Overview: Pattanaik. Business Sutra.

Title: Business Sutra
Author: Devdutt Pattanaik
Year: 2013

Comments: This is an unusual book — unlike the other reading options for this class, it is not a collection of stories exactly, but it does contain many (many!) stories. I am sure this is an option that the Business majors in class would enjoy, along with students looking for a contemporary perspective on the meaning of the epics for India today. Now that you are familiar with both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, you will appreciate all the mythological examples that Devdutt Pattanaik uses in the book, and in turn the book will give you new insight into the stories!

Length: six weeks. This is a big book, appx. 450 pages long, which means you can use it for reading for all six weeks from Week 9-14, although you can also choose to just read it for one, two, or three weeks, etc. Please make sure you start at the beginning so that you will be familiar with Pattanaik's terminology, and I've also written some Reading Guides to get you going! See the links to the Reading Guides below.

Kindle. The book is available for purchase at Amazon as a Kindle book for $15.99 (price checked November 2017); more about Kindles.

Audible. There is also an audiobook version from Audible.com for $5.60, and I've indicated the Audible chapter numbers below (the Audible chapter numbering starts with Chapter 3, so the book's Chapter 1 is Audible Chapter 3... weird, but that's how Audible numbers things).

The book itself is a delight to read, and it is also full of Pattanaik's thought-provoking illustrations, like these:

Week 1 Reading A: Reading Guide
Audible Chapter 3: Introduction  
Connecting Belief to Business
Belief, Myth, and Mythology
Decoding Culture
Connecting Mythology and Management
Becoming Chief Belief Officer
Design of the Book

Week 1 Reading B: Reading Guide
Audible Chapter 4: From Goal to Gaze 
Western Beliefs
Chinese Beliefs
Indian Beliefs
Caution!

Week 2 Reading C: Reading Guide
Audible Chapter 5: Business Sutra
Kama's Vision Statement:
Human hunger is unique
Imagination expands human hunger
Only humans can exchange
Every devata seeks a high return on investment
Conflict is inherent in exchange
Imagination can help humans outgrow hunger
Human hunger for the intangible is often overlooked
There are three types of food that can be exchanged during a yagna
We have to make room for the Other
Yagna can be a tool for personal growth, if we allow it to be

Week 2 Reading D: Reading Guide
Audible Chapter 6: Decisions
Drishti, observing objective reality
He who takes a call is a karta
Every one is a potential karta
A karta who allows and enables others to take a call is a yajaman
A yajaman has the power to take and give life
The size of the contribution does not matter
All calls are subjective
All decisions are contextual
Not everyone can handle the burden of uncertainty
Every decision has a consequence
Decisions are good or bad only in hindsight
Decisions are often rationalized in hindsight
If the decision is bad, the yajaman alone is responsible
If the decision is good, the yajaman is the beneficiary

Week 3 Reading E: Reading Guide
Audible Chapter 7: Violence
Business is violent
Violence is not always apparent
Mental violence is also violence
Violence creates winners and losers
Violence is culturally unacceptable if taking is not accompanied by giving
Violence becomes culturally acceptable when we take because no one gives
Exploitation is violence
Hoarding is violence
Hunger is insatiable
Regeneration ensures sustainable wealth
Restraint ensures regeneration
Restraint is violent

[Section 3E is short, while 3F is long, so I would urge you to move right on to that next part of the reading now to get a head start on that.]

Week 3 Reading F: Reading Guide
Audible Chapter 8: Seduction  
Business is seduction
He who satisfies hunger becomes desirable
Many devatas need to be seduced
Every devata has a devata of his own
Every devata's hunger is unique
Every devata matters depending on the context
Not all devatas are equal
Seducing multiple devatas is very demanding
Seduction needs to satisfy both parties
Sometimes, the yajaman also needs to be seduced
Audible Chapter 9: Churning   
The organization is ultimately a set of people
Every organization is a churn
If strategy is the force, then tactic is the counter-force
If creativity is the force, then process is the counter-force
If ambition is the force, then contentment is the counterforce
If hindsight is the force, then foresight is the counterforce
Upstream forces need to be balanced by downstream forces
Balance is the key to avoid a tug of war
The impact of an organizational decision varies depending on the source
In a shifting world, organizations need to be organisms
In an organism, individual potential and context are taken into consideration
Organisms thrive when the yajaman is flexible

[I am not sure if people are going to want to read this for as many as four, five, or six weeks, so I have not written any more reading guides, but if people are interested, I can certainly write more guides!]

