Management by Indian Thought - 22 (Part - II)

Ramayana is no simple epic. It is unique and has no parallel.

NAMASTE ??. In my earlier article and this one, I discuss why Rama became epitome of Dharma and Ravana as the evil, despite both being highly talented. You can access earlier one at the URL

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/management-indian-thought-22-part-i-sridhar-guda/

Dharma is a multi-dimensional construct and is a function of multiple variables. Understanding dharma using limited variables (as attempted here) is like predicting weather by looking at sky and temperature. Despite knowing this, I provoked myself, to attempt at bringing the wisdom of our sages to management. Would be glad if you can correct me wherever necessary.

Reason 2: Ego & Talent

As the second reason I chose the interplay between ego and talent. The point I want to make is that Dharma can prevail when we have people with both; talent and quiet ego.

Framework for Reason 2

Jane Loevinger in 1976 defined ego as 'lens to interpret one’s world'. Each one has a customary orientation to oneself and to the world. Recently, Bauer and Wayment (2008) proposed two types of egos; Noisy and Quiet.

Noisy ego provokes every act to promote self; even if shallow. It is an indication of poor self-esteem where one feels more than what is one's abilities. It makes individual vile, defensive and Ahankar (??????). Ravana is a good example.

Quiet ego is about balancing self and others interests. It helps in considering others' viewpoints, aids in inclusive decision making, and builds detached awareness and growth mindset. Rama is a good example.

Talent is a natural skill. It is different from intelligence. Talent is instinctive and recurring patter of thought or behaviour. Intelligence is learned and requires cognitive processing. We have ample evidence that both Rama and Ravana were highly talented in their fields. However, the interplay of ego and talent determined their reputation.

Collapsing these two dimensions (Ego and Talent) will result into a framework (again a 2X 2). Please note that this is an intuitive framework and needs to be verified empirically.

Dangler: Squirrel. When Rama was overseeing bridge construction to reach Lanka, a squirrel was picking up pebbles and dropping it near the boulders. Army of monkeys looked at it and made fun. Lord Rama seeing this helped her and showed the army how pebbles thrown by squirrel were connecting two boulders. He took squirrel into his hands and stroked its back. Legend has it that since then squirrels have stripes on their body.

Danglers are good hearted. Given their quiet ego, they never create obstacles or hinder others development. They may not be highly talented but give their might when required. 

Destitute: Surpanakha, the sister of Ravana, was vile and talent-less. She remained a sycophant to Ravana for major part of her life. She was good-looking and married Vidyutjihva, a Kalkeya Danava who wanted to kill Ravana. When Ravana gets to know, he kills him. Widowed and in forest she sees Lord Rama and wants to share life. Lakshmana chops her nose and ears and she runs to Ravana. He gets enraged and picks up Mata Sita, the biggest mistake of his life which eventually leads to war.

Most of the destitutes turn out to be sycophants as they cannot compete on talent. Their self-esteem levels are so low that they go to any lengths of immorality. They run their life on the basis of whom they follow. 

Diabolic: Ravana gets into an altercation with Nandi of Kailasha, the abode of Lord Shiva and Parvati. In anger he attempts to lift Kailasa and Lord Shiva pins him with his toe. Under Kailasha for eons and after becoming a devote of Lord Shiva, he gets released.

It seems in Sundara Kanda, Ravana tells his army and his sons to kill Hanuman. After loosing all of them, he finally tells Indrajith to kill Hanuman and come back and it turns out that only Indrajith comes back alive. Such was his ego who considered other beings as very inferior.

He was highly talented but self-centered, egotist and immoral. Such people may grow with meteoric pace, but will eventually fall down with equal vigour.

Divine: RAMA is Divine (any doubt). Story of Maricha and Shabari are excellent examples. It is said that before Maricha was killed, he was forgiven almost twice to change for better. Eating Shabari's bitten fruits is an example of how divine Lord Rama was.

Such people are benign and highly talented. They follow the rules, listen and respect others and yet are grounded in morals. Only Divine can uphold Dhrama.

