TO understand, analyse, interpret and adopt good governance models, we need to imbibe lessons from the Bhagavad Gita which is an ism-neutral, religion free treatise on management, relationship management and welfare economics. To move on the ladder of success with morality, opulence, victory and empowerment (MOVE), we need to believe that Lord Krishna and Arjun are with us-the message is called Eka Sloki Gita (the last sloka 78 of Gita in 18th chapter-yatra yogeshvarah Krishno yatra partho dhanur-dharah tatra srir vijaya bhutir dhruva nitir matir mama). It is pertinent to mention that people around the world know Kurukshetra for the Mahabharata war whereas we have to promote Kurukshetra as a place to have the first ever university on the planet. The basic objective of this university is to impart the knowledge which has been provided by Lord Krishna in the form of the Bhagavad Gita.
To address the emerging challenges faced by the people with built-in corruption and parallel economy, we need good governance (GG) at all levels of operation in any economy of the world, including India. The shortfalls in employment, household incomes, corporate profitability and tax revenues caused by global financial crisis also justify good governance as need of the day. We need to address the growing social unrest and discontent due to discrimination and deprivations in most of the democracies (4D) of the world. To achieve efficiency, sufficiency and equity in an economy, we certainly need good governance which means a SMART (Simple, Moral, Action oriented Responsive and Transparent) model of administration at all levels developed by the writer in the book ‘Economics of Human Resource Development in India’ (2011). The other internationally recognised features of ‘Good Governance’ are participation, consensus oriented, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and adherence to the rule of law. This ensures that corruption is minimised, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. We should be pragmatic about creating a sense of security with a crime-free environment. GG is also responsive to the future and present needs of the society. To emerge and realise the full potential of human resources in a holistic sense, it is essential to understand the SIMPLE model of HRD, as consisting of six human development activities such as Spiritual Quotient (SQ) development, Intuition development, Mental level development, Love oneself attitude development and Emotional quotient (EQ) development. The synergy of these six aspects of HRD in the beautiful word ‘SIMPLE’ is an essential requirement for all of us to emerge and realise our full potential in holistic sense.
SQ development is essential for the removal of stress and strain as well as social and economic health of the society. SQ development is necessary and sufficient for converting human beings into human capital-the process of HRD. Spirituality is the science of soul-the spirit to know actuality with spiritual path.
To attain sustainable development, it is very important for us to develop intelligence to understand and accept situations, people and the changes happening around us through intuition which is possible only by believing, trusting and worshiping God (Bhakti).
A calm and contented mental clarity, kindness silence, self-control and purity of character constitute the austerity of the mind which is the need of the day for the mental level development.
An old and wise saying-‘A sound mind lives in a sound body’ makes the justification for physical development. If our body is not working properly, it is diseased; we cannot perform our duty well and will be inefficient in our work. The growth of one’s life depends upon the development of physical powers. Physical development is possible by the food we eat by understanding and adopting the Bhagavad Gita in our life.
It is a love of oneself that urges us to take up activities where we get pleasure and discard those which are painful. This calls for love oneself as true soul to perform the duties without fear (false evidences appearing real).
THERE are three major components to improve EQ such as motivating oneself, motivating others and empathising and not sympathising with others; which clearly prescribe the functional areas which determine the EQ of a person. All these three components of EQ are related to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita to a greater extent.
To understand, analyse, interpret and adopt Dharma as spirituality, we need to read and reread the Bhagavad Gita which is an ism-neutral, religion-free treatise on management. It promotes spiritual mathematics (yog=summation) as 1+1=1. One soul added to God becomes one. Souls do not die and the death rate is zero in this science, than why fear death. As a physical body, everybody has to die and the death rate is 100 per cent, then why worry. To fulfil desires, wants and demands of all kinds, one needs to unite with God for becoming SMART and SIMPLE in strict sense. This is the only path to be followed for peace, progress and prosperity. We need to believe the role of God (Krishna) in every activity individually or collectively and imbibe the message in sloka no 14 of chapter 18 of the Bhagavad Gita ‘Adhisthnam tatha karta karanam ca prthagvidham, vividhas ca prthak cesta daivam caivatra pancamam’. Meaning thereby, the place of action (the body), the performer, the various senses, the many different kinds of endeavour and ultimately the supreme soul-these are the five factors of action.
To fight against corruption, black money, fake notes, terrorism and purification of India, we need to replace rajas guna by sattava in the evolutionary manner. To my mind, the root cause of these problems is greedonomics. We must possess the knowledge of the harm done by greedonomics and rajasi tendencies prevailing in present times. Improvements in human behaviour need efforts over a long time but certainly justify needonomics (economics as per needs) which is the requirement of the day.
We have to improve the communication skills of our manpower along with time management and spiritual input. We have to make serious efforts for promotion of rationality in economics which need to flow from ‘not me but you’ and by adopting spiritual mathematics, 1+1= 1. It is to be noted that for every ill in any system of governance, there are Vedic pills and the Bhagavad Gita is the panacea.
The writer is President ‘Antarjyoti’ Former Dean of Colleges & Social Sciences, Former Chairman, Dept. of Economics, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra. Email: mmgoel2001@yahoo.co.in
