MANAGEMENT LESSONS FROM INDIAN HISTORY: RAMAYANA

Management and Leadership Lessons from Valmiki Ramayan:

As we all know, via newspaper articles and announcements, that Management and Leadership lessons from the Ramayana and Mahabharata are taught and discussed in renowned international and National Academic Institutions like Harvard University, JNU, University of Copenhagen,NYU Tisch School of Arts, MIT Natya, Thai Students at MIT & Sanggar Kinanthi Indonesian Art/Culture Center, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, etc.

It is well understood that these were the foundations as well as principles on which Ram-Raj was established and flourished under King Rama in Ayodhya which is considered to be the best governance model of all times.

It talks about respecting Management as well how to take decisions as well personal and professional life routines and ethics.

Therefore today we take a detailed look at those important Management and Leadership lessons which Lord Rama imparted to his brother Bharata who was to be King of Ayodhya in Lord Rama’s absence.

 

Source: VALMIKI RAMAYAN (Source:ValmikiRamayan.net)

AYODHYA KAAND

Sarga/Chapter 100

 

1. "O, my darling brother! I hope that you treat with due respect; Sudhanva, your teacher in archery, who is furnished with the most excellent arrows and darts and well-versed in political economy."

# Explanation: Always respect and honour the one who teaches you or from whom one learns the various arts of governance.

 

2. "I hope that ministers who are valiant like you, learned, masters of their senses of noble birth and skilled interpreting internal sentiments by external gesture, are assigned to you."

#Explanation: Only skill based, knowledge based, background checked and aptitude based Ministers are to be chosen by the King just like is practiced today in appointing Ministers and other diplomats in Government as well as followed in private sector as well as public sector employment procedures by Human Resource departments.

 

3. "The source of victory for kings indeed comes from a concealed counsel by ministers, who are well-versed in political sciences and who can hide their thoughts within themselves."

# Explanation: The decisions taken between PM or CM and Ministers/Company head and management executives need to be kept between the governance structure and not leaked out to outsiders else it could reach wrong hands that can derail the plan. The same is practiced today in Government decisions as well as private sector.

4. "I hope you do not fall  prey to excess of sleep and do wake up at appropriate time. I hope you contemplate during the later half of the night, about the adroitness of an action."

#Explanation: As it is scientifically proven that excess sleep or less sleep both interfere with brain functioning and decision making and hence sleep on time and wake up on time as well as reflect over one’s actions during the later half of night after completing one’s sleep.

 

5. "I hope that you do not deliberate alone nor indeed with numerous men. I hope your decision arrived at by you through such deliberation does not flow to the public (even before it is carried out)".

# Explanation: Decisions should not be taken alone by the Leader and neither amongst to many people which will lead to confusion. It should be taken amongst just those officials/ministers who are concerned with that subject matter. Decision taken needs to be kept within those people only until it is carried out to cut out unnecessary delays due to internal politics and bureaucratic bottlenecks.

 

6. "O, Bharata! I hope considering your interest fully, you launch an undertaking, which has maximum benefit with minimum coast and indeed do not delay it further."

# Explanation: The King should look into the interests of the people and administration and launch an undertaking (PSU in today’s times) which would involve minimum cost and maximum benefit with no further delay once decided and strategized. Same goes for a Company’s top management to take care of employee interests as well as customers’.

 

7. "I hope the other kings know your entire undertakings only after they have been successfully completed as well as those which have taken a shape, but not your proposed undertakings."

#Explanation: Decisions taken and implementation should not leak out of your kingdom before it begins to function being fully set up, so that it is delayed by wrong people/jealous Kings getting to know of it and stopping its progress by their evil plans so that their corruption/laziness or not serving of people is not exposed and their people would start comparing their rule with yours. Same applies in the private sector management as well.

 

8. "My darling brother! I hope that others are not knowing, by their enquiries or strategies or by any other approaches not mentioned, the details of discussions you make with your ministers."

# Explanation: Self explanatory

 

9. "I hope you solicit for one wise man rather than for a thousand stupids for, a wise man can be of a great help to you in difficult matters."

