Karma Yoga: Application of Gita (2:47) for Superior Business Performance During Industry 4.0

Abstract

Gita 2:47 is applicable to business. It augments superior performance through individual awareness of a personal calling to be “d”ifferent and also to “a”nticipate demand while the being “r”esourceful and “e”ver-ready through the practice of mindfulness. Via this “dare” framework, individual work becomes worship. At the corporate level, business operations will engage local communities for more diversity and inclusiveness. At the global level, this shloka (verse) will rekindle the harmony between man and nature. Applied to Industry 4.0, Gita 2:47 will encourage extraordinary performance through exponential thinking, although human work will be enhanced by robots and artificial intelligence. More research into this spirituality of work will reinforce the efficacy in superior business performance. Basically, minding a business is a business of the mind.

Reflections

• 1. What are the key business insights that can be derived from the links between Gita (2:47) and Industry 4.0?

  • (a) Business is about relationships and every relationship is a choice.

    • The Gita, especially shloka (verse) 2:47, specifies that your choice is in action and not in the result. Focus on the process and results will follow.

  • (b) The VUCA in Industry 4.0 will change conventional best practices in business.

    • Processes can change, yet the attitude in the doing magnifies the work done. For example, the janitor believes that he is actually helping to put a man on Mars by cleaning toilets at NASA using robots.

  • (c) Busyness results from a disconnection (ignorance) between individual role and personal duty.

    • There is more haste and less speed in muddling through daily routines, without connecting the dots for a “big picture”. “Aware of being aware” (mindfulness) is a skill that can be developed to cherish the fullness of every moment by being attentive, accessible and appropriate.

  • (d) Industry 4.0 is about seamless inter-connectivity through the Internet-of-Things (IoT). Likewise, The Bhagavad Gita is also about inter-connectivity, however among living beings. Every creature and feature is interlinked in Universal Consciousness. For example, a holy man meditating in his cave can actually personally feel the back pain of a distant farmer who has toiled the entire hot day to plant his rice. In essence, everyone is with everyone, and is actually part of Universal Oneness. Therefore, business is more than a marketplace to merely satisfy supply and demand.

    • To remain relevant, every business has to be DARE, viz. different, anticipate demand ahead of time, resourceful and ever-ready. This is driven by the “power of purpose” which is expressed in Gita (2:47) as “inaction in action”. There is always calmness of mind, never disturbed by whatever that happens, with a focussed steadiness on the process and not on distracted by results.

• 2. Since everyone has a specific role (svadharma) in society, then everything is preordained. Therefore, no one can change his own destiny. Discuss.

  • (a) The roles in Hindu society are basically specified in varna and ashrama.

    • Varna is specified in Rigveda. People in a society are divided into four categories to perform functions like parts of a body:

      • Brahmins (head): priests, scholars and teachers.

      • Kshatriyas (hands): rulers, warriors and administrators.

      • Vaishyas (body): farmers and merchants.

      • Shudras (legs): labourers and service providers.

      However, these categories have been politically abused in India to include a new category called dalits or “untouchables” that perform the lowest and dirtiest type of work, like removal of rubbish, carcasses as well as cleaning of latrines and sewers. Mahatma Gandhi re-named this category as harijans (meaning “Children of God”). Since 2008 it is unconstitutional to use the term “dalit” in India.

      Marriages and social circles in India today still conform to this caste system. However, individual professional development has gone beyond these constraints. The 11th President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (2002–2007) was a Muslim and a bachelor. The 10th President of India, Mr. K.R. Narayanan (1997–2002) was the first President of India from the “untouchable” caste. Since July 2017, Mr. Ram Nath Kovind is the present (14th) President and second President of India also from the “untouchable” caste.

