Indian epics: Knowledge and Wisdom – Transcending into Millenium management Practices

Mrs. A.Bharathy

Research scholar (Dravidian University) &

Lecturer, Department of Management

Pondicherry University Community College

Pondicherry

Abstract : In this modern world , the art of Management has become a part and parcel of everyday life, be it at home, in the office or factory and in Government. This article focuses on how the complexities of the modern management system can take lessons from our Indian scriptures. More so corporate India  is setting new trends through expansion and extension of their corporate boundaries as seen through their acquisitions and mergers. Be it the Arthasashtra or the Ramayana or the Mahabharatha they are a store house of  management knowledge and wisdom.These lessons are relevant in the 21st century for us because these paradigms of management implicit in them are not objects of archives but living lessons for generations to come, without over sighting the fact that they at best supplement or support existing principles or practices of management.

Indian epics and mythology offers countless solutions to day-to-day problems being faced by people. Epics such as the Bhagavad-Gita, Mahabharata and others are the storehouse of invaluable knowledge, which can be utilised to tackle difficult situations in the corporate world. More so today corporate India is setting new trends through expansion and extension of their corporate boundaries as seen through new acquisitions and mergers.

Be it King Ashoka of Kanishka who built rest houses for travelers and advertised Buddhist philosophy on rock edicts to our father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi discovering the paths of truth from the play on Raja Harishchandra or understanding the characteristics of a leader from the Ramayana to our present day corporate entities strategic actions namely

Bharti Airtel acquiring Zain telecom’s Africa assets for $10 .7 billion

Tata group acquiring  UK ‘s flagship brands LandRover & Jagaur brands

Reliance pay out of 392 million for 60% stake  in US Shale Joint Venture …

as the list goes on , one can quote a number of instances where our indian epics  are rich in Business practices and ethics for the man of today , tomorrow and beyond. Indian Business is breaking a new ground facilitating the arrival of the idea of Indian Management. Yoga, Ayurveda and Indian Management Wisdom (IMW) are the three rivers of knowledge from India that are drawing a new attention at the global level.

Evolution of Management Thought:

Here we must take note of the changes that occurred in the last 25 years in various domains of life — knowledge, technology and economy. The terms such as knowledge economy, and knowledge society have become buzzwords. These terms denote the rapid speed in creation of knowledge. So we have to think of adopting, adapting and being ‘adept’ according to them. Only ‘fittest’, not fit or fitter, would survive. Keeping these changes in view, it is necessary to think of new strategies of managing these changes. The position cannot be controverted. The fact, however, is that despite all the changes the core principles of management remain unchanged. It is because essential human nature does not change. At the core, ‘things’ of management i.e. various stakeholders involved in it as they are, do not change .

Mere management in terms of degrees and qualifications does not work, as has been discussed in detail by Henry Mintzberg in the book Managers Not M.B.A. Gandhi did not have an M.B.A.. Despite that he was the greatest manager in at least recent Indian history. He did not manage finance but a vast ocean of human resources in the country that had been disunited for centuries and so enslaved it politically, culturally, intellectually and economically as well. He succeeded because he went to his people to understand their condition. He associated himself with them and became one of them in terms of their distress and dispossessions, as was evident in his dress, diet and dealings with people of different religions and regions. With it, he made his fellow Indians think the way he thought. He changed their perceptions of their own condition and exploitation. To his call, the entire nation responded in one voice. It was something unprecedented in Indian history, for he succeeded against the most powerful — politically and economically — and highly sophisticatedly managed and administered empire. After the contextual remarks, a natural question arises: Who discovered management???

The present scenario informs us that management has travelled a long distance from its origin in Latin ‘manege’ standing for training horses through exercise. Even before the term came into existence, there were cultural encyclopedias like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and Kautilya’s The Arthashastra which are primarily about political and economic management. Texts such as these have inventory and methodology of management of the given field. More so in case of the latter. In a general sense, all of us are amateur managers, as we have not gone through training. The training aspect was incorporated in the era of Industrial Revolution in the 19th century Europe. Manager and management are the products of the industrialization which added professionalism and commercialization to it. The Manager had to manage an army of workers in factories. With the switch over from the Industrial to post-Industrial, society, there was a change in the nature and stature of manager. With new mode of economic production, a new currency, new mode of management of finance, a new market (in which every individual is a market) came into existence. Now, every one became a manger of the given task. The factory, the place of work was replaced office with a necessary network of communication with the people whom the manager might never physically see but manage them in terms of  assigned task. Gradually one’s home, hotel room might be a workplace for the manager. Thus, the post-industrial society was a post-manager society. Every society in a sense has been managing itself for centuries with or without methodology of the management. Those who managed the society in trying times and upheavals were honored and invested with the title of hero. All great heroes were great managers without going to any college or University for a course in management. In fact, the life of hero (read managers), served as models for deriving principles or theories of management. A hero was a manager par excellence of his own self and society that had reposed its faith in his abilities.

Every civilization that has survived for thousands of years could do so because it found and had its managers, though the term was not then in vogue. The heroes or nāyak were the people who were distinguished managers of their lives, and of the people around them in their personal and public lives particularly in moments of crises. It is possible to learn from them, as they used different paradigms of management. All lasting narratives celebrate their success or mode of management narratives — mythical and epical, for they have sustained for so long because the protagonists — real or unreal — were acceptable not only for their success but also for being so within given cultural time and space in accordance with lok (popular) and shāstra (learned) traditions. Their lives and the way they managed situations around them can be treated as material for constructing paradigms of management, as can be discerned in the following discussion.

These views on paradigms of management are directed at exploring new paradigms of management and their possibilities. Many such paradigms can be developed from Indian cultural tradition. The same can be said about other civilizations.The writings like The Ramayana and The Mahabharata in Indian context are not only cultural encyclopedias but also texts of management, for in them their wise authors who were just observers of general human nature have kneaded views or lessons on management voiced through their characters.To date Kautilya (Chanakya), is regarded as  the world’s first Management Guru.His management thoughts and ideas helped kings and rulers for centuries. All the powerful kings in ancient India like Ashoka had learnt Arthashastra and practiced it to expand their kingdom  multifold (increase market share), to protect the kingdom against powerful enemies (develop a strategy against competitors), develop winning strategies, habits and practices.These lessons are relevant in the 21st century for us because these paradigms of management implicit in them are not objects of archives but living lessons for generations to come, without over sighting the fact that they at best supplement or support existing principles or practices of management.