Week 4 Reading G: 
Audible Chapter 10: Significance 
Every devata imagines himself differently from natural reality
Only another human being can endorse the mental image
We defend our mental image at any cost
We are terrified of how strangers will evaluate us
Praise empowers us
Insults disempower us
Comparison grants us value
We seek hierarchies that favour us
We would rather be unique than equal
Culture provides only a temporary framework for our social body

[Section 4G is short, while 4H is long, so I would urge you to move right on to that next part of the reading now to get a head start on that.]

Week 4 Reading H:
Audible Chapter 11: Property 
We see things not thoughts
Things help us position ourselves
Things are surrogate markers of our value
Thoughts can be coded into things
We assume we are what we have
We expect things to transform us
The loss of possessions reveals who we really are
Like things, talent and loyalty can also make us feel secure
A transaction is about things, not thoughts
A relationship is about thoughts, not things
Audible Chapter 12: Rules  
There are no thieves in the jungle
Without rules there is territory, not property
Rules domesticate the human-animal
Domestication can be voluntary and involuntary
We dislike those who are indifferent to rules
Rules can be oppressive
Rules create underdogs and outsiders
Rules create mimics and pretenders
We want to live by our own rules
Innovation is not possible unless rules are broken
We respect those who uphold rules
Rules need not determine our value

Week 5 Reading I:
Audible Chapter 13: Stability  
When the world changes, our social body dies
We want organizations to secure our social body
We resist anything that is new
We want to control change Insecurity turns us into villains
Our stability prevents other people's growth
We would rather change the world than ourselves
When the context changes, we have to change
Unless we change, we cannot grow
We will always resist change
Adapting to change is not growth

Week 5 Reading J:
Audible Chapter 14: Isolation  
The gaze can be cruel or caring
Everyone seeks a caring gaze
We want to be seen as we imagine ourselves
A cruel gaze focuses on our compliance rather than our capability
Unseen, we are compelled to fend for ourselves
We refuse to see ourselves as villains
We use work as a beacon to get attention
Our goals justify our lack of a caring gaze
Audible Chapter 15: Reflection  
Fear isolates us while imagination connects us
We often forget that others see the world differently
How we see others reveals who we are
How others see us reveals who we are
The Other reveals the power of our gaze
The Other reveals our insensitivity
The Other reveals our inadequacy
The Other reveals our blindness

Week 6 Reading K:
Audible Chapter 16: Expansion  
Growth happens when the mind expands
Growth is about pursuing thoughts not things
Growth is indicated when we prefer giving than taking
Growth happens when more people can depend on us
Growth happens when even the insignificant become significant
Growth happens when we include those whom we once excluded
Growth happens when we stop seeing people as villains
Growth happens when we seek to uplift the Other
Audible Chapter 17: Inclusion (start)
More yajamans are needed as an organization grows
The yajaman has to turn devatas into yajamans
Creating talent enables us to grow
We seek to inherit things, not thoughts
Being a yajaman is about gaze, not skills

Week 6 Reading L:
Audible Chapter 17: Inclusion (finish)
Questions teach us, not answers
We resist advice and instructions
Discourses never transform us
Crisis increases the chances of learning
Power play underlies the process of teaching
To teach, we have to learn to let go
Only when teachers are willing to learn does growth happen
Growth in thought brings about growth in action
To provoke thought, we have to learn patience
Closures are a time for introspection
Who we include as a devata reveals the meaning we give ourselves
The resources we see reveal what we give meaning to
Who we include as a devata reveals who we find meaningful
How the devata sees the yajaman reveals the gap in meaning
The tathastu we give reveals the meaning we seek
We alone decide if we need more meaning, another yagna

Reading Guide: 1A. Pattanaik. Business Sutra.

Be sure to check out the Business Sutra Overview for more information! The ideas that Devdutt Pattanaik (DP) presents here in the Introduction are important for the book overall, but there are not a lot of stories for retelling, so make sure you read Part B this week to look for stories you might want to retell. As you take notes for this section, just look for ideas that can help you understand the purpose of telling (and retelling) ancient myths — and remember: the Greek word mythos meant exactly that: a mythos was a story.