    • Ashrama is the Hindu guide for individual fulfilment and personal development stages according to age:

      • Brahmacharya:student or bachelor stage in life, especially to learn about dharma (righteousness, morals and duties) and the practice of self-discipline. This stage starts with the Hindu ritual of upanayana and ends with samavartama. The former is a traditional rite of passage that marks the acceptance of a student by a guru and an individual’s entrance to a school in Hinduism. The latter is a ceremony that is associated with the end of formal education. This includes a ceremonial bath. Anyone who has completed this rite is considered a idya-snataka vidya-snataka (literally, bathed in knowledge, or showered with learning), denoting that one has crossed the “ocean of learning”.

      • Grihastha:householder in a marriage to raise a family, educate own children and to lead a family-centred life in society.

      • Vanaprastha:retirement stage, to handover household responsibilities to the next generation and take on an advisory role, gradually withdrawing from the world.

      • Sannyasa:renunciation of all material desires and prejudices that can be undertaken anytime. Anyone can enter this stage after completing the Brahmacharya stage of life.

  • (b) An individual’s identity changes are outlined in ashrama. Basically, every identity has two parts. One is that which is perceived by others and another is that which has been achieved according to official records.

    • Every perception has both a place and a position concurrently. As place, in examples for person: like being a son to parents, brother to siblings, husband and father in own family. On the other hand, as examples within an organisation: as a subsidiary based on ownership of shareholders, contribution to a supply chain, or partnership in a consortium. As position, in examples for person: like project engineer as well as union leader at workplace, or a junior manager whose father owns the entire business. As example in organisation: geographic location in global operations, contribution to the profitability of a conglomerate, or ranking in the industry according to paid-up capital or number of employees.

    • The identity achieved is in reputation (e.g. personal stories circulated in social media, brand-recognition or brand-retention by repeated customers), and accolades (e.g. awards like best student or top entrepreneur or certification as Singapore-government-approved plumber or ISO 9001 in quality management).

  • (c) The role that a person plays in society is usually based on certifications achieved. However, a person’s reputation may displace such achievements. For example, a medical doctor has been fined in a local Court of Law due to negligence proven by his patient. Therefore this damage to reputation can be worse than death (Gita, 2:34). So, even when this person’s calling is in medicine, circumstances dictate that he has to practice medicine at a different location instead.

  • (d) Svadharma cannot be developed but has to be discovered personally. This “inner calling” is an attribute or personal inclination according to one’s own particular physical, mental and emotional nature which in-turn determines an individual’s skills and aptitudes. For example, an astute sense of taste can result in becoming a chef, a food critic, a dietician or a profession not related to food yet as a hobby cook instead.

  • (e) Therefore, svadharma does not preordain an individual’s occupation but can influence performance instead.

• 3. Gita (2:47) is a guide to purity of intentions. Discuss.

  • (a) According to Param Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda, of the Chinmaya Mission, there is an endless chain or “bondage of action” in desires that prompt actions which bring results that in-turn create deeper or more new impressions called vasanas as illustrated in Fig. 6.16. These accumulate as subconscious inclinations that influence future desires, actions and results.

    By adopting purity of intentions in the practice of Gita (2:47), the existing impressions get exhausted. No new vasanas are created, thus reducing the pressure of impressions and the mind becomes free for higher pursuits.

    • So, when actions are done without likes or dislikes or selfish motives, and without insisting on results, the doer remains calm and collected while doing.

  • (b) Life-goals in the Hindu art of living are expressed in purushartha, viz.

    • Dharma—righteousness, morality and duties.

    • Artha—wealth and income to secure livelihood.

    • Kama—pleasure, relationships, emotions.

    • Moksha—liberation, self-realisation, freedom.

    Dharma is considered the most essential goal and moksha is the ultimate goal for everyone. To some, like devotees of ISKCON, International Society of Krishna Consciousness, bhakti (devotion) is considered a fifth purushartha.

    • Therefore, it is intention that gives meaning to the spirituality of work. You are what you do and not do what you say you will do. When the intention is good, the heart is pure, there is a feeling of harmony and blissful peace.