Emergence of Indian Management Wisdom :

When we look at the emergence of Indian Management Wisdom (IMW) as a new thought

current, we find its roots in the following seven ‘streams of consciousness’ of ‘Indian Wisdom’represented by crystallization of experiences in the form of insights, imaginations and visions :

Ancient Wisdom Foundations: 3 Vs capture the essence of ancient wisdom viz. Valmiki, Vyasa and Vivekanand. It may be indicated that the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Complete Works of Vivekananda capture the essence of Indian mythology and philosophy. Impact of Valmiki, Vyasa and Vivekananda on Indian consciousness is immeasurable. From the viewpoint of the impact on Indian consciousness, three periods of mythology and history could as well be viewed as Rama period, Krishna period and Ramkrishna/ Vivekananda period. Implications of such a perspective for management thought are interesting as Rama represents good governance, Krishna represents leadership and strategy and Ram-Krishna combination represents spiritual approach to management.

Arthasastra Foundations: Written in the context of the Kingdom, Arthasastra is a well

Known book dealing with management of Kingdom. It has many useful lessons for leadership and management that can be applied to ‘Corporate Kingdoms’. Its secular character is very appealing and its pro-people orientation has interesting lessons for management of organizations.

Freedom Movement Foundations: India’s freedom struggle also provided a backdrop for the emergence of the idea of Indian Management and Indian Management Wisdom. Freedom movement was also a social movement, which led to the liberation of the nation. Indian Business played a significant role during freedom struggle. The concept of trusteeship was the product of the freedom movement as Gandhi was searching for an alternative to Capitalism and Communism. It represented a holistic approach to building business organizations. The linkage of Indian Management with freedom movement led to a broadening the concept of management. It implied that the idea of management should not be merely restricted to corporate Management but should also include marginal sections of society. In essence management should be ‘development oriented’ in nature. This is an important lesson from the freedom movement foundations of Indian Management.

Indian Business Foundations: Indian business’ acumen is known from ancient times. Later it found its expression in community entrepreneurship e.g Marwari entrepreneurship, Gujarat entrepreneurship, Chettiar entrepreneurship. ‘Vyapar Sastra’ provided the conceptual foundations for many trading practices. As the medium size businesses developed into corporate structures, new lessons were learnt. Such experiences of the development of organizations led to development of a corpus of knowledge and wisdom in the form of case studies of ‘Business Maharajas’ and ‘Corporate Rishis’.

Cultural Foundations: It is now recognized that cultural dimension is also important for

development of management philosophies, theories and concepts. This has been the concern of many Indian scholars such as Prof. S K Chakraborty, Prof. J B P Sinha, Prof. M.B. Athreya, Prof Virmani and Prof Rajen Gupta. Japan developed Japanese Management rooted in its culture. Similarly, Indian Management as an idea has been emerging from the influence of the civilizational and cultural experiences. In fact, Indian managers learn about American and Japanese management concepts, tools and techniques in classrooms and in Management Development Programs, however in practice they intuitively integrate this learning with ground realities and thereby evolve their own ‘Indian blends’ that integrate American and Japanese theories of management with indigenous cultural context. This has been a reason for their success and it has led to development of new Indian Management Wisdom through ‘India Blend’ approach to management.

Subaltern/Social Movements Foundations: Indian Management Wisdom has also been

influenced by subaltern forces as manifested in several social movements. This led to demands of involvement and empowerment. Empowerment of the weakest is equally important in contrast to the survival of the fittest. Subaltern and social movements led to the idea of ‘Duty of the Fittest’. This implies that Corporations have a duty towards the society and the corporate model should incorporate this idea in its operating philosophy.

Capillary Action Foundations: Many grassroots institutions driven by the philosophy of

‘loksangraha’ (well being of members) have made an impact on the social consciousness.

SEWA, Lizzat Papad, Dabbawalla, AMUL and many other organizations are shining examples of the capillary action approach to development. AMUL model suggests the need for a linkage between the capillary action and corporate action. During recent years e-chaupal of ITC has also created a new linkage model wherein grass root action is combined with corporate action.

New Age Spiritual Movements: New age spiritual movements originating from India, such as Transcendental Meditation (TM) of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Vipasana meditation, Brahma Kumaries spiritual university, Art of Living movement etc, have emerged from Indian spiritual traditions. These movements are influencing the corporate world leading to emergence of a new integration of Yoga and Management. In fact, Yoga, Meditation and Spirituality (YMS) are emerging as new areas of research in the field of management. In due course, this may be acknowledged as distinctive contribution of ‘Indian Management’ to the world of management. With this acknowledgment, ‘Indian Management’ would acquire its distinctive identity.

 New Institutional Initiatives: Application of Indian Management Wisdom has found

institutional support in the form of several initiatives e.g. Management Centre for Human

Values (MCHV) at IIM Calcutta, Women’s Institute for Studies in Development Oriented

Management (WISDOM) at Banasthali University in Rajasthan, Indian Business Academy (IBA)at Bangalore and Greater Noida, Yoga and Management Division at Swami Vivekananda YogaAnusandhan Samsthana (SVYASA) University at Bangalore. These Centres (Knowledge Dhams)are making significant contributions to further development of Indian Management Wisdom.

Management Lessons from Indian Epics:

Management of any type, whether in business or some other human activity, in simplest of words according to Koontz is “Getting work done through and by the people in formally organized groups” Broadly speaking management is defined by the following functions

Planning
Organizing
Staffing
Leading
Directing
Controlling
Coordinating

There are number of books, journals, articles etc  available, which talks  in elaboration about various management theories. But way before the modern day management gurus gave their theories, principles and concepts of management, the great writers like Tulsidas, Valmiki etc had explained them in the ancient Hindu epics.

If one studies these mythological books, then one can easily make out about the various management lessons  which are taught in them. Every incidence teaches us a new lesson and in itself is a classic example of putting management at its best use and getting the work done.

