Demystifying Leadership: Unveiling the Mahabharata Code

By Asha Kaul and Vishal Gupta

Can leadership lessons be learnt from the Mahabharata? Demystifying Leadership positively asserts that we can and probes inquiry in the lives of six characters-Bhishma, Ashvatthama, Karna, Shakuni, Kunti and Krishna. It studies these characters in inescapable situations as they navigate through life by demonstrating values, decision-making ability, integrity and principles. Within the given constraints, some of these characters swim and rise, while others sink in moral turpitude. Extrapolating these successful and not-so-successful character traits to corporate leaders and linking them to scholarship, the authors provide lessons for leaders and managers operating in diverse situations.

Borrowing from different disciplines, such as literature, philosophy, politics and psychology, Demystifying Leadership proposes to link essentials of leadership in the form of a Leadership Triangle comprising six levels: positive personality, peace with personal identity, purpose, positive use of power and politics, paradoxical leadership and principled pragmatism. It takes a grounded approach in amalgamating mythology and leadership through scholarship and practice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Jul 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9789354351099

Book preview

ADVANCE REVIEWS

The Mahabharata is said to be a repository of all that is Indian, and its wisdom has been guiding Indians for aeons. This is a seminal book that brings alive its wisdom for contemporary managers, and will inspire and guide other researchers to delve deeper in the text to decode management and leadership principles. 

—Dharm P.S. Bhawuk

Professor of Management and Culture and Community Psychology, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, USA

Demystifying Leadership: Unveiling the Mahabharata Code is a fascinating and deeply engaging study of leadership through a careful analysis of the dilemmas, paradoxes and challenges faced by key figures in the Mahabharata. The authors develop a rich and textured account of key elements of the Mahabharata and identify insights on purpose, values, leadership and ethics highly germane to the modern world. The book has wide appeal to students of leadership as well as scholars and executives.

—Harbir Singh

Professor of Management and Co-Director, Mack Institute for Innovation Management, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA

The Mahabharata is an epic story whose learnings are at the heart of Hinduism. It highlights the complexities and challenges of everyday life which everyone faces. Out of this come learnings that can be very relevant for leadership—a theme which the authors have intelligently explored in this book. There are interesting insights for leaders in every sphere.

—Lakshmi N. Mittal

Chairman and CEO, ArcelorMittal,

Recipient of Padma Vibhushan

Making choices is hard. Doing the right thing is hard. Leaders have to do both. This book uses familiar stories of the Mahabharata to bring out the complexity and frailty in human beings and the lessons of good and bad leadership choices. An easy and worthwhile read.

—Manvinder Singh (Vindi) Banga

Former Chairman and Managing Director, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Partner, CD&R LLP,

Recipient of Padma Bhushan

Insightful and incisive analyses of the Mahabharata’s lead characters. In-depth, critical scrutiny of circumstances and compulsions, as also their dilemmas and conduct during the eighteen-day battle. Leadership styles, principles, values and ethics displayed (or the lack of these) are carefully examined and sagaciously compared with those of contemporary modern-day leaders and industry captains, reiterating evermore the epic’s eternal and timeless relevance. An enrapturing and absorbing work, indeed a requisite for leaders across all walks of life including militaries, both practising and aspiring.

—Rear Admiral Mukul Asthana, NM Indian Navy (Retd.)

Using examples from the actions of the pantheon of personalities of the Mahabharata, Professor Gupta and Professor Kaul develop a sound framework for the contemporary leaders from all walks of life to become better leaders.

—N.R. Narayana Murthy

Founder, Infosys Limited,

Recipient of Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan

The book, Demystifying Leadership: Unveiling the Mahabharata Code, by Professor Asha Kaul and Professor Vishal Gupta uses the events and characters from the Mahabharata to gain deep insights about management and leadership. They take six key characters from the epic and delve into their personality, character, triumphs and failings, drawing insightful parallels to situations we encounter at the workplace. Their observations allow the reader to reflect and improve on their own leadership style. The learnings are applicable across a variety of contexts and situations that require the exercise of leadership principles. I found the book a very refreshing and innovative take on the Mahabharata and apart from being an engaging read, I find it extremely relevant for anyone looking to hone one’s management and leadership acumen.

—Sanjay S. Lalbhai

Chairman and Managing Director, Arvind Ltd.

