."

Now in its tenth year, ISB has arguably built its

reputation and some tend to feel it has perhaps gone
beyond individuals. Hence, Gupta's exit may not
impact the school as much as it would have in the
initial years.

What will change for sure is the message for the

graduating students of the school. No more are they
likely to get the lessons on work ethic from Gupta,
who would quote from the Bhagavad Gita about
`Work without expectations of the fruits thereof'.

Each year, the McKinsey veteran would conclude his

graduation day speech by quoting the Hindu text:

"Karmanye adhikarastu maa faleshu kadaachan,

Maa karma fala hethurbhur maa sangostva
karmani."

And later translate it for them too:

"You have the right to work, but never to the fruits

thereof. Not only should you do your very best but
you have to do it with your best intention."

The school must be hoping his beliefs would help

him in resolve the "pending matter with the US
SEC".

Debashis Chatterjee

He is a Director in IIM,Kozhikode and a distinct

philosopher in Indian Values and Ethos. He has written
several books and his book “Timeless Leadership” has
shown the world a distinct view of Bhagwad Gita.
Here is his short interview on Bhagwad Gita:-

Why are Indian corporates so interested in Hindu

philosophy these days?
It's a world-wide phenomenon and it is largely
because they find that the management theories
don't work as well as they had imagined. The search
for alternate models had led to interest in the
insights provided by texts like the Ramayana,
Mahabharata, Bhagwad Gita. I've lived and worked
in the USA and even there, the rule of separating the
church from the state is b r e a k i n g down. There is
a view that faith should be integrated with work and
people are looking to the Bible and Torah for in ..

What is the genesis of your book?

It is the result of conversations I have had with

Indian corporate leaders. Though the Bhagwad Gita
is a part of our cultural tradition, I read it thoroughly
only nine years ago on the advice of G Narayana,
then the CEO of Excel Industries.

It is such an insightful text, I remember wishing I had

read it much earlier. I was inspired to decode it for a
different kind of reader. I've broken the ideas into 18
sutras, each of which is a cognitive unit. The book is
written in the language of the modern world. It is for
worldwide distribution, so I've taken out much of the
complexity of the original work. For example, I have
translated the Sanskrit term 'nishkam karma' as the
Art of Undoing.

How do the teachings of the Bhagwad Gita relate

to the workplace?

Managers today are under severe performance

pressure. They suffer from information overload,
leading to emotional turmoil. The war is internalised
and can only be won by getting out of the pressure.
The Gita says 'be real.' Anything that prevents you
from being real is acquired nature. You must be true
to yourself. You can't say 'I am the problem.' We
need to move from the concept of 'speed of thought'
to 'speed of clarity'. The Gita helps provide this
clarity, thereby reducing the turmoil within. But it is
complex work, written in Sanskrit, much more
difficult than the Bible.

Would managers of other religions be interested

in the teachings of the Gita?
I live in Kozhikode, which is a Muslim dominated
area, so I am aware of these things. Teaching the
Gita in the management classroom should not
create a divide if you go about it in the right way. A
painting of Ganesha by a top artist in the reception
or board room is not meant to be taken as a
religious statement. We're not talking about
organised religion and I'm not looking at the Gita as
a holy book. It is a text that provides shruti or
insights. You may say the Mahabharata and the
story of how the Gita came to be written just can't be
true, but it is a fact that millions of people have taken
it as an article of faith over the ages. I've created a
course around this for the executive development
from programme at my institute.

I've recently been invited to teach this course at by

Harvard Business School as well. It's not as if only
those from the Hindu faith are interested. People are
interested in the ideas of Krishna.

Do you use the teachings of the Gita in your own

life?
I've experimented with several ideas from the Gita in
my own life, and they work. I now start my day by
thinking how I can do things unselfishly, with no
thought for return on investment.

When my last book, The Other 99%, was published,

I decided that all proceeds would go to charities
working for the girl child. After that I didn't hesitate to
ask every CEO I met to buy 100 copies of the book.
Acting unselfishly gave me that power.

AJAY PIRAMAL
An ardent practitioner of the Bhagwad Gita, Ajay Piramal,
transformed his ailing textiles business into a
pharmaceutical behemoth and cashed a multibillion
dollar payout.
“If you are dispassionate you will win that’s my greatest
learning from Bhagwad Gita.”
Ajay Piramal

His small interview is as follows –

I owe my Success to The Grace of the
Lord
Strength Humility
Weakness Art
Inspiration Bhagwad Gita
Life Lesson Your deep driving
desire
can become your
destiny
People he Admire Ramakrishna
Paramhansa
Swami
Vivekananda
Advice to Kids To live a life based
on
values.

Infact in his office too there is the centerpiece of the

office, and the prompt for the conversation, is a series of
granite sculptures by artist Adwaita Gadanayak, placed at
various intervals across the 10th floor, including in
Piramal’s personal workspace. Each sculpture depicts a
particular verse from the Bhagavad Gita, selected by
Piramal, and communicates a specific message that is
relevant to business life.
For example, in Piramal’s cabin, a stylized collection of
sculpted stones is displayed museum-style, depicting that
moment in chapter 11 in the Bhagavad Gita when Krishna
displays his vishwaroop or universal form to the warrior
prince Arjun. Piramal had it placed in clear line of sight,
directly across the room from his desk to be able to “see
Krishna".
Some might consider this to be a far-fetched statement,
but Piramal re-emphasizes the application of the
Bhagavad Gita to daily life. “The Gita has not been told to
a person who is living right up in the Himalayas. It has
been told to a warrior who is young, who is in the midst
of a battle, full of emotions. In life, there are always
intense battles, and yet we must practise the lessons from
the Gita."
Second, spirituality fosters mindfulness and equanimity,
which are vital in any negotiation as they help in being
clear-headed. Piramal cites the famous shlok of the
Bhagavad Gita (chapter 2, verse 47) that prescribes
working for the means, not the fruit of one’s action. “If
you concentrate on action and forget the results, you
actually perform much better, because then you are not
worried what will happen. If you don’t concentrate on
action, either you start dreaming too much or get
worried," he says.
Finally, Piramal uses the notion of trusteeship in the
Bhagavad Gita to guide his sense of legacy. “The beauty
of the concept of trusteeship is that you don’t look at
your own benefit. You have to look at the benefit of all
shareholders; there is no question of ego in it," he says.
This approach frees him from being too attached to any
one asset or business, he adds.