Verse : 3
"O teacher, look at this grand army of the sons of Pandu,
marshalled by thy talented pupil, the son of Drupada. "
Artha/Analysis:
As a diplomat, Duryodhana was exceptionally clever. To excite Dronacharya by rousing his revengeful spirit against Dhrstadyumna and ire against the Pandavas, he referred to Dhrstadyumna as Drupada's son and "your talented pupil." By these words he reminded Drona of Drupada's ugly behavior towards him in the long past, and then of his getting Dhrstadyumna as his son by the performance of a sacrifice with the unholy motive of killing Drona.
By implication, he also said that Dhrstadyumna was so clever and the Acarya so simple that though born to `a mighty king, he had obtained from him instructions in the science and art of archery. And, then, how skillful and dexterous he was to array his army in such a way as to baffle his opponents ! It was such a person whom the Pandavas had made their Supreme Commander.
It was now for the Acarya to consider what should be his duty. The Kaurava army consisted of eleven Aksauhinis, and the Pandava army only of seven. Though numerically smaller, the Pandava army appeared very huge because of its adoption of the military array known as `Vajravyuha'. Besides, a smaller army might be more powerful than a larger, if its organization was better and more efficient than that of the larger army. That is why calling the army of the Pandavas army' Duryodhana attempted to draw the Acarya's attention to it, and appealed to him to devise some means of getting the better of it.
About Gita:
Gita is for the advancement in the field of knowledge, application of intelligence, science and technology. The direction in which this advancement has to take place should be in accordance with the dharma and for the welfare of the society and the mankind. The advancements of science and technology which promote the violence, fear, lust, and greed are not approved by Gita.
BhagavadGita recommends the family way of life in preference to other forms of individual living in the society. Family is the unit of the society. In the religious and philosophical context; family constitutes the dynamic link between the world of the past, present and the future. The family way of social life recommended by Gita is a life style to be in conformity with the cultural, traditional and religious values upholding the dignity of human life. Non-compliance with these norms attracts the punishment from the society as well as meets the disapproval of the Lord.
A child is the gift of the Lord. The purpose of the family and married life is " progeny"- the child - to keep the continuity of the creation. The parents are the custodians of this gift. The parents receive the pure love of the child; in return to which they owe a responsibility. It is their duty to ensure that the gift of the god does not become a bad element to disturb the social and the cosmic harmonies at a later date. In order to ensure this, the parents have to install the good, moral, cultural, humanitarian values - by way of providing formal education and becoming the practical role models of such a noble living.
Lord Krishna loves children very much as he has shown in his childhood plays, his avatara's and the assurances given at a number of places. The Mahabharata war is an example of parents failing to bring up their children in the right way with the right values for harmonious social life. The Kaurava brothers were not brought up in the proper way. All the Kauravas were wicked in their nature. All of them suffered punishment in the war of Kurukshetra under the guidance of Lord Krishna.
Positive thinking, total knowledge of the ground realities and the objectives, a clear vision of the plan of action and a strong desire to achieve the desired goal are the basics of self and the group motivation. Unlike the background of philosophy, where renunciation, contentment, control of senses are recommended, the management situation needs the opposite of these directives. The drive, the fighting spirit and the desire to perform are the key messages. These messages come from Gita as a guidance for the self motivation. The entire situation in which Gita has been taught is a beautiful example of self motivated Krishna motivating the Arjuna and his troupe to fight the war and win.
In the management terminology. Once the goals are set, the technique of the three guna analysis gives the necessary preparation to be undertaken by the manager to work for this. The increase in the rajas guna - which helps the executive action has to be developed. While the individual is stationed in the condition of the rajas guna, the motivating factors are the following- the passionate inner nature which drives the individual/group to achieve the target; the sense of satisfaction that comes as a result of action and achievement; the fear of failure which puts the individual on his heels to perform; the sensitivity for the objects of pleasure and pain - the reward for action - drives the intellect to be alert; the greed and jealousy force the mind not to be lazy and sharpen it's skills in performance. The food which promotes the rajas guna should be taken and the surroundings should be so as to promote the rajas guna. This is the secret of self- motivation and also the group motivation according to the Gita philosophy.
According to Gita, when work is elevated to the status of worship, nothing comes in between the individual and his full potential getting expressed in the work he does. In that state, the excellence of work is the normal status of work and it will not be an objective for achievement. For each individual /group and the work situation, the technique of achieving this status of functioning is to be worked out according to the circumstances. Gita provides the technique of karma-yoga and the yagna-karma concepts for adoption in this matter. In the management situation, the tapping of the full potential has to be considered according to the individual /group under consideration. The analysis of the organization in the light of the three gunas is the starting point. The employee satisfied in his work and his work environment, will contribute his full potential strength for the welfare of the organization.
Right action and right attitude is to be defined in a given context and for a purpose. In the industrial organization where in the maximization of production, growth is the criterion in terms of artha and kama, the right attitude and action is what supports this. Gita advocates the philosophy of fight and forge ahead; never give up; a philosophy of action - karma yoga for this, as long as the cause is in support of dharma. This situation may not be true in all the organizations and all circumstances. Therefore, the proper attitude to be adopted in these cases is one of total surrender of the fruits of action to the Lord- it is called the nishkama -karma. This is the right attitude and action in an industrial concern recommended by Gita. This ensures that there is no negative thinking due to the philosophical attitude; this ensures that the work is treated as worship to seek the grace of the Lord. There will be no mental conflicts.
Verse 3 and Introduction: Contributed by Baggaon Surendra (Pen name : Barasu)
(Verses 1 to 4 from Chapter 1 will appear with an Introduction to the Bhagavad-Gita.)
Note: Please send your comments, suggestions and further addition for this verse to gitasandesha@yahoo.com