Lessons from the Ramayana

As the controversy over the existence of Ram prevails , there is indeed no doubt of the numerous management lessons our B-School students and corporate leaders can take from Prince Ram to succeed in the present environment of globalised economy.

The use of management principles is very clearly visible in that of Hanuman going to Lanka. His mission was to locate Sita there and give her Prince Ram’s message. When it became clear that Sita was in Lanka, Jamvant asked Hanuman to go there. He helped him in realising his true potential and motivated him to go into the enemy’s camp. Once mentally prepared for the job and reached there, first thing which Hanuman did was to completely analyse the situation in Lanka. He did a complete study about the Lankans, assessing their strengths and weaknesses, the various threats and opportunities, which he had in the enemy’s camp.

This is what management is all about

Defining the goals, or job to be done.
Getting mentally prepared for it.
Having a right plan.
Analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the competitor and what      threats and opportunities are there in the business.

This SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunities and threats) analysis is one of the most important aspects of modern day management. Moreover Jamvant motivating Hanuman is a classic example of a good Manager helping his personnel to realise their potential and acting accordingly.

In the war ,Rama’s  group of men and monkeys were no match for the evil Ravana’s forces and weaponry. Or so thought Vibhishan, Ravana’s brother who had defected to Rama’s side. Unable to contain his concerns, he questioned Rama: How will you defeat this huge army with your limited resources? Rama  told Vibhishan , who listened with rapt attention; you have to make sure you have a clear vision, and a cause worth fighting for. In the case of Ramayana, the cause was to rescue his beloved Sita and the vision was to defeat the evil forces. The reply that Rama gave stands out as a great lesson in leadership

Many prominent industry leaders today opine that you need not necessarily have a vision; rather, taking one step at a time could be a much more practical way of going about, but I think that unless you have a vision, you will never be able to follow a trajectory. In the words of the great Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, “The world steps aside to a person who knows where he or she is going.” In that parlance, unless you know where you are going, how will the world step aside and aid you in your pursuit?
No doubts that the great Dhirubai mbani , APJ Kalam were also motivated by their vision too.

The other instances which are obvious are: teamwork  an important principle in management, and Rama applied the same in search of Sita and was successful in the mission. Another one is in an organisation one must be treated affectionately which Rama did when he met Guhanand Vibhishana.As one can  see the characteristics of a bad manager visible in Ravana who never heeded to his ministers , one can also see the characteristics of a good manager in Ram as he follows  principles such as encouraging lower category of employees, rewards for good work, self-motivation, decision-making, recognition, market survey, market exploitation, time management and the art of communication are aligned with instances in the epic.

 Lessons from the Mahabharatha

Noted as the second largest epic of the world has innumerable revelations on various fields like astronomy, geography, mathematics, complex military formations and strategies, philosophy, psychology, sociology, spirituality, religion, politics, and, even modern management lessons.

Both the Pandavas and kauravas had made powerful alliances. Especially the Pandavas who were on exile for 13 years , had no wealth  or power of their own .But then How were they able to win the war?The lesson is they  had made powerful alliances all over India like Panchala through Marriage with Draupadi, Dwarka through marriage with Arjuna and Subhadra, Magadh through marriage of Shadeva and Vijaya, Chedi through marriage of Nakula and Karenmayi, Kasi through marriage of Bhima and Balandhara ……. and the like.This clearly indicates that making powerful alliances is a winning strategy.

No doubt our corporate leaders have swung into action  making mergers and acquisitions the norm of the day , be it Reliance , Tatas , Wipro , Airtel , Maruti and its likes.

Yet another relevant lesson from the Mahabharatha is the spirit of team work which is the essence of modern management .Ample instance reveal that the Kauravas did not show team work.They all fought their own individual wars . Say Bhisma for his vow to protect the throne of Hastinapur, Drona and kripa owed allegiance to the throne.Shalya was simply cheated by Duryodhana , Karna to prove his friendship for duryodhana.more over they didn’t get on well with each other.

Bhishma and karma

Bhisma and Sakuni

Karna and Shakuni

Karna and Shalya

Shalya and Bhisma

They were like bees , hornets and mosquitoes put together in a jar. 
 While the Pandavas were a  one team, one goal. As men, they all had huge respect for Krishna and Yudhisthira. While as warriors they were in complete awe of Bhima and Arjuna. Most of them were close relatives – cousins,brother-in-laws, father-in-laws. More than that, they all were part of the decision-making process. It was their”common” war. This indeed shows the success of team work.

The Mahabharatha has many more lessons for the modern day manager like :

Subordination of individual interest to achieve common goal

Commitment of Team members

Assigning of the right man to the right job

Leadership as an art of inspiring team members

Analysis of  Opportunities and exploiting the situation and many more…….

Lessons from the Gita

The Holy Gita has become a secret driving force behind  one’s life. The Holy Gita is a practical psychology of transformation which offers us the tools to connect with our deepest  intangible essence. We must learn to participate in the battle of life with right knowledge.

Management is a process of aligning people and getting them committed to work for a common goal to the maximum social benefit – in search of excellence. The critical question in all managers’minds is how to be effective in their job. The answer to this fundamental question is found in the Bhagavad-Gita Gita, which repeatedly proclaims that “you must try to manage yourself.” The reason is that unless a manager reaches a level of excellence and effectiveness, he or she will be merely a face in the crowd.

The Gita is a valuable resource of numerous values relevant for the manager of today like

Amanityam –Humility

Adambhitvam – Pridelessness

Arjavam – Simplicity

Kshanti – Tolerance

Anahankara – Absence of ego and several more values to be explored.

Lessons from the Vedas

The Vedas, which represent the storehouse of our ancient value systems, talk about the following key values as very important: (a) Satyam — Truth; (b) Tapah — Austerity; (c) Damah — Sense control; (d) Samah — Tranquility of mind; (e) Dharmah — Righteousness; (f) Danam — Charity; (g) Daya — Mercy; and (h) Nyasah — Renunciation.

The Vedas insist on proper distribution of wealth. Wealth earned by 100 hands has to be distributed to 1,000 hands (Atharva Veda Samhita iii-24-5). They encourage us to give charity in plenty with utmost faith and humility (Sraddhaya deyam! Sriya deyam! Hriya deyam! Taittiriya Upanishad I-11). Thus the social obligations are also taken care of.