    • Although purushartha provides the direction and focus for individual intentions, it is the attitude in the execution that induces the inner calm and a steady outward composure.

  • (c) The Hindu concept of karma is complex and difficult to define. The English language lacks appropriate vocabulary to fully translate concepts from Sanskrit directly. For example, “bad” is not merely “not good” (with malice) but it can be “insufficient of good” (not ready) or “awaiting to be good” (in transit or in transformation). Basically the Law of Karma states that good intent and good deeds contribute to good karma and future happiness, while bad intent and bad deeds contribute to bad karma and future suffering. This law is further complicated by the concept of reincarnation that karma can be accumulated to affect the next and future lives. So good or bad deeds are like boomerangs that return to an individual sooner or later.

    • Based on the concept of karma, the “detachment” as advocated in Gita (2:47) would have to embrace good intentions and good deeds. So the focus on the doing is to do good and to do well.

    • This act will excel since the reason for doing (the purpose) is unified with intuition (inner drive), i.e. to be “aware of being aware”, thus thriving on the “fullness of every moment”.

• 4. Can Gita (2:47) be executed without allegiance to Lord Krishna?

  • (a) Lord Krishna is an avatar of Vishnu, the Hindu God of Protection and Preservation. He is part of the Hindu Trimurti that includes Brahma, the Creator and Siva, the Destroyer. These concepts of “God” contain various aspects of the Divine. Yet in Hinduism, “God” is already inside everyone and everyone is part of “God”. Associating oneself with a personal “God” (i.e. as devotees to Vishnu or Siva) is like having glasses to see better or audio-aids to hear better. Allegiance would help a person to better focus on individual piety and to foster closer networks with the like-minded.

  • (b) Similar concepts on the “sanctification of work” as detailed in Gita (2:47) are in the Catholic faith as advocated by Saint Josemaria Escriva (www.opusdei.org) and in the Taoist concept of Wu Wei (translated as “non-doing”). These concepts are similar but not exactly the same.

  • (c) Therefore nishkama karma can be executed without knowing Krishna, although knowledge of Krishna would add greater depth and appreciation for such a practice.

• 5. Knowing Gita (2:47) and not practising it is a sin. Comment.

  • (a) The Vedanta (Hindu philosophy) proposes no sin or sinner. There is no God to be afraid of since He is actually within everyone and with everyone. However, Vedanta recognises error. And the greatest error is to be weak, i.e. to think of oneself as a miserable creature that is powerless and useless.

  • (b) So, it is not God that is worshipped but the authority that claims to speak in His name. Sin becomes disobedience to authority and not a violation of integrity.

  • (c) Knowing Gita (2:47) and not practicing it could mean that the doer is cautious, perhaps not to be disadvantaged as the first-mover. Therefore, it is “wait-and-see” before committing to action. On the other hand, due to other more pressing issues or sheer oversight, Gita (2:47) is neglected.

  • (d) Based on Fig. 6.17, the reasons for not doing can also include:

    • Ignorance: Not knowing that one does not know (an unknown unknown).

    • Denial: To reject the concept knowingly and willingly.

    • Apathy: Not bothered or totally indifferent to the concept for whatever reasons that are not relevant for discussion here.

  • (e) Besides “knowing and not doing”, there is “doing without knowing” as illustrated in the bottom right quadrant of Fig. 6.17. This is about blind faith or sheer obedience and compliance without question. Such actions could be automated like the technical maintenance of a lift based on time schedule instead of actual wear and tear resulting from frequency of use. This doing (lift maintenance) according to schedule is basically “to do for the sake of doing”.

  • (f) Lastly, there are situations of knowing Gita (2:47) and doing it, yet incompletely or inappropriately. For example, the equanimity of action is linked to a personal mortification like fasting from food or other pleasures. Therefore, the purity of intention in the doing is vital in order to sustain this “inaction in action”.

Fig. 6.16

Bondage of action

Fig. 6.17

Knowing & doing