For managers seeking guidance on how to lead in a turbulent world where ethical challenges are commonplace and the right choice is not always obvious, Gupta and Kaul’s book offers a novel perspective based on the central characters from the ancient—and world’s longest—epic, the Mahabharata. The use of contemporary examples, such as Nelson Mandela, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Satya Nadella, Jacinda Ardern and Ratan Tata, to illustrate leadership concepts and insights adds to the value of the book. I personally enjoyed reading the book, and whole-heartedly recommend it for managers and students of business and leadership.

—Vishal K. Gupta

Professor and the Fred and Martha Bostick Faculty Fellow,

Culverhouse College of Business, The University of Alabama, USA

DEMYSTIFYING LEADERSHIP

DEMYSTIFYING

LEADERSHIP

Unveiling the Mahabharata Code

Asha Kaul, Vishal Gupta

BLOOMSBURY INDIA

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First published in India 2021

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Copyright © Asha Kaul and Vishal Gupta, 2021

Asha Kaul and Vishal Gupta have asserted their right under the Indian Copyright Act to be identified as the authors of this work

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To my husband, friend and mentor, Harsh.

May you always be happy, wherever you are.

—Asha

To my parents, for introducing me to the Mahabharata and helping me understand its richness.

—Vishal

CONTENTS

List of Figures

List of Boxes

Foreword by Bibek Debroy

Acknowledgements

1Introduction

•Unpacking

•Reflecting

•Assimilating

2Bhishma: Misaligned Goals

•Birth of Devavrata

•Devavrata to Bhishma

•The Abduction of Amba

•Disrobing of Draupadi

•The War—Mahabharata

•Bhishma, the Conflicted Patriarch

Lessons in Leadership Paradoxes

•A Great Life Riddled with Paradoxes

•Leadership Paradoxes

Paradoxical Leadership Skills

•‘Both/And’ Vision

•Long-Term Thinking

•The Irony of Being ‘Bhishma’

3Karna: Quest for Identity

•Birth of Karna

•Life of Karna

•Karna’s Life of Complex Relationships

•Karna Breathes His Last

Identity Crises and Blind Devotion

•Personal Identity, Social Identity and Identity Conflicts

•Ego-self: Our Identity Thief

•Blind Devotion towards Group Goals

Resolving Identity Crises and Biased Decision-Making

•Awareness of Unintended Consequences of Goals

•Rational (Fact-Based) Decision-Making

•Self-Belief, Humility and Moral Integrity

•Adolf Hitler: German Identity and World War II

•Karna: Mahabharata’s Tragic Hero

4Ashvatthama: A Life of Envy, Anger and Revenge

•Who Was Ashvatthama?

•Anointed As the General

•Killing of the Pandavas

•Brahmastra Unleashed

The Automatic Cycle of Behaviour

•Thoughts, Emotions and the Automaticity of Behaviour

•Envy, Anger and the Desire to Seek Revenge

Breaking Automaticity: Self-Awareness and Self-Control

•Breakpoint 1: Mindfulness and Appreciative Inquiry

•Breakpoint 2: Action Regulation and Forgiveness

•Ashvatthama: A ‘Great’ Life that Could Never Be

5Kunti: Perspective and Wisdom

•Early Life of Kunti

•Marriage with Pandu

•New Abodes

•Kunti Pronounces Share it

•Death of Kunti

The Nurturant-Task Leader

•Vision-Setting and Communication

•Relation- and Task-Orientation

Lessons in Strategic Leadership

•Strategic Leadership: Vision and Values

•TREAT Leader Behaviours

•Kunti: Mahabharata’s Iron Lady

6Shakuni: Power, Politics and Stratagem

•The Early Days of Shakuni

•Shakuni and Hastinapur

•Death of Shakuni

Revenge and the Use of Power and Politics

•Revenge and the Means to Achieve It

•Power and Politics

•Iago and Shakuni: Immoral Acts of Power and Politics

Leadership Lessons in Power and Politics

•Develop Power Sources: Personal and Relational

•Positive Use of Power and Politics: Purposeful, Empathetic and Value-Based

•Abraham Lincoln and the Abolition of Slavery in America

•Shakuni: The Mahabharata’s Strategic Villain

7Krishna: The Pragmatic Middle Path

•The Birth of Krishna

•Pre-War

•The War

Morals, Ethics and Ethical Dilemmas

•Ethics and Morals

•Leadership and Ethical Dilemmas

Principled Pragmatism: Leading a Pragmatic Middle Path

•Foundation: Ethical Purpose

•Pillar 1: Ethical Principles

•Pillar 2: Character and Relationships as Alternatives to Ethical Principles

•Pillar 3: Pragmatism and Moral Courage

•Pillar 4: Awareness of Outcomes of Actions

•Atal Bihari Vajpayee: A Pragmatist Who Went beyond BJP’s Nationalist Political Agenda