The Vedas also inspire us to innovate and improve upon (Rig Veda Samhita i-31-8), and also to succeed in trade (Atharva Veda Samhita iii-15).

Surely today our corporate leaders like the Infosys  have ventured into their role of  Corporate social responsibility  through their community welfare projects and many more have to realize this aspect.

Lessons from other Scriptures

Various Upanishads, Vedas, Smrutis, and other ancient Indian scriptures also contain teachings which can be directly or indirectly applied to management. The Kathopanishad is one of the most popular of all Upanishads. The “ability to take decisions” is the real test of a manager’s caliber. The mantra in this Upanishads mentions, at every stage in a man’s life he is confirmed by the necessity to choose between two courses of action. One is sreyas which seems painful in the beginning but painful in the end. In managerial terms, sreyas may be regarded as the hard option while preyas is the soft option. The Taittiriya Upanishads lays down the qualifications of those who are worthy of being looked up to as precedents. In the Yaksha Prashana episode,Yaksha asks “which path to choose?” and Dhramputra answers: The path that great men of yore had traversed in the past is the path we should follow.

The Vedas contain various concepts such as knowledge management, relationship marketing, quality system, change management, time management, etc. in terms of Social responsibility; the Vedas specify that the poor and the needy shall be duly protected. They call upon one not to cause injury to others or covet the wealth of others.

No wonder Corporates like Microsoft , Apple , Berkshire Hathaway corp. , Infosys , Wipro, Tatas etc… today spend a considerable proportion of their profits in charity foundations and  their activities of social relevance.This has indeed been the norm of the day in the past itself . The Vedas stress upon moral and ethical conduct and appeal to every one to be guiltless and blemishless. They give the clarion call for value-centric business practices.The individual value system of the various employees together shape up and determine the value system of an organization to which they identify themselves with. Vedas also stress that “work itself does not cause frustration, but something else causes frustration, it’s the expectation of result”. A short story reveals the”attitude towards work” in which: a lady asks three workers, who were cutting stones for the construction of the temple. First says,” I am doing this horrible job of cutting stones”, Second says,’ I am working to get money for my family” while the third says, “I am building the temple”. All the three men are doing the same work but for the first one, it is “hell”; for the second, it is a “duty” while for the third one, it is a “blessing”. This shows attitude towards work.

 Conclusion

We can see how relevant and important aspects of Management and Business Knowledge and practices  we can discover from our scriptures.They also have numerous lessons to be learnt on various functional areas of business also.As we move towards a globalised Indian economy it is time that our would be managers of the corporate world  get  back to basics. Even as society appears to be getting increasingly corrupt and criminal; many are beginning to realize that you cannot aspire to create value without deeply cherishing a sense of values. For instance, chairman of Wipro systems and Wipro InfoTech, Azim Premji, once called for a meeting. A senior general manager of the company was leaving, because he had inflated a travel bill. The amount involved was not huge. Nor was the general manager’s contribution to the organization insignificant. And yet, he was leaving because of one act of misdemeanor. It was a question of principles, of values. To add a lot of interest to your principal, you need to stick to your principles. To sustain your competitive advantage in an increasingly corporate world, you need character. Morals are more important than money, materials, marketing and management.”The winner of any corporate competition is the company whose moral purpose best fits the prevailing environment. Through core values and principles, we can reach the zenith and we students being the prospective entrants in the corporate world, must inculcate these values from the very beginning and there is no dearth for them in our ancient scriptures.

References

Yog Raj Singh ,Ankur Bhatnagar(2010) “Management and Business Ethics through Indian Scriptures and Traditions” Shriram Institute of Management & Technology, Kashipur AIMS International Conference on Value-based Management August 11-13

http://www.valuequotes.net/chronological.html

Swami Nikhilananda (1990), The Upanishads: A New Translation Vol.I, at 3-4 , 5th Ed.
·         www.indyarocks.com/blogs/blog_visiterview_main.php?
Rabindranath Bhojan (2007), “Management lessons on how the Mahabharatha war was won” , www.badaga.org
Dr.S.Kannan (2009) , “Ancient values for modern managers” , The Hindu Businessline , February 2
·         M.P. Bhattathiri , “Bhagavad Gita and Management :World Management Lessons from India ” ,www.vinayahs.com
www.indiayogi.com

Motherhood Messages from  Mythology:

A study of Four Queens as Mothers in Indian Epics Ramayana and Mahabharata

Parenting is generally assumed to be providing the basic necessities, with profound intensity in interest, love and concern in children particularly within the home environment. Providing physical safety, shelter, clothes, nourishment, protecting the child from dangers besides health are primary duties of a parent. Physical and mental well being of the child is as much parental concern as would be their cultivation of good habits and good values. Intellectual security, creating an environment that is conducive for mind to develop, an atmosphere of peace and justice in family are among the prerequisites of good parenting. Intellectual development, emotional security, emotional development and the list goes on…

But these are wishful thinking. We live in a world that would deny us even the basic rights to live, as there is no warrantee against terrorism. To live and let live is a thing of the past. The bygone millennia were far more favorable to worldly existence than the present times. What children expect of parents in dutiful bounty but a friendly co-operation. Arguments are best when completely avoided, interaction and guidance offered only when solicited, demonstrating healthy practices without coercion on the part of the other to emulate can aid in establishing a parent – child relationship that transforms a living together of two disparate individuals into peaceful coexistence. Confrontation on the other hand will usher in verbal warfare leading to universal chaos.

In these circumstances, it would be interesting and worthwhile to inquire into mythology and note how some of the tallest characters have behaved as parents. The two great Indian Epics The Ramayana and the Mahabharata have been treasure houses of information for anything and everything the world could ask for Happy childhood challenged by scheming villains, obedient sons ousted by cunning voices, compassionate parents beleaguered by self-seeking desperados and many more disparities lace these epics.

The Mahabharata has been rightly hailed as the national epic of India. It is the story of a great war that terminated one yuga and began another. Considered to be the longest literary piece in the world, the most erudite evidence points out that, this great epic was composed between 2500 and 3000 years ago.

