Recently, Mr Mohan Bhagwat, Chief
of Rashtriya Swaymsevak Sangh (RSS), delivered a statesman-like address at a
periodic training program for RSS workers: “Jo vaastavik sevak hai …who maryada
se chalta hai. Us maryada ka paalan karke jo chalta hai, who karm karta hai
lekin Karmon mein lipt nahi hota. Usme ahankara nahin aata ki maine kiya” (He,
who is a true worker, conducts himself with dignity. Whoever maintains
propriety of conduct, he simply performs his duties; never gets attached to
them; will not be overtaken by arrogance to claim the credit for the work done).
Intriguingly, he also condemned the “bitterness” that was witnessed in the
recent election campaign, which in his opinion can jeopardise social harmony.
In this address, which is
sounding more as a sermon compelling us to ponder over, there are two keywords
the import of which is far-reaching. They are: “ahankar” (arrogance) and
“maryāda” (propriety
of conduct), for they sound more like a model code of conduct for leaders—be
they political or business leaders.
There is,
of course, ample evidence indicating that humble leaders outperform arrogant
leaders, and yet we often see leaders having a hard time checking their egos at
workplaces. Edgar Schein, Professor Emeritus at the Sloan School of Management,
once asked a group of his students what a promotion to the rank of manager
would mean to them. A pat reply was: “It means I can now tell others what to
do”. It is perhaps, this “know-it-all style of leadership” that broods
arrogance among leaders.
In his
book, Humble Inquiry that he co-authored with Peter A Schein, Prof
Edgar listed three different forms of humility. The first and the most
basic form of expression that we generally adopt in social life is: “the
humility that we feel around elders and dignitaries”. The second is “the
humility that we feel in the presence of those who awe us with their
achievements”, which indeed is a standard practice in our professional life. It
is the third kind of humility, which he labeled as “here-and-now humility” that
he considers as the most relevant for business leaders to achieve the mission
of the organization but rarely observed.
Now, the
question is: why practicing “here-and-now humility” is so rare among leaders?
Schein offers an explanation: A leader feels that his status turns inferior to
the other when he asks him to perform some work for accomplishing his goal. He
also feels that he is required to be humble in such situations. Hence, people
often would rather prefer to give off the task than to admit their dependency
on someone else.
In Rāmāyana we come
across a scene that is worth recalling here. Rāma, amidst the sound of kettle drums and couches, arrives in
Lanka. Hearing the sounds, Rāvana summons
his ministers to chalk out his further course of action. Malyavan, the maternal
grandfather of Rāvana, a
sagacious ogre, in an attempt to convince him about his folly, says: “That
monarch, O King who is well-versed in the fourteen sciences and follows the
path of prudence enjoys sovereignty for a long time and brings his enemies
under subjection … our enemies who have embraced virtue and renounced evil are
stronger than we …beholding dreadful portents, I foresee the extermination of all
the ogres … Therefore, conclude peace, O Rāvana,
with Rāma” (VR
6-35:7-37).
But Rāvana, in his intoxication of power, abuses him thus: “This
noxious and harsh utterance … has not caught my ears …I fear I have been told
such harsh words by you either because of spitefulness to me, … or because of your
predilection to the foe or because you were incited by the enemy to do so”. In
that hubris, he goes on to claim, “Of whom will Rāvana entertain fear in an encounter”. Further, he proudly
declares: dvidhā
bhajyeyam apy evam na nameyam tu kasyacit / … (6-36:11)—I
would fain break in two, but would never bend before anyone…”
And, we all
have seen how the fate of such leaders ends. It is thus evident that
though ahankar gets attention, it is the modesty that gets results.
Which is why, leaders in all walks of life may have to feel confident of
themselves to be humble to admit that they don’t have all the answers and have
to reach to people for right answers.
It is
from shunning the trait of ahankar, which emanates from self-belief, that
Maryāda stems.
Maryāda is a
finely honed sense of rectitude in one’s behavior. This is an adjective that is
often used by Vālmki to
define the character of Lord Rāma and
present him as the ideal role model.
We come
across a beautiful scene in Yuddhakānda that
depicts the unimpeachable courtesy (Maryāda) for which Rāma is known. In the course of great fight with Rāvana, Rāma in his
anxiety to stay focused on destroying Rāvana once
for all, asks Mātali, the
charioteer sent by Lord Indra, to advance the chariot swiftly towards the
enemy’s chariot, without confusion and with steady heart and vision. Then
suddenly, as if wondering how a mortal like himself could instruct Mātali, an immortal sent by Indra, lord of gods, he hurriedly
says: “smāraye tvām—I am reminding you, na śikshaye—not teaching you”
(6-106:13). As an occupant of the chariot, it is not wrong of Rāma to instruct the charioteer to operate the chariot in
whatever way he wishes to gain advantage over the opponent. But Rāma, the Maryāda
Purushottam, man embodied with a sense of honor, not mind to seek
charioteer’s help humbly—“I am reminding you; not teaching you”—so that he gets
the best of his attention in handling the chariot. That is the excellence of Rāma’s character. And indeed, Mātali, being extremely gratified with these words, drives the
chariot as desired by Rāma
(6-106:14).
It is the
maryāda sans ahankar
that is the most effective and sustainable mindset which serves the leaders who
aim at mighty goals in a world full of unknowns.
**
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