I N D IA N I N STITU TE OF M A N A G EM EN T

I N D OR E

H U M A N V A LU ES F R OM B H A G A V A D G ITA

S U B M ITTED TO : P R OF (D R ) A K H A Y A N A Y A K

I N D IV ID U A L A SSIG N M EN T

Lessons from B hagavad G ita

Report, 1 March 2022

Author: Roll Number:

H ritik R ana 2019IP M 065

It was through this course and my study of the Bhagavad Gita that I came across numerous eye-
opening passages that helped me achieve clarity on themes such as the individual's
responsibility, God, and the meaning of spirituality and the road that leads to it.

The following are the Bhagavad Gita lessons that I've taken away from this Human Values from
Bhagavad Gita course, along with the pertinent passages from the Holy book:

Chapter 2, Verse 47:

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते र्ा फलेषु कदाचन |

र्ा कर्मफलहेतुर्भमर्ाम ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मधि || 47 ||

You have a right to perform your prescribed duties,

but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions.
Never consider yourself to be the cause of the
results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction.

Individuals have the right to do their tasks, but they should not expect any reward for doing so.
The idea that one should not place too much focus on oneself as the source of their achievement
is also widely accepted. Everyone should thus constantly keep following the road set forth for
them by the God. In addition, the Bhagavad Gita emphasizes the need of being humble in the
face of accomplishments. Even if success is simple to come by in personal and professional life,
such success should not be attributed only to one's own efforts. This highlights the need of being
thankful for the blessings of others, as well as for the assistance one has gotten from God
himself. As long as one's activities are in line with the Dharma, it's important to maintain a stoic
demeanor while carrying out their responsibilities. The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 2, Verse 38)
emphasizes the necessity of being unaffected by opposing emotions while carrying out one's
responsibilities:

सुखदु :खे सर्े कृत्वा लार्ालार्ौ जयाजयौ |

ततो युद्धाय युज्यस्व नैवं पापर्वाप्स्यधस || 38||

Fight for the sake of duty, treating alike happiness

and distress, loss and gain, victory and defeat.
Fulfilling your responsibility in this way, you will
never incur sin.

The next teaching is on self-belief. Self-belief is a virtue that is highly essential because we are the
end result of what we believe in, whether it is in our personal lives or in our professional lives, and
we are the final product of what we believe in. The Bhagavad Gita has the following passage,
which speaks about one's own self-belief (Chapter 17, Verse 3):
 सत्त्वानुरूपा सवमय श्रद्धा र्वधत र्ारत |
श्रद्धार्योऽयं पुरुषो यो यच्छ्रद्ध: स एव स: || 3||

The faith of all humans conforms to the nature of

their mind. All people possess faith, and whatever
the nature of their faith, that is verily what they are.

When the five senses of sight, smell, taste, and feel come into contact with their objects of
perception, we are moved to experience joy or sorrow. These five senses are all contained in the
human body. It's impossible to hold onto any of these sensations for long. They come and go at
will, unlike the seasons. A delight in the summer, a torment in the winter, chilly water.
Consequently, it's hard to cling to positive or negative emotions for long. Let them affect us, and
we'll swing from side to side like pendulums. Allowing for both pleasure and grief without being
upset requires practised discernment. As said in Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 2, Verse 14):

र्ात्रास्पर्ामस्तु कौन्तेय र्ीतोष्णसुखदु : खदा: |

आगर्ापाधयनोऽधनत्यास्तांस्तस्तधतक्षस्व र्ारत || 14||

O son of Kunti, the contact between the senses and

the sense objects gives rise to fleeting perceptions
of happiness and distress. These are non-permanent,
and come and go like the winter and summer
seasons. O descendent of Bharat, one must learn to
tolerate them without being disturbed.

As long as our lives have a meaning, we should be grateful for what we've accomplished and
renounce the rewards of our actions. We are all born into this world with a purpose, and when that
purpose is fulfilled, we should be grateful for the life we've lived while also renunciating the
consequences of it. In addition, it's critical that I understand my purpose in life, which means
figuring out how I want to go about it and taking action to get there. It's common for us to be
inspired by the lives of successful individuals and to want to incorporate their principles into our
own personal and professional life. We should be inspired by the lives of others and take their
principles to heart, but we shouldn't try to live like them. The Bhagavad Gita advises that one's
own tasks, even if done incorrectly, would lead to more success in life than doing what others
would have done, even if done flawlessly. (Chapter 2, Verse 35):

श्रेयान्स्स्विर्ो धवगुि: परिर्ामत्स्वनुधितात् |

स्विर्े धनिनं श्रेय: परिर्ो र्यावह: || 35||

It is far better to perform one’s natural prescribed

duty, though tinged with faults, than to perform
 another’s prescribed duty, though perfectly. In fact,
it is preferable to die in the discharge of one’s duty,
than to follow the path of another, which is fraught
with danger.

A similar lesson has been given in Chapter 18 again, and is one of the very few verses to be
repeated in the Bhagavad Gita, which in itself is a testimony to the value that this verse entails.

श्रेयान्स्स्विर्ो धवगुि: परिर्ामत्स्वनुधितात् |

स्वर्ावधनयतं कर्म कुवमन्नाप्नोधत धकस्तिषर्् || 47||

It is better to do one’s own dharma, even though

imperfectly, than to do another’s dharma, even
though perfectly. By doing one’s innate duties, a
person does not incur sin.
To that end, I want to live a life that goes above and beyond the ordinary by incorporating the
aforementioned ideals into all I do. In both my personal and professional life, the best course of
action is to just do what has to be done, with no regard for the consequences.