I have focused on providing information about Indian terminology, along with links to Wikipedia articles and other online resources:

Acknowledgements

Sanskrit Terms:
rishis - holy men
ananta - un-ending, infinite
sukshma - subtle; it is also a form of yoga

INTRODUCTION

Connecting Belief to Business

The idea of "subjective truth" is central in all of DP's writings: "Belief is subjective truth, my truth and your truth, the lens through which we make sense of the world."

Sanskrit Terms:
satyam: what is true (compare also Gandhi's satyagraha)
shivam: what is good (as in the name of the god, Shiva)
sundaram: what is beautiful (as in the Ramayana's Sundara Kanda)
shanti: what is peace (as in the Shanti Mantra)

Sanskrit Term:
sutra: string, thread - also refers to a book which is composed of short sayings which are like threads you can use to weave a philosophy

(Jain Kalpa Sutra; more info)

DP compares the goal-oriented assumptions of Western business practice as being related to Greek quest for Elysium, and Biblical quest for Promised Land.

Belief, Myth, and Mythology

DP contrasts believers who think their belief is objective truth with the subjective truth of mythology: "For the believer, his belief is objective truth; he therefore rejects the notion of myth, and shuns the subject of mythology."

Like DP, I embrace myths and mythology in a positive sense, and also the crucial role of imagination for human existence: "every human being inhabits his own customized personalized subjective version of reality that no one else has access to. [...] This brings about the awareness of the self (my view versus the view of others), and the need for language, creativity and reason (to communicate my view and convince others of my view)."

Decoding Culture

STORY: The priest and the pot of gold.
(this is really the only story in the Introduction, but after this Introduction, the book will feature many stories drawn from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, and also stories about the gods and goddesses of India)

DP now contrasts Western quest for objective truth with a different Indian perspective: "Ancient Indian sages would have been wary of it for they looked upon the quest for the objective and absolute as the root cause of intolerance and violence."

DP's comments about the "era of remixes" definitely applies to this class where you will read a lot of remix stories: "Ravan could be worshipped and Ram reviled." [note the Hindi versions of the names Ravan=Ravana and Ram=Rama]

Connecting Mythology and Management

DP refers to the era of the Licence Raj in Indian business; you can read about that at Wikipedia: Licence Raj: "the elaborate system of licences, regulations and accompanying red tape that were required to set up and run businesses in India between 1947 and 1990."

Did you notice the allusion to the Middle Eastern story of Aladdin and the lamp? "The more I explored mythology, the more I left like Aladdin in a cave of undiscovered treasures."

DP refers in passing to Jungian archetypes (which he sees as Western, not universal); you can find out more about Jungian archetypes at Wikipedia.

DP declares his affinity for symbolic and psychological readings over historical and sociological readings: "I realized how mythology tends to be read literally, causing it to be seen through a sociological and historical lens (did Ram exist?) when, in fact, its greatest value comes when it is read symbolically and seen in psychological terms (what aspect of our personality does Ram represent?)."

And so this is how he characterizes mythology: "Mythology is, after all, the map of the human mind."

That idea is the foundation for the whole book: "Since the most popular mode of expression in India was the mythic, I chose to glean business wisdom from the grand jigsaw puzzle of stories, symbols and rituals that originated and thrived in the Indian subcontinent, especially in the Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh faiths."

Check Wikipedia for all four of these religious traditions which will be represented in this book's stories: Hindu — Jain — Buddhist — Sikh

Sanskrit Terms:
"Mythologies of Indian origin value the nirguna (intangible and immeasurable) over the saguna (tangible and measurable), in other words the subjective over the objective."

Becoming Chief Belief Officer - Design of the Book

DP explains that a sutra is a "string" (see above) which relates both to the design and goal of the book: "There is no standard answer. There is no correct answer. The point is to keep expanding the mind to accommodate more views and string them into a single whole."

Another great expression of the goal of this book: "It celebrates my truth and your truth, and the human capability to expand the mind, thanks to imagination."

Sanskrit Terms:
Dharma: this is a central term in both Hinduism and Buddhism; it can be translated in many ways into English: truth, law, duty, justice
yajaman: this can be translated as "leader" but it is related to the Sanskrit word yaj (sacrifice), about which DP will have much to say later

Term from Indian cooking:
ghee: clarified butter

I love this statement about "connecting the dots" — if you think about how people tell and retell interconnected stories, you will see that storytelling is a very similar process: "A book by its very nature creates the delusion of linearity, but the subject being presented is itself not linear. Think of Business Sutra as a rangoli or kolam, patterns created by joining a grid of dots, drawn for centuries every morning. [...] Every idea in this book is a dot that the reader can join to create a pattern. Every pattern is beautiful so long as it includes all the dots. And no pattern is perfect. Every pattern is usually an incomplete section of a larger pattern known to someone else."

