Stress Management in Bhagavad Gita 

Hi Friends

Studying the Bhagavad Gita gives us an in-depth insight into the multifarious aspects of life that have been included in the discussion. Very many suggestions and principles from the Gita can be incorporated into management in organizations and will help managers to pursue their day-to-day activities. 

Let us briefly see what the Bhagavad Gita has to say about Stress Management for the manager in any organization. 

The verse 2:38 which runs thus, “Sukha dukhe samay kritwa, labha labhow, jaya jayow …” means, “Accepting pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat as the same, fight for the sake of fighting”. 

Here, pain and pleasure are felt at the intellectual level. For a manager, pain and pleasure translate into his day-to-day failures and successes in his field of work, be it human resources management, production or sales. Gain and loss are felt at the mental level and mean material gain and loss. This means the profit and loss for his organization because of the management practices which he has been doing. Victory and defeat are at the physical level and signify a win or lose situation. All these three pairs of opposites are faced by managers day in and day out during their interaction with the organization and its employees. We are told to accept these opposites with the same spirit of equanimity and sangfroid. If a manager takes the failures and the losses to heart every time, he will end up with problems. These, psychologically can stress out the managers who unknowingly convert them somatically into physical ailments such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, burn out syndrome etc. 

A sea is never without waves and so is any organization, which is never without problems and crises. Only equanimity of the mind in facing these opposites equally and in a balanced perspective can make anyone face and solve them successfully. 

Excess enthusiasm and celebrations of joy in the event of success or a ‘conquest’ (gain), is also equally detrimental as going to pieces on facing adversity or defeat (loss). One should learn to iron out one’s emotions to develop and equanimity of mind to face any problem with courage. This state of mind is really the best stress buster in the world. 

The verse 2: 56 starting, “Dukheshu anudwignamana … means, “he whose mind is not shaken by adversity and who In prosperity does not hanker after pleasures, who is free from attachment, bondage, fear and anger is called a man of Steady Knowledge (Sthithaprajna)”. 

Though prima facie it appears as if it means what it says, delving deep into the philosophy behind the verse and applying it to management principles, it can be interpreted as follows. 

In adverse circumstances in any organization, the managers tend to get panicky and become stressed out, while in profitable circumstances they may go overboard celebrating wantonly. Both are unwise. A person who in any condition is not wedded to either adversity (loss) or success (gain), who is not carried away by the fear of failure of the plans and strategies carefully honed with his skills and he who does not rage over obstacles or people who create them for him, would really be a manager of the highest order – one with a Steady Mind. It emphasizes again the importance of cultivating the habit of equanimity and confronting all the problems in the organization without stress or anger. Anger is dangerous to sane and sensible management practices as it can dull one’s senses and distract one to take wrong decisions at the wrong time and place. Anger can be a destructive emotion in a manager which is equally damaging to him and the organization. 

Hence the importance of developing equanimity and calmness in the mind by developing such an attitude to encounter all such opposites with the same composure. The pearls of wisdom hidden deep in the ocean of the Bhagavad Gita yield such precious gems to us, who dive deep into its meaning to bring out the best jewels. 

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