Explanation of the Reason 2:

I shall restrict to two (purely personal choice) reasons why noisy ego is high among many and hence Adharma rules.

Point 1: Position (Craving for it too)

Life of Ravana can be divided into two phases;

Phase 1: Ravana was born to Sage Vishrava and Kaikeshi. Even though Kaikeshi was a Daitya (a form of Asuras[1] who were not evil), he was a Brahmin due to his father. He learnt Vedas and Shastras, weapons and warfare from his father. He played Veena (a musical instrument) exquisitely. This phase in Ravana was balanced with no undue noisy ego.

Phase 2: After his penance for several years, Lord Brahma was happy and granted him a boon. Ravana asked for immortality which gets turned down. He then asked similar boon; invincible from Devas/suras, Asuras, Raakshas, heavenly spirits, serpents, and any animal or plant. Out of his ego, he does not mention humans. Brahma grants the boon.

This is a point of inflection where Ravana becomes devious and his noisy ego spikes due to his invincible power and position. He snatches Lanka and Alakapur from his brother Kubera. He ill-treats sages and women. Kidnaps Mata Sita. Being so learned, self-interest drove him to Arishadvargas (six vices/enemies; lust, anger, greed, temptation, pride, and jealousy).

Rama was well educated and had been in a state of quiet ego for as much as Ramayana goes. In fact his consistency has been debated as too ideal for a human. His balance and etiquette have no parallel. He was never after any position, nor he relinquished his duty ever. Every day of his life has been dedicated to the welfare of Ayodhya. Sticking to dharma has cost him dearly, atleast personally. His divinity can be summarized in a very popular Sanskrit shloka;

????????????????? ????????????????? ? ???? ??? ??? ??????? ?????????? ???? ?

When the mind is purified of impurities like desire, avarice, etc., rising from the arrogant feelings of 'me' and 'mine', (then) absence of pain or absence of pleasure feels equal.

 Point 2: Education

In Balakanda, Sage Vasishta describes Rama as;

 ????? ??????????????????? ??????? ???:? ????? ?????????????????????? ??????? ????:? {18(24)}

(Exponents of Vedas and weapons; all for welfare of the world and endowed with best habits (16) and grown well)

Sage Vasishta taught Vedas to Rama in his childhood and cautioned all through that it has to be for the welfare of others (??????? ???:). This built humility in him. What is great about Rama is that he held on to these values like humility for ever.

Holding on to values is like pressing a snake with your leg. You slip even a small bit, the snake bites you and there is no escape further. 

As a digression from Ramayana, look at our education system now. It has moved from values to value; from mode of living to money spinning; from knowing life to getting job; and sensibilities replaced by sensationalism. How can you expect future generations to be any welfare oriented?

To substantiate, Ben Goldacre in his books; Bad Science & Bad Pharma (A compulsory reading in my course) mentions that

at school we are taught about chemicals in test tubes, equations to describe motion, and maybe something on photosynthesis, but in all likelihood we are not taught about the science of what and how will kill or cure us.

He adds that the

hole in our culture is gaping: evidence-based medicine, contains some of the cleverest ideas from the past two centuries, has saved millions of lives, but there has never once been a single exhibit on the subject in London’s Science Museum.

Conclusion

Ramayana is an epic with no parallel. It is an elixir and teaches how to live and behave. More importantly it teaches us Dharma. In the first article I tried to bring the context of culture and in this article I reflected on ego and talent as two major sources to nurture dharma. I personally believe that parents and teachers hold a significant value in instilling the required Dharma for future generations.

JAI SRI RAMA

[1] Asuras (evil) and Suras (gods) were born to Daksha Prajapati. Both had supreme powers and were constantly at logger heads (Just like any set of siblings). Asuras were both good and bad. Good asuras were called as Adityas (like varuna - god of sea/sky) and bad ones were called Danavas. Suras were good natured and principled, while Asuras were unprincipled and unethical.

Note: All the pictures are sourced from Google and I do not hold any copyrights.