Arjuna comes to the battlefield, and he’s overtaken by his personal emotions. The situation here is very different. Somebody who’s not righteous is trying to take over the entire kingdom. And trusting Arjuna will fight for righteousness… several crore people and several kings of several kingdoms, coalition politics have all come to assist Arjuna – believing he will lead them from the forefront.

And everybody is already there in the battlefield and right now he is consumed by his personal emotions. He sees how will I fight with my own brothers, my own grandfather and my own teacher. And a sense of attachment and bondage to all of them is making him feel that I should not fight this war. I’ll have to go back.

18 chapters come. Essentially to tell Arjuna something – your personal emotions cannot come in the way of you performing your duties. I repeat, there are many things which is the essence of Bhagavad Gita.

One of the essence of Bhagavad Gita is your personal emotions cannot come in the way of you performing your duties. Here you have duty as a king, you have a duty towards your subjects. If right now, you’re consumed by your personal emotions, you do not execute your responsibilities, your duties.

All those people who believe that you will lead them in the right direction, what happens to them?

The application of this is, Veda Vyas is trying to tell you. You can go through a personal setback, my grandmother died today. Tomorrow is salary day, salaries have to get paid. What you’re going through is a personal emotion, but that does not permit you to shrink or shun away from your duties… Tomorrow is salary day and salaries will get paid. I have a love failure right now. I was in a relationship, and somebody had left me. And I’ve a personal setback right now. And I’ve already committed that this project will be completed and the delivery of this app or software or furniture or a building or whatever it is… or I said that I will release the movie on this date, or I will complete the six songs for this movie and give it to you. There is a deadline driven activity and I have said that by March… by May 31 I will ensure that it is delivered. Right now, my life has gone through a personal setback. I have to deal with it. But Krishna is telling you that’s not an excuse for you to shun your personal… Your personal emotion is your personal emotion. That you are a leader, you have to find a balance between you fighting your personal emotion and still what must be done must be done. You cannot let your personal emotions incapacitate you.

In your case, you’re the head of an organization, the honor of the organization to uphold the values that the brand has stood for is much, much greater than your personal emotions. A kingdom cannot suffer because of the emotions of the king, then you’re not a worthy leader. And I’m not saying this. 18 chapters was to convince Arjuna there is no place for your personal emotions, letting you incapacitate you when you have taken certain responsibilities. Trusting you, everybody has come to the battlefield in your case trusting you people have joined you.

What sort of a leader you will be if that is your sense of responsibility towards any, any duty that you have assumed. So, one of the first messages Vyassa / Krishna is giving you is –

“If you have taken up a responsibility,

no personal emotion of yours

is going to incapacitate you,

from executing that responsibility.”

If something has been given to you as your duty not just from a professional perspective, even as an individual perspective. If this is what you have taken that you will do for your parents, this is what you have taken saying that I will do this for my children. It has to be absolutely unconditional.

TWO – same context, Vyasa is telling you something else. Once you have made a commitment, it has to be unconditional. Otherwise, it’s not a commitment. You have said I will fight this battle and win the war of righteousness, now there is no going back. Now don’t start talking problems. I also took a commitment that I’ll stand by you, Arjuna.  When I told you I will stand by you Arjuna, as a charioteer only I came.  Right now, seeing that you don’t have to fight the war. The circumstances have changed. I’m not shunning from my commitment. I’m not saying then I will go back. I have taken responsibility for you, and I will completely take responsibility. Even if it means I will transform you and make you win, I’ll transform you and make you win. But I’m not shunning my responsibility and going back.

A commitment is a commitment,

just because circumstances change

you cannot drop yourself

from your commitment levels.

You still uphold your commitment levels. That’s when you grow in your own eyes. Otherwise, you don’t grow in your own eyes.

You know, Mahabharata. I’m bringing application to your leadership and application to your business in this entire context, already communicated two things to you.

One : There is no place for your personal emotions
for you to fail in your leadership.
You have to manage your personal emotions,
but you have to succeed as a leader.

Two: If you’ve made a commitment

just because circumstances have changed,

you cannot bail yourself out of a commitment.

A commitment is still a commitment.

If you want to grow in your own eyes, otherwise you will not be able to respect yourself.

