Vedic Management

by Krishan Saigal

There has always been an inherent tension in the Vedic system between the negative and affirmative approaches, between life in the world and renunciation. The book explores the manner in which dharma and yoga harmonize the tension between the inner and the outward. The book goes on explain how Vedic management, through the concepts of dharma and yoga, encourage peace and concord through selflessness and cooperative behavior and the sacrifice of the ego, opinions and strongly held beliefs so as to harmonize with fellow human beings. The Upanishad system which interiorizes Vedic thought through the yogic way of meditation and contemplation is also examined. The book goes on to delineate the concept of dharmic management as applied to social concerns and the polity. This is through an examination of the dharmashastras and the two epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The yogic system as elaborated by Lord Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita is studied to see its impact on management. The conclusion reached is that Lord Sri Krishna makes management more an art than a science while also making the system flexible and creative. The normative Vedic management system was utilized by Gandhi to set up an organization that toppled one of the mightiest empires known to history. The manner in which this was done is also examined. Some reference from the latest management literature are also there and it is left to the reader to decide whether Vedic management is relevant today.

About the Author:

KRISHAN SAIGAL, a gold medalist in engineering and Ph.D. in Public Administration entered the Indian Administrative Service. For the last 10 years he has been working in international organizations and lecturing on how to manage high-tech. He is the author of a book on policy making in India.