Source:
E-mail dt. 07.04.2013
Leadership
Reinvented: Cues from Sri Rudram
B. Prasanna Soundari
Assistant Professor, G.R. Damodaran Academy of Management,
Coimbatore - 641
062. Taminadu. India.
Rudram! The name sounds familiar but it
eludes the mind. It happens almost every time. Pearls of our ancient wisdom are
left to rot as we embrace the western ideology. The management gurus, the world
over are boasting about servant leadership and infinite leadership. Across the
globe the success stories prescribe a winning formula for those who lead: “selfless
work towards boundless goals". The corporate world has evolved from the
yesteryear autocratic leadership style to the trendy servant leader style,
articulated by Robert Greenleaf.
The irony is we boast of knowledge era having forgotten the great Indian Vedic
era.
Sri Rudram,
is a hymn devoted to lord Shiva. It is part of the Yajur
Veda and one of the greatest of the Vedic hymns. Rudram
is divided into 11 sections called Anuvakas. When one
reflects on third Anuvaka
Namah kakubhaya nishanginestenanam patayou namo|
(Salutations to Him who stands prominent,
the wielder of the sword; to the prince of thieves, salutations)
It is
natural to query, is Rudra a thief! On afterthought
the mystery unravels. We have stolen the immortal status of the self and
replaced it with our own limited conception of ego. Rudra
is the divine force we look upon to steal our ignorance so that we are away
from confusions. Definitely a person who resolves our perplexed mind in the
ever changing corporate world is the acclaimed leader.
As the
true meaning sinks, comprehending qualities of a leadership is as smooth as the
breeze that flows through the fourth Anuvaka. The
soulful chants
Namo grutsebhyo gratsapati bhyascha vo
namo
(Salutations
to you the covetous and greedy, and the leaders of such men)
Namo virupebhyo vishvarupe bhyascha vo namo
(Salutations
to you who assume grotesque and monstrous forms and other diverse shapes)
Namo mahadbhyah
kshullake bhyascha vo namo
(Salutations
to you the great ones and the small ones)
describes
Rudra as the creator and the worker, the significant
and the minor. He is success and he is failure. It now becomes effortless to
relate how a leader shapes the power within. A leader is one who is
multifaceted. Will one refute a leader? Who radiates oneness of the team?
Namo jyoushthaya cha kanishthaya cha
(Salutations
to Him who is senior and who is junior )
Adored is he who possesses this
mesmerizing quality. The mantra from Anuvaka six embodies
the epitome of leadership. To top it all the verse from seventh Anuvaka
Namo dhootaaya cha prahitaaya cha
(Salutations
to him who is the messenger and who is the servant)
describes the infallible
leader. Jesus, Mohammed or Ram all are considered as infinite souls who have
defined leadership even before Management Science was born. Reverting to Rudram,
one can draw mind boggling Management thoughts. Today management gurus are
easily drawn to lime light because of digitalization, but one should remember
that there is no single author for Vedas, because just like the Internet it had
capitalized on open source. It is time we Indians stop aping the west and get
back to our basics.