As an escape to this entire thing. Arjuna says – I’ve come here to realize, I don’t have desire for this kingdom, I don’t want. If we have to fight, we have to fight war. And that’s the only way you can be a king and you can have a kingdom. I don’t want all these things, I want to go. I will also start meditating, I want to commit myself to a spiritual life.

I’ll tell you what’s there in Mahabharata, I’ll tell you the application after that. So, Krishna is telling Arjuna you’re not ready for a spiritual life.

There can be spirituality in your life, but spirituality cannot become your life. There can be spirituality in your life, but you’re not ready to make spirituality as your life. You’re not ready for that. You’re still a man of desires. To grow in spirituality, you should be able to relinquish desires, renounce desires. The fact that you’re desiring spirituality itself is a desire. The fact that you are… it’s still a desire. So, you’re a man of desires and a man of desires cannot make spirituality is life. It’s not possible for you. You’re not ready for it. Your issue is not this… Watch this.  Watch the wisdom of Vyasa. Your issue is not this. Your issue is. There are two-fold things he comes here… same message but there are two directions he is giving – Vyasa…  Anybody who desires for himself, at some stage will suffer because of bondage.  Because desiring for yourself creates bondage. You get attached to it, whether it’s the car, whether it’s a house, whether it is personal wealth, it creates a bondage and this bondage at some stage will make you feel very claustrophobic.

Desiring for yourself will create bondage in your life – One.

Two – Anybody who desires for himself when he faces too many challenges, at some stage, he’ll feel like giving it up.

This thing about I don’t know whether I want to continue to be in business, Apadinna (which means) you’ve faced a lot of hurdles. And suddenly you feel should I continue to do this or not? You’re facing…

Arjuna’s situation is like this, he’s facing competition. So, his mind is thinking, if I have to fight wars, if I have to keep killing people, if I have to let people die for… to go through all these things, then only I can have the kingdom, then I don’t think…

Some of you face this out there. When competition gets very high, you feel sometimes I feel is it worth it being in business? No, no. Another question you all have – how long should I run? You’re not even started running it. Already people are asking – how long should I run? I keep asking myself this question.

And Vyasa is saying – anybody who desires for himself will –

One – suffer from the claustrophobia of bondage and

Two – When he faces too much issues and too much competition. Suddenly he feels he should shrink this… You can give him desires, because you’re still a desiring person. But he thinks he should shrink his desire so that he doesn’t have to face this. I want to remain small, is still a desire. I want to become big is a desire. I want to remain small is also a desire. I want to become a national brand is also a desire, I want to remain a local brand is also a… – it’s still a desire.

So, what’s the solution?

Anga than adikaran. (He nailed it here!)

Vyasa is saying, Stop desiring for yourself and start desiring for others.

When you want to do something for your son, you will go to any extent – you may not go to any extent for your sake. When you want to do something for your parents, you will go to any extent whatever hurdle you face, you will still go through all these things. When I want to do things for others. Think about all of yourself when you want to exercise for your personal fitness. You find motivation is such a difficult thing. When you wanted to get your sister married – Did you find that hard work? Did you find that as hard work? when you want to do something for yourself? You have to clean your own shelf!

Ayyo Antha mathiri Thappellam Pannave mudiyathu! (Oh! We cannot commit mistakes like that)

You want to clean your own shelf- you can’t.

You want to get your daughter married. Any work looks like work for you. Some of you sitting here who can never motivate yourself to exercise on a regular basis. But suppose I tell you that can you just carry this sofa from here to the third floor and leave it there. Won’t you do it willingly? Somehow, our love for others makes us feel we can endure anything for their sake. For your sake you won’t, for their sake you will.

I’ll give another example. Most of you can relate to it, for your sake to remain awake to study. Mahatria, change the topic. When your child was not sleeping as a father, did you find it difficult to stay awake, because your child was crying or your child had fever, you felt anything for your child was worth it. But you were not still ready to do the same thing for your own sake.

That’s where the master stroke of Vyasa comes; Vyasa says,

now that you’re desiring individual and you cannot stop desiring, channelize your desires.

Don’t desire for yourself, desire for others.

