How Gita Works At The Workplace
K M Gupta
All that Krishna says to Arjuna is: Be efficient at work. How to be efficient at work is what the Gita is all about for it is the science of action. So the workplace is where it is most relevant.
You have many roles in life, and one of them is
as worker. You can play only one role at a time. Do never go at two or more
roles at a time. Give your all to the role you play at the time. That way you
do maximum justice to the role you play at the time. That is vyavasaya
buddhi, which is Gita’s term for dedication. When you play one role,
whatever role, bring your vyavasaya
buddhi to samadhi, concentration, and that is efficiency.
The role of Arjuna in the war field is just to
fight – giving his all to it, doing maximum justice to his role. When he plays
the role of the fighter he should not share the concerns of his other roles –
father, brother, son, son-in-law, nephew or any other. If he does, it is like
splitting himself into many roles at a time and thus diluting his vyavasaya buddhi. Diluted dedication is
inefficiency. When you play the role of the fighter, be just the fighter and
not the father, brother or anyone else. When you play the role of the worker,
be just the worker and not the father, mother, husband, wife or anyone else.
The weak-minded cannot dedicate himself to the
role he plays at the time and concentrate. He gets distracted. That is Arjuna’s
problem. So, to be efficient at work, cultivate strong-mindedness. Unconcern
for the fruits of action is not an unearthly ideal; it is just part of
efficiency at work. When the fruits of action weigh heavy upon you, you are
distracted and your dedication is unsteady. You do not do justice to your role.
Thoughts of returns should not burden your actions.
A mother who doubts that her children, when
grown up, might not reciprocate her love and care cannot love and care for them
with motherly vyavasaya buddhi. A
farmer who doubts that he might not reap profit from his crops cannot farm with
complete dedication and do justice to his role. An employee who bellyaches over
his pay cannot give his all to his work and do justice to his role.
Only those who work unconcerned with fruits can
work with complete dedication and do justice to their
roles. So cultivate this attitude. Do not look at the returns. Just love your
work and do it lovingly, just for the pleasure of doing. Even when working for
wages, don’t equate yourself with the wages. Stand above wages. Let not the
thought of wages weigh you down.
Think plenty before plunging. Once you plunge,
swim come what may. Let not the thought of gain or loss or success or
failure distract you. It is important that you play the game well. Give no care
to win or defeat. Keep your spirits high. Don’t trade it off for the fruits of
work.
If you act just for the boss in the workplace,
you cannot play your role with dedication. Act not for the boss in the cabin
but for the Great Boss within – the Spectator-I. Krishna says, act always with
me in mind. And when you act with Him in mind, He will take care of the fruits
– yogakshemam
vahamyaham.