The Mahabharata is not an arbitrary compilation of tales like the Medieval Legends. Digressions aplenty, do shed light on the main plot and in fact help in maintaining the coherence. The plot revolves around the great battle that was waged at Kurukshetra between the Pandavas, their allies on the one side and Kauravas, their allies on the other. The war proverbially termed Dharma Yudda was the culmination of a whole generation of conflict and diplomatic maneuvering that pitted first among equals against second to none. And this made it all the more devastating eliminating several clans comprising of the best of men. The Pandavas, the sons of King Pandu, won the battle but lost the war that shattered the world they knew only to ruminate the rest of their lives in the emptiness of what they had won.

The Ramayana is one of the most well-known stories in the world, is considered to be the earliest epic written several millennia ago. It is a narrative on an exciting adventure tale about prince, Rama, the heir to the throne, banished to the forest for fourteen years, separated from his beloved wife, Sita. He wages a war against the abductor of Sita, Ravana, the King of Lanka, rescues her and returns to Ayodhya, and takes over the reins of the kingdom, to provide what is proverbially referred to as Rama Rajya – a form of governance that hitherto remains unsurpassed and unparalleled.

In more ways than one, these epics can be seen as a typically pitting the good against the evil. But they are much richer than these fairy tale tribes. They encompass human knowledge in abundance, lessons for all walks of life. In this article, I intend to take lessons of parenting, particularly motherhood, – the dos and don’ts of effective parenting. I shall be taking up the cases of Four Queens, Sumithra and Kaikeyi from the Ramayana along with Gandhari and Kunti from the Mahabharata.

Kunti

In the mythologically instructed community, there is a corpus of images and models that provide the pattern to which the individual may aspire, a range of metaphoric identity.
Jerome S. Bruner, psychologist

Queen Kunti is easily one of the most prodigious women to be accorded much respect in the Indian tradition. Her activities were that of a very pious and loyal wife and of a person with a great deal of self-control. She has an impressive lineage there. She is the daughter of the Yadava Shurasena and can thus trace her ancestry to such mighty emperors as Puroorava, Yayati and Nahusha, rulers of perhaps India’s largest ever empires. It is the blood of such mighty emperors that runs through Kunti’s veins. And as Shurasena’s daughter, she is Vasudeva’s sister and Krishna’s maternal aunt. In the Bheel version (a tribal version popular in North India)of the epic, she is Shakti herself born as a woman, who lives her human life as the very embodiment of Shakti.

She espoused the principles she strongly believed in, irrespective of her position. She accompanied her husband, Pandu when he renounced the throne and left for the forest. Severe austere life devoid of the sophistication of palace did not deter her and she accepted the change in her fortune with poignant and dignified grace. On a later occasion, she joined her sons in their journey towards the forest, and even outlived an assassination attempt in the wax mansion by the Kauravas. Her word was taken seriously both for their wisdom and guidance as in the case of Draupadi marrying her five sons. This is because, without looking at them she asked her sons to share the prize they had won.

Despite her sufferings, she found strength in her inner wisdom that carted her sons through crises particularly in the fratricidal war for justice.

The negative side of Kunti as a mother is best reflected in her handling of her Kaneena (child born to a woman before marriage) son Karna In spite of all her love for Karna, she was keen to get him out of her life as soon as he was born . So she floated the basket containing the young divine baby on a river and abandoned him completely out of her memory and life.

Thus with Karna, Kunti chooses the easy way out. In other words, her interests always preceded karna’s. This led to her abandoning him not just after his birth but repeatedly throughout his life. In the first instance he was saved by a good natured charioteer and his wife. After the floating incident we next see Karna as a young energetic youth qualified to challenge Arjuna in the arena where the Kaurava and the Pandava princes displayed their learning. He was rejected instantly because he was not a Kshatriya. One word of acknowledgement from Kunti could have saved not just Karna but the very Kurukshetra war that erupted later. But Kunti decided to abandon him again. This time Karna fell in line with evil. Duryodhana was quick to capitalize on his strength and weakness to crown him Anga Raja – the king of the Kingdom of Anga.

Her own son Bheema calls Karna a charioteer and humiliates him in the most caustic terms and asks him to get hold of his whip to drive chariots. All this in Kunti’s presence, but, for her part, she chooses to remain silent only to desert him.

There were numerous occasions when she could have felt the pulse of pride if only she had acknowledged his birth to her. But she refuses to recognize and admit the truth about him publicly.

The one occasion that she chooses to meet him and confess the truth of his birth is during the war. Even then it is to obtain something from him and not carry out her duties as his mother. She gets him to promise that he would not kill the Pandavas except Arjuna. By doing so, she makes him betray the man who recognized the dignity of his caliber.

In Bheel Bharatha, Kunti is supposed to have dumped Karna as an infant in a rubbish heap. This is both literal and metaphorical. When we look at Karna’s deeds, we wonder if this is true. He does indeed carry out some mean unethical deeds in his life, the meanest of them all is his vigorous incitement of Dushshasana in the act of debasing Draupadi in the Court Hall of Hastinapura. Kunti’s silence even at this moment is as intriguing as her rejection of Karna when he demonstrated his greatness. It could be argued that Karna could have evolved and realized the full potentials of his being if Kunti had not deserted him. She is squarely responsible for his falling into the hands of the Kauravas, ultimately into the darkness and dirt of evil. In effect she discarded an invaluable diamond into a rubbish heap. Which is exactly what the Bheel Bharata claims; she buried him in a rubbish heap.

Her attitude towards Karna may be puzzling. Many scholars have stated that there are reasons for her indifference. May be, she was conscious of her honour while dealing with Karna as he was born out of marriage. But when Karna eventually died, in the war, she courageously and whole heartedly acknowledged his valour.

Nevertheless, Kunti has her bright side as a mother to Nakula and Sahadeva who are actually Madri’s (Pandu’s second wife) children. In fact this act resurrects her from the sin of rejecting of her own Karna. There are instances when she even exhorts her eldest born Yudhishtra to take extra care of his youngest siblings. Such was her care and concern for them that forms a perfect foil to her treatment of her own Karna.