# Explanation: Do not waste time with useless people on difficult matters. Rather choose/seek out a wise man to help you with it.

 

10. "Even if a king employs thousands or tens of thousands of fools, they will not be helpful to him."

# Explanation: Do not employ people on basis of flattery or sycophants. Only employ for positions required and fill it with deserving people based on merit. Same is followed even today in public and private sector management.

 

11. "Even one wise, valiant sagacious and efficient minister alone can cause to secure a great prosperity to the king or to one who enjoys royal authority."

#Explanation: Self explanatory

 

12. "I hope that superior servants are assigned superior works only, mediocre servants in mediocre works and inferior servants in inferior works."

# Explanation: Right person for the right job according to their skill and specialisation and experience. Hierarchy is to be maintained. Same has been explained in Public Adminiistration theories of Fayol, F.W Taylor, etc.

 

13. "O, Bharata! I hope your ministers do not watch as mere witnesses, while your subjects in the kingdom wielding tremble with great fear, under your inflexible wielding of the scepter."

# Explained: A King should not have an adverse relation with his Ministers or staff or keep them so afraid that they never utter a single word even if King is wrong. This ultimately leads to destruction of the whole social system and Kingdom as Ministers/bureaucrats/employees subordinate are only viewed as implementers and not part of decision making process. This is called the Functional Model relationship between Bureaucracy and Ministers in Administration in today’s times.

14. "I hope those who perform the sacrifice do not hold you in contempt, as one who accepts terrible gifts; as one who is fallen, as women hold in contempt of those highly lustful men."

# Explained: A King has to always maintain and display an unimpeachable character both in public as well as personal life.

15. "I hope those warriors, who are excellent strong, skilled in war-face, whose excellent actions were seen before and the most courageous ones are duly honoured and respected by you."

# Explanation: It is self explanatory

16. "I hope you are regularly giving your army, the daily provisions and the suitable salary to them, without any delay."

# Explained: As reiterated in Henry Fayol’s fourteen principles of management as well as Herzberg’s two factor theory, appropriate and timely salary is huge factor in motivating employees.

17. "When there is delay in giving bread and wages, the servants become incensed against their master and become corrupt; and that is said to be a great unfortunate occurrence."

# Explanation: Same as mentioned above.

 

18. "I hope that a knowledgeable man, living in your own country, a wise man a skilled person endowed with presence of mind and the one who knows how to speak to the point, is selected as an ambassador by you."

# Explanation: The same principle is applied even today when an Ambassador is appointed.

 

19. "Do you get to know throught three spies, each unacquainted with each other, about the eighteen* functionaries of the enemies and the fifteen functionaries of your own side?"

*They are: 1)the chief minister; 2) the king's family priest; 3)the crown prince; 4)the leader of the army; 5) the chief warder; 6) the chamberlain (antaHpuraaH adhyaksha); 7)the superintendent of gails (kaaraagaara adhyaksha); 8) the chancellor of the exchequer; 9)the herald; 10)the government advocate; 11) the judge; 12)the assessor; 13) the officer disbursing salaries to army men; 14) the officer drawing money from the state exchequer to disburse the workmen's wages; 15) the superintended of public works; 16) the protector of the borders of a kingdom, who also performed the duties of a forester; 17) the magistrate; 18) the officer entrusted with conservation of waters; hills, forests and tracts difficult of access.: The fifteen functionaries of one's own side are the last fifteen of this very list, omitting the first three; viz; the chief ministers, the family priest and the crown prince.

# Explanation: This is what is done even today by many countries employing Secret Intelligence Services.

 

20. "O, slayer of your Foes! I hope you do not forever think lightly of your foes, who are weak and having been expelled, return again."

# Explanation: Never take competition or animosity lightly and become complacent in your work.

 

21. "Are you cherishing all those who live by agriculture and cattle-rearing, O, dear borhter! The people living on agriculture and cattle-rearing indeed prosper well."

#Explanation: Agriculture and Farmers need to be taken care of as a priority.

 

22. "I hope their maintenance is being looked after by you, in providing what they need and eschewing what they fear. All the citizens are indeed to be protected by a king through his righteousness."