You can read more about rangoli, kolam, and alpana at Wikipedia.

(rangoli in Hyderabad)

Here is the concluding paragraph of the chapter, which ends with a saying that DP often cites: "Ideas presented can always change, or be further elaborated, or explained differently, by different people in different times and different places faced with different challenges. For now, every time you disagree, and wish to argue, and are driven by the belief that there must be one truth and only one truth, find peace by reminding yourself: Within infinite myths lies an eternal truth; who sees it all? Varuna has but a thousand eyes; Indra, a hundred; you and I, only two."

Sanskrit Terms:
Sahasraksha: thousand-eyed
Shataksha: hundred-eyed
Varuna: god of the sea
Indra: king of the gods

(Varuna, god of the sea: V&A Museum)

Reading Guide: 1B. Pattanaik. Business Sutra.

Be sure to check out the Business Sutra Overview for more information, and you can also review Reading Guide 1-A. DP stands for the author's name, Devdutt Pattanaik:

The chapter begins with the story of the race between Ganesha and his brother Kartikeya, the sons of Shiva and Parvati. This is a story illustrating the difference between objective truth and subjective truth, and it is a story that DP often invokes as an example of "your truth" and "my truth" (remember the discussion of subjective truth in Part A?).

You can see a cute animation of it here; it's not in English, but you can follow the story easily: Narada arrives and provokes a contest between the elephant-headed Ganesha and the six-headed Kartikeya. They decide to have a race to see who can go around the world three times the fastest; Kartikeya flies off on his peacock vehicle (vahana), while Ganesha instead goes around his father and mother, Shiva and Parvati, three times — they are "his world," and so he wins the race. Bal Ganesh:

DP then speculates about the different "subjective truths" of Western, Indian and Chinese cultures. These are "sweeping generalizations" as he admits, so you might even find it most useful to see in what ways you resonate with these different types: the literal truth-seeking type (Western), the pragmatic and orderly type (Chinese) and the peace-seeking, contextual type (Indian).

WESTERN

DP breaks down the Western type into Greek and Biblical streams of thought; these two streams are both similar but also different: "What separates the two belief systems is the value they place on the individual over the collective, on defiance over compliance. What unites these two belief systems is belief in one life, and hence the sense of urgency to do the great thing, or the right thing, in this—our one and only—life."

Some of the Greek stories that DP invokes are Achilles, Odysseus, Theseus, Jason, Perseus, and Sisyphus, along with the Olympian gods and the Titans.

For many people in the West, the Islamic world is "the other," but for DP, the Islamic world belongs to the West: "from the Indian point of view, Western thought stretches beyond Europe and America to include the Islamic world, for the quest for objectivity shapes Islam too."

DP describes how this insistence on objectivity leading to conflict among the Western religions, and also the conflict between science and religion: "Every side believed in one God, one life, one way of living life, but they differed violently over who had the patent over the right way."

DP sees a merging of religious evangelism and materials in Western management science, and his comments apply to education also: "The innovator is the Greek hero, standing proud atop Maslow's hierarchy of needs, self-actualized, and secure in Elysium. Every advocate of any idea from greed to good governance is convinced they know the truth, hence the moral burden to evangelize and sell."

CHINESE

DP sees connections between modern and ancient China: "The mythological lens reveals that China functions today just as it did in the times of the Xia and Shang dynasties, over five thousand years ago, with great faith in central authority to take away disorder [luan] and bring in order. A pragmatic culture, the Chinese have never invested too much energy in the religious or the mythic."

On the contrast between China and the West: "In the West, nature is chaos that needs to be controlled. In China, nature is always in harmony."

Just as there were two different streams of thought in the West that DP highlighted, so too with China: "the more sensory, individualistic, natural way of Tao proposed by Laozi and the more sensible social way proposed by Confucius," which is based on relationships among people (guanxi or gwanji).

As Buddhism moved from India to China, the Confucian stream emphasized the Bodhisattva as Kwan-yi, while Zen Buddhism shared similarities with Taoism. DP also briefly discusses the Chinese novel Journey to the West; you can find out more about that in the Monkey-King unit of the Myth-Folklore UnTextbook.