In Kunti, therefore, we see a devoted and none the less inquisitive maiden, a diligent wife, who respects elders and a trustworthy source of comfort to her husband. But she prevails as the archetypal dedicated mother, constantly advising and guiding her children, and ever willing to compromise on her comforts for their well being. Women like her have led and represented the concept of Bharat Mata. As feminist philosopher Judith Butler said, “Gender is a fact rather than an arbitrary set of concepts.” And Kunti’s motherhood stands testimony to it with all its positive and negative sides complementing each other.

Gandhari

Gandhari, often referred to as the ‘model of female propriety’, also considered an incarnation of Mati,(Goddess of Intelligence) is the daughter of Subala, the king of Gandhara,(modern Kandhahar) a region in the northwestern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. A tragic character of Mahabharata, her fearless life and strong disposition is very relevant to the contemporary socio-political context. She was forced to marry, Dhritrashtra, a blind king who was much older to her. This came as a rude shock to her, violating her womanly rights. Gandhari volunteered to blindfold herself throughout her married life which is generally assumed to be an act of supreme self sacrifice. She therefore forced herself into an act of self denial of the power and pleasure of sight that her husband could never experience and relish. Underlying Gandhari’s resolve to remain blindfolded was a silent but a strong protest in opposition to the power games and of course the forced marriage, at once making her enforced blindness both physical and metaphorical. She remained blind to the power games, political manipulations, irrefutable affection for her sons even if they indulge in hatred. The animosity they entertained with their first cousins, the Pandavas, swelled into the great war of Kurukshetra. This also explains her silence when Draupadi was defiled in the court. On hind sight one can see that Gandhari was more of a victim of a society that attempted to endorse male supremacy. Her protest nevertheless was loud, clear and successful

As a mother, twice she manifested her affection and concern for her son Duryodhana. Once, when she tried to wrap him with an invincible aura to avert death in the war. To her shock she failed one, because he was on the side of Adharma or evil, two, because he did not obey her words completely. She had asked him to come unclothed. She would see him with her naked eyes to bestow upon him a protective ring. But he appears with a loin around his waist. This repels the power of her vision to fall on his entire body making his waist to knee weak and vulnerable. He was eventually killed by Bheema who broke his thighs. The other occasion when she displayed her wrath for the loss of her children was through a small gap in the cloth with which her eyes were blindfolded; her gaze fell on Yudhisthira’s toe. The toe was charred black reflecting the power of her vision.

The boon that will bestow a 100 sons, turned out to be a curse. Her sons much against her wishes perpetrated crime after crime on their cousins, insinuated by her own bother, Shakuni. She remained completely oblivious – or so she claimed –of her sons’ misadventures, as the Kauravas made several attempts to eliminate the Pandavas. She favoured peace, but never reined in her sons to establish peace, blinded by affection. She repeatedly exhorted her sons to follow dharma and make peace with the Pandavas but this was seen as a sign of weakness that was exhaled by her blindness.

Her enforced blindness and the lack of ‘eye contact’ with her children left them bereft of humaneness. They were insinuated by their maternal uncle , Shakuni, who was shattered by sister’s condition and held Bhishma squarely responsible for the same. His agenda of eliminating the kuru clan which he equated with Bhishma’s clan, was effected by slow poisoning his nephews into evil ways. He also harboured ambitions to the throne in Duryodhana. All this happened right under Gandhari’s nose. But she continued to remain blind. Several plans were hatched to kill the Pandavas, the attempt at drowning Bheema when they were in their early teens, the infamous wax mansion episode, the game of dice and the eventual banishment, but the perpetrators were never brought to book. She remained blind to all these as well.

Gandhari is a powerful character and therefore a role model. Her positive attributes, have often gone unnoticed. Her unconditional love for Kunti is reflected in Dhuryodhana’s unconditional acceptance with Karna though the relationship between the two (Kunti and Karna) remained obscure to them. This is a trait straight from Gandhari’s book. Her love for Draupadi, even though her sons could not win her, was silently registered and best exhibited when she allowed her to curse the Kuru clan. Her silence endorsed the power of women. Her sons failed to understand this silence. They deceived themselves into believing that their mother vouched for their actions. Her blindness now blinded the others.

Gandhari was much respected and admired quite deservedly so by all, including the Pandavas. She was endowed with a tough spirit and rationality, that even King Dhritarashtra solicited her sound advice. She never missed an opportunity to urge him to restrain the activities of Duryodhana. She has also insisted that he reinstate the Pandavas. But, never really voiced it out to her sons herself. Her motherliness was best exhibited when she stood for justice and refused to bless the Kauravas before the Kurukshetra war and remained strong and steadfast in her anti-war cum pro-justice position. She sat with the king listening to Sanjaya’s narration of the war. An advocate of peace she was indeed very saddened by the tragic consequence of the war.

In the present context, Gandhari’s motherhood can be described as a precursor to the marvels of the modern day natal sciences. Her dedication to duty, family, spouse and dharma, though not necessarily in that order is unparallelled. Her life is an exemplary case for the need for women to be rational and steadfast in their perception and performance of the many roles they play through their lives. A heavy demand indeed, in this cut – throat competitive world.

Kaikeyi

Kaikeyi, in the R?m?yana, was the second of King Da?aratha’s three wives and a queen of Ayodhy?. She was the daughter of the mighty Ashwapati, a long-term ally of Ayodhya. Her marriage to Dasaratha was settled only after the latter promised her father that her son would become the heir apparent to the throne of Ayodhya. Dasaratha little hesitated to this as kauslya, his first wife was issueless. But even Kaikeyi could not beget a son, and eventually Dasaratha married Sumitra, the princess of Magadha, another kingdom with strong political ties to Ayodhya.