# Explanation: Citizens should get a feeling of good governance from the King/leader.

 

23. "I hope you are pacifying the women well. Are they protected by you?

# Explanation: Safety of women and protection as well as justice os very important,

 

24. "I hope your income is abundant and expenditure, minimum. I hope your treasure does not reach undeserving people, O, Bharata!"

# Explanation: Self explanatory

 

25. "If one of noble work, despite his honesty and integrity, is falsely accused of some offence, I hope he is not killed impatiently, without enquiry by those well-versed in law-books."

# Explanation: Due process of Law as well as procedure of Law is followed so that Justice to all be served. These concepts are very much integral part of Principles and theories of Jurisprudence and Natural Justice in today’s times as well.

 

26. "O, foremost of men! If a thief is seen and even caught at the time of his act on sufficient ground and interrogated-I hope, he is not released from greed of wealth."

# Explanation: Police should not be corrupt and accept bribe and let off criminals

27. "O, Bharata! I hope that your well-educated ministers examine a case dispassionately when a contention occurs between a rich man and a poor man, after studying the situation carefully."

# Explanation: Equality in justice and rule of law should be followed while sorting out issues of people.Same is being followed today as well.

 

28. Do you eschew the following fourteen for kings -viz. atheism, falsehood, anger carelessness, procrastination, disregard of the wise, sloth, bondage to the five senses, himself alone devoting thought to the affairs of the state (without consulting the ministers); taking counsel with those of perverted insight; failure to undertake the projects already decided, failure to keep secrets, failure to utter auspicious words (at the beginning of an undertaking); and rising from one's seat (indiscriminately) to receive all.

#Explanation: Self Explanatory

 

29. "O, the very wise Bharata! I hope you understand the following and deal them properly the ten evils(1); the five kinds of fortifications(2); the four expedients(3); the seven limbs of state(4); the eight evils (born of anger) the three objects of human pursuit(5); the three branches of learning(6) subjugation of the senses, the six strategic expedients(7); adversity brought about by divine agencies(8); and by human agencies(9); the twenty types of monarches(10); and the entire population of the kingdom, setting about an an expedition, drawing up an army in a battle-array and the two bases viz, peace and war.

(1). Ten evils attendant on royalty to be eschew. Hunting, gambling, sleeping during the day, lustfulness, inebriation, pride, calumny, lounging about idly or aimlessly, diversions such as singing and dancing. (2). Five kinds of fortifications: By moat, high bank, trees thickly planted, a space destitute of grain or provisions, the turning of waters. (3) Four expedients:- Making peace, liberality, sowing dissension, chastisement. (4) Seven limbs of state king, ministers, friends, treasure, territory, forts and an army. (5) Three objects of human pursuit: Religious merit, material wealth and sensuous enjoyment or the three kinds of power (viz. energy, power of dominion, power of counsel) (6) Three branches of learning: the three Vedas, the knowledge relating to agriculture, commerce and other vocational pursuits and political science. (7) Six strategic expedients: Coming to terms with the enemy, waging war against him, marching against him, biding one's time to seek a favourable opportunity, causing dissension in the enemy's ranks, seeking protection of a powerful ally. (8) Adversity brought about by divine agencies: Fire, water in the shape of excessive rains or floods, epidemic or endemic diseases, famine and pestulence, earthquakes and Tsunamis. (9) Adversity brought about by human agencies: officials, thieves, enemies, king's favourites and king himself, when acutated by greed. (10)Twenty types of monarchs (who are not worth-negotiating with):1. a king who is yet a child. 2. Aged. 3. Who has been ailing for a long time. 4. who has been ostracised by his own kith and kin. 5. ho is characterized by a cowardly attitude. 6. who is surrounded by cowards. 7. who is greedy. 8. has greedy associated. 9. who has estranged his ministers and others. 10. who confers with fickle-minded persons 11. who speaks ill of divine begins and brahmins; 12. who is extremely indulged in sensuous pleasures and luxuries; 13. who is ill-fated; 14. a fatalist (who believes that all things are pre-determined or subject to fate); 15. who is afflicted by famine and; 16. by military reverses; 17. who (mostly) remains away from home; 18. who has numerous enemies; 19. who is in the clutches of adverse times and; 20. who is not devoted to truth and piety.

