Bhagwad Gita offers a roadmap for success

While the rest of the world was in the Stone Age, the ancient Indian had reached the zenith of human development. The accent shifted from conquering the world to gaining control over the mind. Generations of Indians mastered the inner world. Success and happiness came as by products. When we lost this inner enrichment, external bankruptcy followed.

Like Gulliver, we are asleep to our real worth. And the Lilliputians of the world are holding us to ransom. All we have to do is to wake up to the powerhouse of knowledge we are heir to. The Bhagwad Gita, written 5,000 years ago, addresses the Arjun of today – dynamic, ambitious, young adults seeking excellence.  It prescribes the formula for success.

The young are talented, knowledgeable and hard-working. But there are the last-minute nerves and stunning defeats that come in the way. A brilliant student well-prepared for the exams suddenly goes blank. An outstanding sportsperson fails because of his obsession for the trophy. A job aspirant anxious for the job fumbles at the interview.

Action is under your control. Fruit is dependent on factors beyond your influence. Dependence on the fruit makes you a slave to the world. The First Class in the exam or the Olympic Gold is not under your control. But nobody can take away your knowledge or the fact that you are an outstanding athlete. Find fulfilment in the action. Give your best to it. Enjoy it. You gain merit. You are independent of the result. And success is yours.

Fix an ideal beyond your selfish, self-centred interests. The higher the ideal, the greater is the energy, enthusiasm, and creativity. If you think of the goal while acting, the mind shifts from the present action to the fruit, which belongs to the future. Your concentration slips. Action becomes flawed, resulting in failure. And you are stressed out. When a student is anxious to get good marks, the mind is not on the question paper. He commits a series of mistakes and underperforms. A batsman in his nineties thinks of the hundred, not of the next ball, and gets out.

While acting focus entirely on it. Do not allow thought of fruit to interfere with the action. The action will be perfect. Success will be yours. And your mind will be at peace. Such a person is defined as a sannyasi – a person of renunciation. Not a celibate priest or one who has retired to the Himalayas.

A selfish person with a myopic view of life achieves neither excellence nor is he happy. To excel and be happy one must necessarily have a higher mission in life. And act dynamically. An inactive, lethargic person will not achieve anything.

Centuries before Six Sigma, Vedanta prescribed a six-point path to success in the Gita, 3:30. It consists of two aspects – creating energy and plugging dissipation of energy.

Energy is generated by three methods. The intellect directs all thoughts to the chosen goal. All energies – light, wind or water – gain power when unidirectional. Thoughts meandering in different directions lose power. The mind surrenders to the goal, is devoted to the ideal. When you play for the country, the power of 1.3 billion Indians rests in you. And the body acts dynamically. The more you act, the more energy you generate.

This energy gets dissipated in three ways – worry over the past, anxiety for the future and frenzy in the present. The intellect focusses the mind on the present action and does not allow the mind to meander into wasteful avenues of the past and future.

Nothing in the world lasts. Everything changes, passes, is impermanent. So, acquire and possess the whole world. But never depend on it. Seek the one permanent anchor within. The abode of infinite bliss.

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December 03 is Gita Jayanti