Kaikeyi has intrigued all scholars, both through her character as a person and as a mother. Therefore it is worth examining her character. A peep into her childhood provides a strong clue to her motives behind her insistence on the banishment of Rama from Ayodhya to the forest for fourteen years. As a young girl she was the only sister to seven brothers. She had no maternal influence in her early childhood as her father had estranged his wife over a trifling issue. Ashwapati could understand the language of the birds. This boon, however had strings attached to it. He was refrained from revealing the contents of their conversation, failing which he would have to lose his life. Once, when the King and his Queen were in the palace gardens, Ashwapati happened to overhear the conversation of a pair of swans. His focus on overhearing the birds betrayed caution, and he laughed aloud. His wife persisted on knowing the reason for his sudden laughter. He feared that he would somehow reveal the idea in some unguarded moment. Hence he felt that Kaikeyi’s mother threatened the happiness of his family and he unjustly banished her from the palace. Kaikeyi never saw her mother again. Having been raised by her wet nurse, Manthara, in the absence of a mother at such a young age, allied with her father’s treatment of her mother chiseled a deep impression on the young mind. She developed a extreme distrust for all men. Her mother’s subsequent exile coupled with Manthara’s constant fuelling of negative impulses harboured a sense of insecurity in her. This is clearly revealed in her disposition as the secondary consort to Dasaratha. She soon realized the depth of Dasaratha’s love and affection for his Queen and Empress, Kausalya. The reason for his marrying her was chiefly to produce the much awaited heir. Manthara’s scheming ideas were of great help to her, particularly to win over the king. This cunningness was aptly rewarded when she earned two boons from him at a very critical juncture.

Kaikeyi’s boons turned out to be Kausalya’s bane.

Years later, plans were laid to crown Rama, the son of Kausalya, the heir apparent, as King. A true human being that she is when left to herself, Kaikeyi was genuinely delighted . However, Manthara ensured that Kaikeyi fell a prey to her scheming ways. Her own son Bharatha, on hearing about his mother’s evil desires, refused to budge to her demands. Not only did he refuse kingship, he even went to the extent of recalling Rama back to Ayodhya. He agreed to return only after his elder brother parted with his footwear which will govern the empire. This handed out a tight slap on the face to Kaikeyi and Manthara.

When we analyse Kaikeyi’s mindset, we realize that much of it stems from her childhood insecurity and total distrust of men in general and husbands in particular. Her mother’s experience at the hands of her father, has engraved deeply in her mind that very often her natural good self gets clouded by these negative motives. Her character as a person and as a mother is greatly influenced by the happenings of her younger days.

It is not just for Bharatha that she claims the throne. It is also for her own pride and security as the Queen Mother winning over Kausalya as Dasaratha’s favourite, that her claim seem complete and valid. Her ego is further punctured when she succeeds in neither. Bharatha refuses the throne while Dasaratha, dies exactly six days after Rama’s departure to the forest. Furthermore, Bharatha never addressed her as “Mother” again. Kaikeyi was said to have died a broken-hearted woman in total seclusion, estranged from her son, his wife Mandavi and their two sons, her only grandchildren. She had to blame only herself and perhaps fate for both these events.

As a mother, she could have been true but for Manthara’s influence. Her delight on hearing abour Rama’s coronation was spontaneous and genuine. Valmiki describes it as a delight a mother would feel for a happy occurrence to her own son. Such was her affection for Rama. But once triggered, her outpours knew no bounds. She not only demanded the kingdom for her son, but wanted Rama to be banished from the kingdom, to ensure safety for her son. This is not the Kaikeyi who reacted so positively just a little while before. She must have been the very embodiment of humane feelings. But circumstances, fate and Manthara never allowed her to be her own self. Her association with Manthara was far too deep and so was the sway the latter had on her, that it became impossible to disentangle the relationship. A weak childhood rendered a weak mindset that eventually succumbed to Mantahara’s exploitation of her weakness.

Sumithra

Sumitra, the third queen of king Dashratha, hailed from the ancient kingdom of Kashi. The wisest of the all the wives of Dasaratha, she was the first to realize that Rama was the incarnation of Lord Narayana.

In the Puthra Kameshti Yaga, that was performed to beget children, both Kausalya and Kaikeyi offered their second portion of the Kheer to Sumitra.She produced two sons, Lakshmana was born out of the portion given to her by Kausalya while, Shatrughana was born out of the portion given to her by Kaikeyi.

Her affection for children is vividly described in the Balakanda of Valmiki’s Ramayana. All the four young princes would choose to remain in Sumitra’s proximity in all their waking hours. Rama and Bharatha would insist on sleeping only on her lap and when they wake up, would persistently cry until they see her. ” Sumitra, here is your son, he does not sleep without your lap, see how red his eyes have become due to his incessant crying.” Kausalya and Kaikeyi would often rush to her with these words. The children would return to switch off mode as soon as she takes them in her arms. Such was the intimacy this Queen and the princes enjoyed.

Her relationship with the other queens was equally pleasant. It is believed that she would have prevailed over Kaikeyi when Rama was exiled, if she were given a chance. It is perhaps for this reason that Rama, in one version of Ramayana, sends Lakshmana to get her permission and blessings, since, her favouring Rama would have forced Kaikeyi to change her mind and decision that would make Rama go back on his word to his father.

When Lakshma insisted that he would accompany Rama to the forest, he was worried if his mother would not appreciate the idea. But contrary to everyone’s expectations, she tells Lakshmana, ” O son, being far from me, don’t ever think that you are far away from your parents, Sita will be your mother and Rama will be your father because the elder brother is just like a father and do not regret being far away from Ayodhya because Ayodhya is at the very place where Rama resides. You don’t have any business in Ayodhya in the absence of Rama.”

Further, she said: ” In this world, only that woman is fit to be called a mother whose son is the devotee of Raghunath, otherwise it would have been better if she were incapable of giving birth to a son”.

Her respect for Kaikeyi hardly changed , despite the fact that she was responsible for Rama’s exile. On he other hand she tells Lakshman, ” O son! Only your misfortune is responsible for sending Rama into exile and there is no other reason and you must consider it as your good fortune that you would be getting an opportunity to serve Rama and Sita while in exile.”

Sumitra goes a step further. She also envies her own son, considering it his good fortune to remain in the propinquity of Rama and bemoans her own misfortune that she has to remain far away from him. Her next piece of advice was with respect to Lakshmana seeking to serve Rama with his thoughts, words and deeds. She also warned Lakshmana not to act in a manner that could offend Rama.

With these words of wisdom she let Lakshmana accompany Rama and Sita to the forest.