# Explanation: Self Explanatory

 

30. "I hope that you consult with three or four ministers as mentioned in scriptures any proposal collectively and singly with each of them in secret."

# Explanation:  Discuss proposals amongst Ministers in groups as well as alone with each one to understand it in depth.

 

31. "Do you follow the common practice, which our fore fathers observed and which is in accord with the path of the virtuous and which is distinguished in itself."

# Explanation: Follow established protocols of governance which are tried and tested as well as proven to yield good results. Just like Programmed and Non Programmed decisions theory is taught in Public Administration today.

Learning From Chanakya: Methods Of The Artist-Spies By Sumedha Verma Ojha

Snapshot

• The Arthashastra mentions using artists as spies to target another state. In current times, this can be compared to the ‘Fifth Column’, any group of people that undermines a larger group such as a nation through overt or clandestine activities. Rings a bell?

Continuing the series of extracts from the Arthashastra, this article, with a 2300 year old prism, firmly that of national interest, will look at the role of the entertainment industry in times of peace, hostility and outright war.

Having stipulated the fact that today’s modern limitless, boundary less, instant overload of entertainment and infotainment delivered through multiple devices is very different from the sources of entertainment millennia ago, it must be understood that it is the underlying principles and similarities which will be considered.

This column has referred to the extensive spy system mandated by the Arthashastra to maintain peace, law and order internally; and the use of clandestine services to create confusion within enemies and win wars against them.

This system was very much a part of the Mauryan empire. The spy service was under the administrative control of the ‘Samaharta’, a high ranking minister of the kingdom who combined the roles of finance minister and home minister with the specific responsibility of the secret service.
The secret service functioned internally, collecting information of financial malfeasance, treason, sedition and revolt against the king. It also functioned in enemy countries to spread confusion, dissension and misinformation and prepare the ground for the enemy’s defeat, the upaya of ‘bheda’ explained in an earlier article.

The secret service was divided into ‘sanstha’ or headquarters type (five categories) who remained stationed at a place and the ‘sanchara’ type (4 categories) who moved around and collected information or provided other ‘services’.

The secret agents were everywhere, both internally and externally; inside houses, in the city, in the countryside, forests, frontiers etc. They adopted a cover which was appropriate to the circumstances; 29 different types with 50 subtypes of covers have been mentioned in the Arthashastra. As a mark of Chanakya’s precision, the exact cover to be used is specified in more than a hundred places in the text.

Of special interest for the moment is the category of entertainers and artists who are to be used both internally and externally as spies, a part of the entertainment industry of the times, so to speak.
A common form of entertainment during Mauryan times was the ‘preksha’ or show on stage where performers included both men and women. Since, ‘nritta’, ‘natya’, ‘gita’ and ‘vadya’ or dancing, acting, singing and playing musical instruments were all popular; ‘natas’ or actors, ‘nartakas’ or dancers, ‘gayakas’ and ‘vadakas’ or singers and instrumentalists were correspondingly popular. Recitation or ‘pathya’ was also popular. The word ‘kusilava’ is used as a general term for actors, dancers, mimes and similar artists.

In the cities these shows took place in specially constructed theatre houses ( precisely described in Bharata’s Natyshastra,) which were grand and opulent centres for high society. Prominent citizens or guilds built these as offerings for the public or for the king and attending these prekshas was a mark of prestige. This definitely has echoes in modern musical, film and theatre performances albeit at a smaller scale.

The countryside was not left out, temporary structures for these performances were built for the performances (with rules stipulated in the Arthashastra). The entire village had to pay for these structures and all could then witness the show, so these were very much popular community activities.

There were also those who performed without structures, the jugglers, storytellers, wandering minstrels etc and were extremely popular.

Apart form the performing arts there were those who made ‘chitras’, i.e. painters, and those who wrote; writers, playwrights, poets in Sanskrit and Prakrit were a respected part of society. Writing, the act of it itself was then an art, too, not mere typing as today.

