‘Mano Hi Hetuh…’ — Mind is Instrumental for Either Good or Bad Deeds

 

All the exertions of man emerge from the mind and hence the wise endeavor to steadying and stilling it.

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We all still remember Enron and its meteoric rise and fall. But what we have perhaps, forgotten or less noticed is: followers fudging the accounts as ordered by bad leaders with eyes wide open and on free will. That is what we learn from Wesley H. Colwell, former chief accountant of Enron, who admitted to manipulating earnings on two occasions in court. Similarly, Paula H Rieker, secretary to Enron’s board testified in court about Skilling’s order to make “last minute changes in earnings results to put them in line with analysts’ expectations”. Narrating this story, Barbara Kellerman, author of the book, ‘Followership’ frames an axiom: “To oppose a leader who is bad—ineffective and/or unethical—is to be a good follower”. 

This whole episode takes me to Vālmiki Rāmāyana, the oldest epic of India. We all know, at the behest of King Sugriva, Hanumān, Jāmbavan, and Angada proceed southwards along with the monkey force to search for Sita. Hearing that Sita is taken to Lanka, they wonder how to cross the ocean. Finally, encouraged by Jāmbavan, Hanumān, like a comet spanning the whole sky, takes his flight above the sea and having crossed it, lands on Mount Lamba in Lanka. 

Then going on to Mount Trikuta and taking a look at the city of Lanka, he wonders if it could be conquered. He then decides to first search for Sīta. His loyalty to the task can be gauged from his worrying that because of him Sīta should not be put into any trouble. He, therefore, adopts a crafty means, for there is no better way to outsmart crafty people than through craftiness. So, he assumes a microscopic shape. As the moon spreads coolness across Lanka, he starts the search for Sīta assiduously in the abodes of Prahasta, Kumbhakarna and others. There is no trace of Sīta. He then enters the interiors of Rāvana’s castle. Even there he cannot find Sīta. 

Then he enters the pleasure resort of Rāvana. Later, he enters Rāvana’s feasting room. Seeing the wives of others sleeping ... lying down in puris naturalibus, Hanuman wonders:  “dharma lōpaṅ kariṣyati” (5-11:37) might ruin his dharma”. Indeed, he questions himself, “Is he, by watching these ladies, transgressing the moral code?”

He then arrives at an answer: ‘Yes, I have seen these women of Rāvana, but not with any foul intention. Nor did any passionate feeling arise in my mind—“na hi mē manasaḥ kiñcid vaikṛtyam upajāyatē (5-11:40). Another bright assurance strikes his mind: manō hi hētuḥ sarvēṣām indriyāṇāṅ pravartanē / śubha aśubhāsv avasthāsu tac ca me suvyavasthitam (5-11:41)—it is the mind that propels all the sense organs to do good or bad deeds, and that mind of mine is firmly established in righteousness. 

Yet, this argument is likely to raise another doubt: “Is it alright to do a deed that is improper simply because the motive behind it is right?” It appears that even Hanuman faced this doubt, for he wonders: “Nānyatra hi mayā śakyā vaidēhī parimārgitum (5-11:42)—it is not possible for me to look for Sita elsewhere, for striyō hi strīṣu dṛśyantē sadā samparimārgaṇē—in such searching, one must perforce, look for a woman among women only, but not in the herd of female deer (5-11-:43). 

The takeaway from this introspection of Hanuman is: To be on the right path, one has to constantly introspect over the deeds being contemplated/performed. That alone enables one to detect one’s mistakes/follies. Identification of mistakes offers scope for negation: to correct the misdeeds committed. Following it, if one could substitute the negative feelings behind such misdeeds contemplated/committed with Sadbhavana goodwill, it paves the way for one to always remain on the path of righteousness. To sum up, introspection is the first step toward the path of good conduct. 

Now, let us transpose this discussion to organizational context and reconnoitre its implications for the workforce.  A company is after all an aggregation of humans working for accomplishing certain common goals. So, there would be a leader, leading the followers toward the goal. In its pursuit, followers are expected to be loyal to the organization and the leader. Examining the link between employee loyalty and profitability Benjamin Schneider, professor emeritus at the University of Maryland has shown that the employees’ loyalty-related attitudes precede a firm’s financial and market performance.  Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that spending 10 percent of a company’s revenue on capital improvements increased productivity by 3.9 percent while spending the same amount on developing employee capital simply doubled it — productivity increased by a whopping 8.5 percent. 

However, management theorists also point out that ‘loyalty’ here does not mean ‘blind loyalty’—of surrendering one’s values to the cause of the organization. It means that as the wise and prudent Hanuman introspected about his searching for Sita in the harem of Rāvana and fearing that it might ruin his dharma—“dharma lōpaṅ kariṣyati”—and analysing its righteousness or otherwise critically and only upon satisfying its correctness moving forward, even followers of a leader of an organization should not ignore their ‘moral compass’ while being loyal to their leader. For, according to Timothy Keiningham and Lerzan Aksoy (2009) —co-authors of the book, Why Loyalty Matters— loyalty, like any virtue, if it goes too far, there is a danger of it becoming toxic, as has happened in the case of Enron.

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