Indian Mythology and Business Management_Part 3

This is the 3rd part of the multi-part article series on Indian mythology and business management. Through this article series, I am sharing my takeaways from Devdutt Patnaik’s popular TV serial on CNBC 18: Business Sutra.

In this 3rd part, we are looking at what Indian mythology says about Business Ethics and Morals using the concept of Dharma, Adharma, and Dharma Sankat.

Dharma

Humans have an ultimate ability that no other creature has, and that is the ability to imagine. But this ability also amplifies our fears. We can think of worst problems when it doesn’t even exist. When I can imagine good things, I can also imagine horrible things. Gods in Indian mythology have their hands sticking out; in the Abhaya Mudra, fearlessness pose. This mudra symbolizes protection, peace, and the dispelling of fear, and this is what a leader is supposed to be. When fear strikes us, humans, they become cruel.

Visualize a simple number line; there is a positive endpoint demoting empathy, a negative endpoint denoting exploitation, and a number zero at the center. This midpoint is called in Sanskrit as Matsya Nyay, the Law of the Jungle, the big fish eats the small fish in the sea, the survival of the fittest. This means I can be territorial and dominating because I want to survive; this is an animal…