•Principled Pragmatism: Resolving Life’s Ethical Dilemmas

8Conclusion

•Six Leadership Principles

•The Leadership Triangle

•Mahabharata: Timeless Lessons in Leadership

References

Index

About the Authors

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF BOXES

FOREWORD

Because of my interest in Itihasa–Purana, I am sometimes asked—Is there greater interest in the Mahabharata now? There have been translations, retellings and fictionalised narrations based on the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, not to speak of mediums other than the printed book. I don’t know the answer. One is tempted to say ‘yes’—but there is a sampling bias. When asked the question, the presumption is about writings in English. There has always been interest in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, more in case of the latter. It is just that most of the writings occurred in non-English languages—by Iravati Karve, Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar, Shivaji Sawant and Durga Bhagwat in Marathi; Buddhadeva Bose in Bengali; Pratibha Ray in Odia; Santeshivara Lingannaiah Bhyrappa in Kannada and so on. The list will be long. But yes, there is probably a blossoming of writings in English on the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

What do we mean by the Mahabharata? There is a need to be specific. There are non-Sanskrit renderings of the Mahabharata too, with takes on protagonists different from those in the Sanskrit version. This is equally true of renderings in folk culture. So far as Sanskrit versions go, the unabridged text is believed to possess a mammoth 100,000 shlokas. There were more than 1,200 versions of the unabridged Sanskrit text floating around in different parts of the country with minor variations, such as in a shloka here or a shloka there. The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) sifted through these and published a Critical Edition (CE). The Foreword by R.N. Dandekar to the CE explains what the CE is and what it is not.

It may, however, be emphasized that the constituted text as presented here by no means claims to be the text of Ur-Mahabharata, that ideal but impossible desideratum. But, at the same time, it does claim, with due modesty, to represent the most ancient text of the Mahabharata that can be reconstructed on the basis of all available manuscript and allied evidence. In a sense, it is the ancestor of all extant manuscripts of the Epic.

Understandably, there is subjectivity in identification, and the CE has been criticised typically on grounds of omission (excision of shlokas), not commission. As the Introduction to this book mentions, with the Hari Vamsha added, the CE amounts to 80,000 shlokas, 80 per cent of what the Mahabharata is believed to contain. My 10-volume translation of the CE amounts to 2.25 million words. That gives an idea of how large the Mahabharata is.

To appreciate nuances of the Mahabharata, I think one needs to read unabridged versions, in any language. All abridged versions, no matter how good, tend to simplify and gloss over nuances, reducing everything to shades of black and white. The Pandavas were good. The Kauravas were bad. Perceptions to that effect. This is compounded by popular perceptions shaped by film and television. The Mahabharata is interesting precisely because it is complicated and long. Reducing it to 140 characters on social media or treating it like instant coffee does injustice to a glorious text.

What is the Mahabharata? It is a text on dharma and the word dharma is impossible to translate into English. In different contexts, dharma can be moksha dharma, raja dharma, varnashrama dharma, the five mahayajnas of a householder or an individual’s perception of dharma. At least one-third of the Mahabharata is on such discussions about dharma. The Mahabharata is an encyclopedia. It has a wealth of geographical information. One-third of the text is on such matters. In popular perception and abridged versions, two-thirds of the text typically gets knocked out. In other words, we often reduce the Mahabharata to interesting bits about protagonists. Yes, these protagonists faced dilemmas over their perceptions of dharma. Pursuit of one kind of dharma conflicts with pursuit of another. There are trade-offs. A defining characteristic of Itihasa–Purana texts is that there is nothing to indicate that one particular decision is superior to another in any absolute sense. That is where karma becomes the flip side of dharma. While today’s society differs in many respects from that of society a couple of thousands of years ago, the problem of dilemma of choice and consequent conflict and tensions is perennial. That’s the reason we still identify with the Mahabharata today. Dilemmas faced by the protagonists are not remarkably different from dilemmas faced by individuals today.