DP also includes a story about Sun Tzu, the author of The Art of War. When Sun Tzu became famous after writing the Art of War, the King of Wu wanted to test him by asking if Sun Tzu could lead an army of women. You can read a more complete version of the story here: Anecdote about Sun Tzu.

INDIAN

The first encounter DP describes is the famous one between Alexander the Great and the Indian "gymnosophist" (naked wise man): "Alexander asked him what he was doing. The gymnosophist replied, "Experiencing nothingness. What about you?" Alexander said he was conquering the world. Both laughed. Each one thought the other was a fool."

You can read more about the Gymnosophists at Wikipedia; in addition to DP's story here, you will find lots of story material in that Wikipedia article. See also the article about the remarkable Indian wise man named Calanus who traveled with Alexander.

Although reincarnation was known in the West (as in the Pythagorean tradition), it was not widely believed. DP emphasizes this contrast: "Rebirth means the denominator of your life is not one but infinity. When you live only once the value of life is the sum total of achievements, but when you live infinite lives, no matter what we achieve, its value is zero. The point then is not to control life but to understand it, not achieve but introspect. [...] Rebirth demands we accept the existence of infinitely diverse, even paradoxical, contexts existing simultaneously as well as sequentially."

I love the way this illustration captures the contrast in perspective:

As a result, DP sees India as place where "there are no fixed goals." Instead, there are "continuously changing plans [...] and a reliance on reliance on resourcefulness that gives rise to contextual, non-replicable improvizations: the jugaad." You can read more about the jugaad ("hack") at Wikipedia.

DP sees this accommodating diversity in the religious and mythological traditions of India: "India celebrates both the rule-following Ram and the rule-breaking Krishna  [...]. India celebrates both the royal Vishnu and the ascetic Shiva."

Likewise with the realm of the goddess: "In India, nature is both danger and power. Embodied as the Goddess, she is wild as Kali and demure as Gauri. For Ram, she is Sita. For Krishna, she is Radha. For Vishnu she is Lakshmi, for Shiva she is Shakti."

Because DP is most interested in mythology and stories, he is going to focus more on the saguna tradition of the epic Ramayana and Mahabharata plus the Puranas, as opposed to the Vedic tradition that is more abstract, or nirguna.

DP also notes the contrast between the astika traditions of the brahmins and the nastikas (both Buddhist and and Jain, striving for nirvana or kaivalya as a Buddha or a Jina) "who believed more in austerity, meditation, contemplation and experience rather than transmitted rituals and prayers favoured by priests known as brahmins." What unites both the astika and nastika traditions is a belief in rebirth and in karma. DP provides an incredibly elegant chart that shows the relationships between these interrelated traditions:

DP also discusses the emergence of Sikhim as a faith in the Punjab, where there was the influence of Islam along with the bhakti movement.

He characterizes all of them as follows: "These religions that value rebirth can be seen as fruits of the same tree or different trees in the same forest. All of them value thought over things, the timeless over the time-bound, the infinite over the finite, the limitless over the limited."

DP also makes a wonderful contrast between "truth that is bound by space, time and imagination (maya)" and "truth has not such fetters (satya)."

All these traditions and truths fall under the label of sanatan, which means "timeless" or "ever-lasting."

 You can read more about sanatan at Wikipedia; some people have proposed the use of this term as an alternative to "Hinduism," which is a European, non-native term.

DP values the diversity of sanatan: "Unfettered by history and geography, sanatan is like a flowing river with many tributaries. At different times, at different places, different teachers have presented different aspects of sanatan in different ways, using different words."

There is a contrast between the impermanence of nature (prakriti, the world of the Goddess and of karma) and the world of human beings (purushas, separate from nature, imagining their own worlds, walking the dharma path).

The role of imagination is key to this concept... and so the great affinity between DP's approach and imaginative storytelling! "While truth in the West exists outside human imagination, in India, it exists within the imagination.In the West, imagination makes us irrational. In India, imagination reveals our potential, makes us both kind and cruel."

Animate beings (sajiva) fear death, but for humans, imagination adds another dimension to that response: "Humans are special as they alone have the ability to outgrow the fear of death and change, and thus experience immortality. He who does so is God or bhagavan, worthy of worship. Those who have yet to achieve this state are gods or devatas."

DP briefly introduces some terms from Indian philosophy, as these same questions can be explored not just in mythology but also in philosophy.