There’s happiness in desiring for others and fulfilling their desires. So, Arjuna don’t fight this war for your sake. All your people deserve to live in a kingdom of righteousness. All your people deserve to be led by leadership that is righteousness. So not for your sake. Because if you don’t do this, somebody who was ready to de-robe your wife into semi nakedness in the court. If he rules the kingdom, what do you think will be the dignity of women in that kingdom? And in a kingdom where women don’t have dignity? What sort of life will children have? He’s asking all these questions to Arjuna? What happened to your wife? Do you want it to happen to your entire kingdom? It should never happen. So don’t fight this war for your sake, fight it for others sake.

What’s my application here? If the only focus for you is personal wealth, that I want to ensure that I’m worth so much my net worth is so much. At some stage, you’re going to either suffer because of bondage. Or when you find too many challenges, or too many hurdles at some stage, you’re going to lose interest in what you’re doing. You’re going to think like all these things, how long will a run? Should I continue to do? Sometimes I wonder whether I should be in this or not? I feel I will give up business and go and join politics. As if that’s easy. No, I don’t think politics is easy, I’ll become Mahatria. That’s even easier. Everybody wants to be a teacher on life. Recently somebody told me, nobody’s giving me a job. So, I’ve decided to give myself a job. What? I’m going to teach. What are you going to teach? How to be successful? Velaye kidailale (Didn’t got a job)… He is going to teach everybody how to be successful.

So as a head of the organization, desire that I want to ensure that I’m an answer, I’m a solution to at least hundreds of 1000s of hundreds of 1000s of customers. Some persistent issue in your industry, desire as an entrepreneur, that you’re going to build in your industry, an organization where some of the challenges which the consumer is facing out there in the market, or customers are facing out there in the market, they will not face because of you. Some headache in the world will be solved because of you. Some problem in the world will not exist because of you. You’re going to create an organization which is going to be a dream for… This kid is joining a new organization, she is going to take up her first job from 13th.

And she is only a representation of 1000s of children across this country. This May and June will go for their first job. And in two months, three months’ time, most of them feel that job is boring, or they’re not learning anything. What it is for us to build organizations where for most people who are taking up their first employment, they think that they were in a dream job where, you know, they were challenged, they were created, their talent was brought out – the potential was brought out. They found out what to do with their life. What will it be for us to create organizations where you are the most sought-after place for anybody who’s seeking their first job, their first employment, what will it be?

What will it be to create that sort of a financial surplus through which so much can happen to the society, all that that I listed in the beginning. What it is if you are a game changer in your industry, the way you do the business, the rest of the industry changes the way they do business, looking at how you do business, what if we become the benchmark to the entire industry?

So, Vyasa is saying

Desiring for yourself

is a very low level of living.

Desire for others!

As a byproduct, when I desire that all of them should live in a kingdom of righteousness, byproduct is I become the king of that kingdom. Your personal prosperity, your personal wealth, your personal growth, your personal fulfillment, your personal toys, they all will come to you as a byproduct that you’ve made it your nature. As simple as, even when I’m talking about desiring for… As simple as, what if you create an organization which is so seamless, so structured, systems in place, and that’s what you will hand over to your children when they are 25 to take over and run. Because you all came into a business where you had to still make the mistakes you still didn’t have things in place, you will have to discover everything yourself and you went through all these things and day to day competition because yours is not an established brand, you fought through it. What if you guys are able to build a brand, build a culture, build such systems, build such maturity, into the entire thing… Bring in all the systems, technology, everything have an outstanding strategy create a world class product. And by the time your son or daughter is coming into the business, you have a business which is a dream for people to even be employed, and your children can come and own that business. What sort of a legacy are you creating for them?

Kuduthutu Ponan illa –(He left a legacy and went) Dhirubhai Ambani Mukesh Ambani ku Oru reliance Empire

Andha mathiri Kuduthutu pona pasangalukku (Like that can you a leave a legacy for your children)

So, Vyasa is saying at some stage of your life and for you today is the day. You have to transform yourself from desiring for yourself to desiring for others, and your personal desires will be fulfilled as a byproduct to the whole thing.

He says there is liberation, and there is sustained motivation in this born on a very simple psychology. If you have to do it for yourself, you may not. But if you have to do it for your loved ones, you will go to any extent to do what… They’re saying just love the world and desire for what can happen to the world through you and lot will automatically happen.