Which protagonist? The core Mahabharata story is that of the Pandavas and the Kauravas and the battle on the fields of Kurukshetra. When we think of protagonists, we typically think of the Pandavas and the Kauravas and those associated with them, not necessarily Yayati or Shantanu or Dushyanta. Following that trend, this interesting book focuses on six protagonists—Bhishma, Karna, Ashvatthama, Kunti, Shakuni and Krishna. This is understandable, because the book is not on the Mahabharata in general. It has a specific title about Mahabharata and leadership. That is, it analyses the conduct of these six leaders and draws six leadership principles. This is reminiscent of what Devdutt Pattanaik has often tried to do, in a limited way, in some of his books. As befits faculty members from a noted management institute, parallels are drawn with decisions (and non-decisions) taken by contemporary leaders, mostly from the world of business. There again, Gurcharan Das did that, in a limited way, in one of his books. The six relevant chapters in this book almost read like case studies.

What distinguishes a leader? What expectations do we have from a leader? The Bhagavad Gita has a shloka to the effect that ordinary people follow the principles leaders set. Of the six leaders discussed in this book, Krishna is somewhat different. Nevertheless, all six (Bhishma, Karna, Ashvathama, Kunti, Shakuni and Krishna) exhibit six principles that can be distilled out—positivity, peace (internal), purpose, appropriate use of power, resolving paradoxes and pragmatism. The mention of Shakuni may seem surprising. But one learns from the negative as well as the positive. This is an interesting and analytical book.

In understanding our legacy of Itihasa–Purana and disseminating it, this is a welcome addition to the corpus.

— Bibek Debroy

Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister,

New Delhi

19 January 2021

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Once, we both arrived for a meeting early and serendipitously started chatting about the Mahabharata. The accidental beginning of the discussion led us to talk about lessons on life and leadership that we thought were worth observing in the Mahabharata. The conversation made us realise that we share common interests in the text and could pen our ideas on leadership and management as enunciated and projected in the epic. We came out of the meeting room with a resolve to ink our thoughts in the form of a book which would reflect our views and teachings on the Mahabharata and leadership. Thus began our collaboration to write this book, one that we have thoroughly enjoyed.

The six months of writing the book would not have been easy if we had not secured support from multiple quarters. First and foremost, we would like to acknowledge the support of our institute, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and our respective areas, Communication and Organisational Behaviour, for providing us space, resources and a conducive work environment for completing the book. We would like to thank the library staff of the Vikram Sarabhai library at IIM Ahmedabad for being helpful and providing excellent service in procuring reference books and articles as and when we needed them. Thanks to Akshaya Ramesh and Narendra Kumar G. (Academic Associates, Communication Area) for helping with research for the book.

Our sincere gratitude to Professor Dharam Bhawuk, Professor Harbir Singh, Mr Lakshmi N. Mittal, Mr Manvinder Singh (Vindi) Banga, Rear Admiral Mukul Asthana, Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy, Mr Sanjay S. Lalbhai and Professor Vishal K. Gupta for providing their comments on the book.

We would like to acknowledge the support provided to us by Bloomsbury in publishing the book. They responded to all our requests and questions with utmost patience and understanding and smilingly overlooked the writers’ blues. We truly enjoyed the journey of writing this book together and we all made a rocking team.

Last but not the least, indulgences of family members who stood by our side and never complained about the lost time. Asha thanks her parents, Mrs Vimla Kaul and Late Shri G.N. Kaul, and mother-in-law, Late Dr K.K. Kaul, for inculcating the spirit of inquiry and research. She would like to thank Anand, Rupa, Kavya, Rohini and Shivam for their constant prodding and their silent support during the writing of the book. A silent tribute to the one person in her life who, though physically not present, is still there with her—her mentor, friend and guide who has always stood by her side.

Vishal would like to thank his parents, Mrs Rashmi Gupta and Mr Devendra Swarup, for imbibing in him the spirit of curiosity and a willingness to learn. Growing up in a family that was rich in a culture of narratives, he learned early the stories from the Indian epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata (especially the Gita), which were frequently discussed. Thus was kindled interest in the heroes and villains of the Mahabharata in his early years. He would also like to thank his wife Gunjan, who read with interest the first draft of the chapters and gave her critical feedback on the content of the book. The lockdown last year provided an opportunity to watch together the Ramayana and the Mahabharata on national television once again. His special thanks to his daughter Praguni for her innocent questions and comments about the epics and life in general as she watched them with keen interest on the television.