During the war with Lanka, when she came to know that Lakshmana was injured, by the ‘Shakti- Bana’ quite unlike any other mother, the first thought that flashed across her mind was about the safety of Rama and not her son. She was more concerned about the fact that Rama was alone. Besides she was also aware of Rama’s love for his younger sibling and hence could understand the pain and suffering he had to endure in his absence. She even asked her second son Shatrughuna to serve Rama in his hour of need.

This is the hallmark of Sumitra as a mother. Fully aware that her older son may not survive, she was willing to spare her other son to serve Rama. Such selfless mothers are hard to come by in this wild wicked world.

She, never once grieved about her son’s separation. Conversely, she was envious of him in that he could be in close proximity of Rama.

Much of her positive attitude rubbed into her children’s temperament.
Lakshmana absorbed these exceptional qualities and quite akin to her personality had an unfailing love for his brother.

Towards the end of Rama’s life, Sage Dhurvasa comes to meet Rama. Earlier Rama had told Lakshmana that he should not be disturbed, no matter who comes to meet him. If he is, then Lakshmana would have to end his existence. It is at this juncture that the sage known for his vicious curses, arrived. Lakshmana falls into a serious dilemma. He explains to the sage in a very polite manner the instructions of his brother. To which the sage replies, that if he is not permitted to meet Rama, then the entire clan of Rama would be annihilated. Lakshmana did not wink a moment to decide. He went in and informed his brother of the Sage’s arrival, took his blessings and left for the river Sarayu to complete his mission on earth. Such was his devotion to his brother. He would rather end his existence than allow Rama’s descendents to be annihilated. His priorities cannot be defined any more clearly than this. . ‘Like mother like son’ in the truest spirit of the saying.

‘Blessed was the mother’ and ‘blessed was the son’, acclaims Tulsidas, in his description of Sumitra. Her unbounded love and affection for Rama is unparalleled in any mythology. The poet further eulogises this great character, when he says, “Only such type of mothers who is like Sumitra is worthy of being called a mother and a child having taken birth from the womb of such a mother is worthy of being called a son. Salutations to such a mother like Sumitra”.

When we look objectively at these women of great substance, we could easily decipher their strength and short comings. While Kunti exercised disparity among her own children, Gandhari, was blind to her own children’s evil ways, While kaikeyi was possessive, Sumithra found ecstasy in sharing. We can also see that their personalities rub into their children’s activities. Karna parted ways with good when he found recognition in evil. Duryodhana was blind to evil just as his mother was blinded by affection. Bharatha refused to respect his mother just as she refused to respect the king and honour is decision. Whereas Sumithra’s show of unlimited and unmitigated affection was perfectly imbibed by Lakshmana who was equally impeccable in his love and service to his brother.

The message from these women is loud and clear. Attitudes are engineered into the child’s mind even if they are not articulated. And the mother is that supreme personality whose influence on the child never ends. She influences eternity.

References:

Justice Sen, Sisir Kumar ICS: Quest for the origin of Bharata Samhita and the Mahabharata Story (Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1995).

Dandekar, R.N. (ed): The Mahabharata Revisited (Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, 1990).

Sirca, D.C. (ed): The Bharata War and Puranic Genealogies
(Calcutta University, 1969).

Matilal, B.K. (ed): Moral Dilemmas in Mahabharata (Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1989)
.

Sri Aurobindo: On the Mahabharata (Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, 1991)

Katz, R.C. Arjuna in the Mahabharata (Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1989)
.

Ukthankar,V.S. S: On the Meaning of the Mahabharata (Asiatic Society of Bombay, 1957).
.

Narang, S.P. (ed): Modern Evaluation of the Mahabharata (Prof. R.K. Sharma felicitation volume), Nag Publishers, Delhi, 1995.

Sharma, Arvind Essays on the Mahabharata (E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1991)

Subramanian, M.V. ICS: The Mahabharata Story: Vyasa and Variations
(Higginbothams, Madras, 1967).

.

Ganesan,A.K. IRAS: Valmiki’s Ramayana and Vyasa’s Mahabharata: joint and comparative study (Higginbothams, Madras, 1981).

Sullivan, B.M.: Seer of the Fifth Veda (Motilal Banarsidass, 1999, originally from Leiden 1990 as Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasa^×a new interpretation).

Thakur, M.M.: Thus Spake Bhishma (Motilal Banarsidass, 1992)

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay: Krishna Charitra
(English translation by Pradip Bhattacharya from the M.P. Birla Foundation, Calcutta, 1991)

Hiltebeitel,A. The Cult of Draupadi, 2 vols., (University of Chicago Press)

Hiltebeitel, A.: Rethinking India’s oral and classical epics: Draupadi among Rajputs, Muslims and Dalits (University of Chicago Press, 1999).

.

Hiltebeitel, A.: The ritual of battle:Krishna in the Mahabharata (Cornell Univ Press, 1976).

Goldman, R.P.: Gods, priests and warriors: the Bhrgus of the Mahabharata
(Columbia Univ. Press, 1977)

Sutton, Nicholas: Religious Doctrines in the Mahabharata
(Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 2000)

Padma Sri P. Lal (ed): Vyasa’s Mahabharata: Creative Insights, 2 vols (Writers Workshop, Calcutta, 1992, 1985)

Bhattacharya, Pradip: A Long Critique on the Mahabharata TV Film Script
Writers Workshop, Calcutta (1991)

Pradip Bhattacharya: A Long Critique on Shivaji’s Sawant’s Mrityunjay: the Death of Karna

Tharoor, Shashi. The Great Indian Novel (Penguin)

Kanti De, Kanak: Three Mahabharata Verse Plays

Deshpande, Shashi: The Stone Woman and other stories (Writers Workshop, Calcutta, 2000)

Nandakumar, Prema. The Mahabharata – An English Version Based on Selected Verses: Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan; Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 41, U.A. Bungalow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi-110007.

http://www.aishveryaanidhi.com/inner/theatre_activity_2005.htm

http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/04/10/stories/1310017b.htm

http://www.boloji.com/hinduism/117.htm

Don’t stop with reading epics, follow principles: Kapadia
Amid curfew, clashes continue in Kashmir SRINAGAR: Even as Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah asked his Ministers to visit various areas to restore peace, life in the Kashmir Valley remained affected for the fifth day on Thursday with curfew in force and eruption of …

Read more on The Hindu