In the Arthashastra, a special community called ‘Kaushikas’ devoted to art and music is mentioned which was employed at royal courts and especially in enemy countries to spread disinformation and create dissension and confusion.

Having established that entertainers and the entertainment industry had a strong presence in Chanakya’s Jambudwipa and that this was a category specially mentioned as one from which spies were to be drawn let me introduce another concept here, a slightly more modern one which is relevant today and also has echoes in the Arthashastra, the Fifth Column.

A Fifth Column is any group of people that undermines a larger group such as a nation through overt or clandestine activities. This phrase originated during the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s but found fame during the Second World War especially during the fall of France when people inside the country were said to have worked for the Nazis before the occupying force took over the country.

Back to the Arthashastra; the method of using ‘bheda’ is nothing but the creation of confusion, anxiety dissension and disunity in the targeted state through what could be construed as a Fifth Column consisting mainly of secret agents ad a significant part of these secret agents were from the entertainment sector, the enemy within which is the most difficult to counter. The Kautilyan Fifth Column.

As Chanakya had recognised those many many years ago, it is the power of this entertainment industry, its spread, ubiquity, goodwill and the love of the people enjoyed by it which makes it uniquely successful in reaching hearts and swaying minds. If the influential and successful members of this industry create dissension, consensus and a united front are the first casualties.

Article courtesy: https://swarajyamag.com/culture/learning-from-chanakya-methods-of-the-artist-spies?fbclid=IwAR2nWAvTeSpnXNNBZ1F-HfkRmhvS-VFfqSMHwER9TvGB8v49CK2dkWuMMdo
 

Extracts From The Arthashastra: A Mauryan Budget by Sumedha Verma Ojha

Snapshot

• In the Mauryan ‘budget’, the budget and accounts were to be prepared annually, with the year being of 354 days

One of the most important events of the annual financial calendar in India is the presentation of the union budget in the Indian parliament, a thoroughly modern attribute of the running of a modern nation state. In actual fact a ‘budget’, leather bag of the 15th century which became a set of fiscal plans in the 18th century, in whatever form or rubric, is essential to the running of any country at any time.

And so it was for the period of the Mauryans.

The Arthashastra of Kautilya sets down a well-defined structure for the financial ordering of a kingdom. It is a theoretical treatise and cannot be taken as a manual of the financial ordering of the Mauryan state. When studied together with evidence from other sources, Greek, Buddhist, Jain and also the inscriptions of Samrat Ashok, however, it appears that Mauryan budgeting could have approximated to the theoretical structure set up in book two of this ancient compendium on politics and economics.

The budget and accounts were to be prepared annually, with the year being of 354 days. Entries were made with reference to the king’s regnal year, ‘rajavarsham’ which was made to coincide with the work year, ending on the full moon day of the month of Ashadha (June/July); what we today recognise as the day of Guru Poornima. Individual date entries were made as per year, month, fortnight and day.

The ‘Samaharta’ or the mantri whom we would call the Finance Minister today, was responsible for the preparation of the budget and accounts. He was to fix the amount of revenue to be collected from all the heads of income and then to arrange the income under the aayamukhas or sources. He was enjoined to show an increase in revenue and a reduction in expenditure and to try and address the problem of excess of expenditure over income if this should arise.

To explain further:

The items of revenue were called the ‘aayasharira’ or the body of income and classified under seven heads, city, country, mines, irrigation works, forests, cattle herds and trade routes.

The incomes from the city consisted of customs duties, fines, income from weights and measures department, issue of passports, liquor, yarn, ghee, goldsmiths, prostitutes, gambling, artists, temples etc. Quite a varied collection of income sources, some which would be frowned upon now! From the country came income from agriculture; salt, minerals and precious stones provided income from mines.

The irrigation-works head collected income from flowers, fruits vegetable sales, etc. and forests and cattle herds collected what we would now call income from animal husbandry. Given the pivotal importance of trade for the Mauryan empire, trade routes were a separate and important head of their own. The revenue from these heads was further classified into seven ‘aayamukhas’ or sources- price, share, tax, duty, levy, surcharge or penalty.