Asha Kaul, Vishal Gupta

31 March 2021

1

Introduction

Thousands of years ago, according to the Indian tradition of folklore, wise incantations by saints and sages on the yearnings of the human soul were heard by the common man. Orally transmitted, they gave a meaning and purpose to life and came to be known as the Vedas. These recitations, believed to have been created by the gods, were heard by the rishisi who collectively created a society with caste and class differentiation: brahmins,ii kshatriyas,iii vaishyasiv and sudras.v Everyone in the society had a place and role to play, and life was ‘interconnected and cyclical’.¹

This pattern of life, as suggested in the Vedas, continued for many years and people lived happily. And then, there was a 14-year drought when river Saraswati dried up and the structure of society collapsed. The teachings of the Vedas were forgotten as all struggled to survive. After 14 years, when things became stable, a fisherwoman’s son, Krishna Dvaipayana (also known as Vedavyasa/Vyasadeva), decided to compile the lost and scattered hymns of the Vedas. There were four collections—Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva. Once this was completed, Vedavyasa had the urge to narrate the most profound hymns in the form of a simple story which would be comprehensible to all and could reach the farthest corners of the world. His idea was appreciated by the gods who assigned Lord Ganeshavi the task of scripting the narrative as Vedavyasa dictated it.

Ganesha met Vedavyasa and agreed to act as his scribe. However, before commencing the process of writing, Ganesha put forth his condition to Vedavyasa and said, While narrating the story, you cannot stop at any point. If you stop, I will leave. At this, Vedavyasa posed a counter-condition: You cannot write anything without first understanding the shloka. Only when you have understood it, can you write. This condition gave Vedavyasa time to think and compose for he would, in between the narrative, throw in a couple of shlokas which would confuse Ganesha giving him time to reflect and compose. For the narrative, Vyasa selected characters he knew—the heroes and the villains. They were drawn from real life and were all known to the author. Hence, it was easy for him to script them in an all too human form. This became the first version of the Mahabharata.

The first version of the Mahabharata, known as Jaya (Victory), had 8,800 shlokas; this was expanded to 24,000 shlokas and called the Bharatasamahita. Finally, this was expanded to 90,000/100,000 shlokas and called the Mahabharata. Vedavyasa taught the Mahabharata to his disciple, Vaishampayana, who then recited it to other saints at the yajna of Janamejaya (grandson of Arjuna). Overheard by the bard Sauti (Romaharshana), it was passed to his son Ugrasharva, who then narrated it to other saints.² Vyasa also narrated the story to his son, Suka (parrot-headed), and his student, Jaimini.

As the story moved from one person to another, it changed its hue as more narratives were added dealing with complex relationships between parent and child, teacher and student, king and subject, friends and foes. Jaya began as an ‘idea’, a ‘concept’, but as it grew in size, the focal point shifted from idea and concept to ‘people’—people belonging to different strata of society. Not surprisingly, it took almost 1,000 years to be composed and there were multiple authors of the text.³

The Mahabharata, in its current form, is composed in the form of adhyayas,vii which have shlokas.viii Several adhyayas form a parva.ix The Mahabharata has 18 parvas; according to another classification indicated in the text, there are 100 parvas.⁴ These parvas vary greatly in length. Table 1.1 gives a description of the parvas, adhyayas in the Mahabharata and the number of verses in each adhyaya.

TABLE 1.1 Parvas, Adhyayas and Shlokas in the Mahabharata

Source: Adapted from Debroy (The Mahabharata) and Pattanaik (Jaya)⁵

As one of the greatest and longest epics, the Mahabharata is referred to as an Itihaas (history) and discusses concepts of dharma,x moksha,xi artha,xii and kama.xiii It also comprises the Bhagavad Gita, the most important text of the Hindu religion. The text is part of the Smriti tradition where the narrative was passed orally from one listener to the other, from one generation to the next.

Set in Hastinapur, the Mahabharata describes the antecedents and consequences of the Kurukshetra war, which is supposed to have taken place in between 3,102 BCE and 2,449 BCE. Various other dates have also been suggested by historians, which indicate that the birth of Parikshit (grandson of Arjuna) and the war of Kurukshetra occurred in 1,400 BCE. This was approximately the time when the Kuru kingdom flourished (1,200 BCE and 800 BCE). Archaeological surveys peg the date of the war to 900 BCE (Iron Age).⁶

The story of the Mahabharata is most often viewed as a tussle for the throne between the two houses of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Deep insight and reflection reveal the true foundation on which the text is based—human emotions, statecraft and dilemmas in different fields of knowledge such as leadership, ethics, morality and philosophy. No stone has been left unturned to capture the truth of human existence. Stated otherwise, ‘What is there in the Mahabharata is everywhere, what is not there is nowhere to be found.’⁷

What makes the Mahabharata fascinating is the number of nested stories which finally converge to complete the main storyline. It is not a commentary or a treatise on what is right and what is wrong.