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Human Self, Work and of Human Being: Indian Worldview and Implications for Management Practices and Scholarship

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Indigenous Indian Management

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Indian Management ((PAIM))

Abstract

Worldview is the philosophical outlook that a person, knowingly or implicitly, utilizes to organize his or her belief system and activities. It comprises of culturally organized and inter-related thoughts that organize much of the body of symbolic creations and ethnophilosophy among many other epistemic and ontological stances. This chapter aims at deciphering the Indian worldview by elaborating the nature of human self, goals of human life and the role of work in the human life subscribed in the Indian traditional wisdom and their implications on management theories and practices.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Charvaka, also called Lokayata (Sanskrit: Worldly Ones), a quasi-philosophical school of materialists who rejected the notion of an karma, liberation (moksha), the authority of the Vedas, and the immortality of the self. Of the recognized means of knowledge (pramana), the Charvaka recognized only direct perception (anubhava). Sources critical of the school depict its followers as hedonists.

  2. 2.

    Amrutasya putrah

    May all the sons of the Immortal listen, even those who have reached their heavenly abodes (Radhakrishnan, 1953/2016, p. 720).

  3. 3.

    The latter is called Paramatman and former is called Jivatman.

  4. 4.

    yastu sarvANi bhUtAni AtmanyEva anupashyati |

    sarva bhUtEShu cha AtmAnaM tatO na vijugupsatE

    One who perceives in the Atman everything, and in the same way Atman in everything, does not hate.

  5. 5.

    uddhared atmanatmanam natmanam avasadayet

    atmaiva hy atmano bandhur atmaiva ripur atmanah

    Let a man lift himself by himself; let him not degrade himself; for the Self alone is the friend of the self and the Self alone in the enemy of the self (p. 189).

  6. 6.

    Akasha has sound as its characteristic property. Touch combines with Sound to form characteristic property of Vayu (Air). Rupa (Form) combines with Touch + Sound to form characteristic property of Agni (Fire) Rasa (Taste) combines with Rupa + Touch + Sound to form characteristic property of Apah (Water) Gandha (Odour) combines with Rasa + Rupa + Touch + Sound to form characteristic property of Prithvi (Earth).

    —From Sankhya Karika. Karika 22 (Author: Shri Ishwara Krishna)

  7. 7.

    1.2: Asambaadham Badhyato Maanavaanaam Yasyaa Udvatah Pravatah Samam Bahu.

    Naanaa-Viiryaa Ossadhiiryaa Bibharti Prthivii Nah Prathataam Raadhyataam Nah.

    Meaning:

    She, Who is to us the Consort of the Past and the Future (being its witness), May She expand our inner life in this World towards the Cosmic Life (through Her Purity and Vastness).

    2.1: (Salutations to Mother Earth) Who extends Unimpeded Freedom (both outer and inner) to Human Beings through Her Mountains, Slopes and Plains.

    2.2: She bears many Plants and Medicinal Herbs of various Potencies; May She extend Her Riches to us (and make us healthy).

  8. 8.

    ayaṃ nijaḥ paro veti gaṇanā laghucetasām । udāracaritānāṃ tu vasudhaiva kuṭumbakam ||

    Meaning: Narrow-minded people make distinction like ‘this person is mine and this is not’; but people with noble conduct and character consider the whole world as one family.

  9. 9.

    A prayer that is chanted before and after the recital of Upaniṣada. Wordly meaning of Śāṃtipāṭha is recitation for peace.

  10. 10.

    yajñaśiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyante sarvakilbiṣaiḥ | bhuñjate te tvaghaṃ pāpā ye pacantyātmakāraṇāt ||

    Meaning: The good people who eat what is left from the sacrifice are released from all sins but those wicked people who prepare food for their own sake-verily eat sin. (Translated by Radhakrishnan, p. 136).

  11. 11.

    sukhasya mūlaṃ dharmaḥ, dharmasya mūlaṃ arthaḥ | arthasya mūlaṃ rājyaṃ, rājyasya mūlaṃ indriya jayaḥ ||

  12. 12.

    mātr̥devo bhava । pitr̥devo bhava । ācāryadevo bhava । atithidevo bhava |

    May your mother be to you a worshiped; may your father be a worshiped to you; may your teacher be a worshiped to you, and so also may a guest be a worshiped to you (Taittiriya Upanishad, Shikshavalli, Anuvaka 11.2).

  13. 13.

    Truthfulness, to be free from anger, sharing wealth with others, (samvibhaga) forgiveness, procreation of children from one’s wife alone, purity, absence of enmity, straightforwardness and maintaining persons dependent on oneself are the nine rules of the Dharma for persons belonging to all the yarnas (Mahabharata Shantiparva—6–7–8).

  14. 14.

    Raj Yoga as explained by Vivekananda is an expression of Ashtang Yoga of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Raja Yoga mainly consists of components of Hath Yoga, Pranayam and Dhyan.

  15. 15.

    http://www.vrti.org.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India

    Ashish Pandey

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India

    Ashish Pandey

  2. Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham, UK

    Pawan Budhwar

  3. Shidler College of Business, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Dharm P. S. Bhawuk

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Pandey, A. (2022). Human Self, Work and of Human Being: Indian Worldview and Implications for Management Practices and Scholarship. In: Pandey, A., Budhwar, P., Bhawuk, D.P.S. (eds) Indigenous Indian Management. Palgrave Studies in Indian Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87906-8_2

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