On the expenditure side or the ‘vyayasharira’ there were fifteen heads, including firstly, expenditure for worship of the gods, and charity.

The most important heads were those related to the armed forces, the armoury and the palace. Stores, factories, labourers, maintenance of animal wealth were other important heads of expenditure. Majority of the expenditure was on state account and only a few can be construed as part of the king’s privy purse (salaries for all the royals except the king were also fixed at a specific level).

Expenditure heads do not detail any items spent on state enterprises such as mining probably because the revenue is net income after deducting expenses.

The same principle applies to all items of revenue. Revenue estimate, accrued revenue, outstanding revenue, income, expenditure and balance were the accounting concepts used to try and present an accurate picture of the kingdom’s budgetary situation at the end of the year going forward into the next one. All these are precisely defined in the Arthashastra and it would be an interesting exercise to compare them with accounting standards today.

A budget estimate of the revenue was made at the beginning of the year with refernce to different areas of economic activity and administrative units such as the village, district, region, etc. The Samaharta (or his office) fixed these estimates and they had to be strictly adhered to by the officers responsible for rendering this revenue to the state stores.

Incomes were classified as current, outstanding and derived from other sources; daily revenue was 'current', that belonging to the preceding year or transferred from another sphere of activity was 'outstanding' and fines, compensation, take-over of property, treasure, increase in prices etc. was 'income from other source's.

Expenditure was also classified into four types, day to day, after fixed intervals of time and unforeseen expenditure arising under these two heads classified separately. After the calculation of revenue and the deduction of expenditure from it, what remained was the balance which was received and carried forward.

One should also keep in mind that most of the revenue received by the state was in kind and there was a complex establishment of state stores headed by the ‘Sannidhatri’.

Another office of great significance concerning the budget was the ‘Akshapataladhyaksha’ or the head of the records-cum-audit office, what we now know as the Comptroller and Auditor General. This establishment was completely separate from the Samaharta and the records maintained by it were to check the accounts kept by the Samaharta’s office.

A comparison with heads in the annual financial statement of the union budget for 2017 will be interesting. The receipts into the Consolidated Fund of India are from tax sources, including income tax, corporation tax and indirect taxes, and non-tax sources including fiscal services, interest dividends and profits.

Expenditure is on general services, social services and economic services. General services include the expenditure on keeping the state up and running i.e. expenses on the legislature, executive, judiciary apart from tax administration and defence. Economic services heads include areas such as disbursements on animal husbandry, irrigation, mines and minerals, industries, rural development and transport and communication.

A quick look shows the parallels- tax resources on the revenue side and similar disbursement heads on the expenditure side.

An interesting difference between Kautilyan and modern budgeting, however, is the lack of specific differentiation on capital and revenue account in the former although Kautilya is by no means ignorant of the differences in the impact and implications of the two and we do get hints of the results of different types of spending.

The provisions for budgeting and accounting in the Arthashastra and its resonance with modern budgeting has led some scholars to posit economic planning by the Kautilyan or Mauryan state, but this needs further study. For one, modern budgeting has a significant developmental push and economic planning is to that end, which is not so in the Mauryan budget.

In the words of R P Kangle, the emphasis in modern planning and budgeting is on development but that in the Arthashastra accounting methods is on control.

The complex machinery of accounting and auditing was set up so that the fruits of economic activity accrue without fail, to the State. The modern ‘development’ mantra, for all its failings is the major thrust of budgets today but we do not, of course, hear of it explicitly in the Kautilyan budget. This is in keeping with the Kautilyan focus on getting resources so that the King can spend them on the ‘palana’ or administration of his subjects.

Which of the two led to greater prosperity for the people at large is an open question until a comparative economic study of relative prosperity in ancient and modern India is conducted.

After two decades in the Indian Revenue Service Sumedha Verma Ojha now follows her passion, Ancient India; writing and speaking across the world on ancient Indian history, society, women, religion and the epics. Her Mauryan series is ‘Urnabhih’; a Valmiki Ramayan in English and a book on the ‘modern’ women of ancient India will be out soon.

Article courtesy: https://swarajyamag.com/ideas/extracts-from-the-arthashastra-a-mauryan-budget