In terms of stories, DP sets up a contrast between rule-following heroes like Rama but also rule-breaking heroes like Krishna, and rule-following villains like Duryodhana and rule-breaking villains like Ravana. What do you think about that? One possible storytelling experiment this week would be to explore one of those heroes or villains, picking an incident where you see DP's theory being really true, or maybe you will have a different perspective of your own based on how you see these characters.

DP then provides a details discussion of the difference between the related terms brahman as the "infinitely expanded mind" (which is also swayambhu, self-contained), Brahma the god whom you know from mythological stories, and brahmanas or brahmins, the priests (these form a class, which you can see as a jati or varna; DP will have much more to say about jatis and varnas later in the chapter).

DP also discusses the sons of Brahma: devas, asuras, yakshas, and rakshasas. These are also characters you meet in the epic stories. There are also the rule-enforcing prajapatis and the rule-renouncing tapasvins.

DP then overlays this concept of brahman (fearless) and Brahma (fearful) with the characters of Rama and Krishna (who are Vishnu ~ brahman) and the sons who descend from Brahma like Ravana and Duryodhana: "Fear makes Ravan defy other people's rules. Fear makes Duryodhan pretend to follow rules. Both are always insecure, angry and bitter, always at war, and trapped in the wheel of rebirth, yearning for immortality. This is rana-bhoomi, the battleground of life."

DP notes that it is fear, not evil, that drive these villains: "The point is not to punish the villains, or exclude them, but first to understand them and then to uplift them. They may be killed, but they will eventually be reborn, hopefully with less fear, less rage and less bitterness."

Rama and Krishna, avatars of Vishnu, are different: Vishnu offers "the promise of ranga-bhoomi, the playground, where one can smile even in fortune and misfortune, in the middle of a garden or the battlefield."

Another theme is amrita: "Amrit, the nectar of immortality, takes away the fear of death."

You can read about the famous churning of the amrita here (DP will have a lot to say about this story later in the book): Churning the Ocean of Milk.

For DP, the amrita is a powerful symbol: "Both the brahmanas and the shramanas knew that amrit is not a substance, but a timeless idea. This idea cannot be forced down anyone's throat; like a pond in the forest, it awaits the thirsty beast that will find its way to it, on its own terms, at its own pace."

The rest of the chapter is a really powerful exploration of the way that the colonization of India led to many negative consequences, still felt today: "Indianness today is understood within the Western template, with the Western lens and the Western gaze."

The study of Indian religions and mythology has been eliminated or constrained: "Indian universities dare not touch mythology for fear of angering traditionalists and fundamentalists who still suffer from the colonial hangover of seeking literal, rational, historical, and scientific interpretations for sacred stories, symbols, and rituals. Western universities continue to approach Indian mythology with extreme Western prejudice, without any empathy for its followers, angering many Indians, especially Hindus. As a result of this, an entire generation of Indians has been alienated from its vast mythic inheritance."

CAUTION!

I hope you will also want to read the postscript to this chapter which is entitled, "Caution!" — DP's discussion of caste in terms of a contrast between jatis and varnas is really fascinating. For those of you who have been learning about growth mindset in this class, it might remind you of the distinction between fixed mindset (jatis) and growth mindset (varnas): "Jati is tangible or saguna, a product of human customs. Varna is intangible, or nirguna, a product of the human imagination. Jati is fixed by virtue of birth but varna can flow and rise, or fall."

In this section, DP mentions a story from the Mahabharata in which the sage Markandeya tells the story of a butcher and a hermit; this famous story is known as the "Vyadha Gita," or "The Butcher's Gita," and you can read about it at Wikipedia: Vyadha Gita.

There is also a wonderful story at the end of this section about a teacher and a chandala, someone who works in a crematorium (shmashana): because of his wisdom, "the chandala clearly belonged to the brahmana varna. But because he belonged to the shudra jati, he was shunned by society."

In addition to making a sharp social critique, DP also calls for personal transformation: "The time has come to realize our evolutionary potential, open our eyes once again, and do darshan. Darshan means looking beyond the measurable. [...] Trusting human potential is not easy. Including other truths is not easy. But to rise in grace, we must outgrow gravity."

As you read the rest of the book, you will learn much more about the possibilities of darshan and imagination, expressed in the traditional mythologies of India.

Reading Guide: 2C. Pattanaik. Business Sutra.

Overview of Devdutt Pattanaik's Business Sutra: in Reading Guide 1A you saw how DP proposes to use mythology as a key to understanding business management, and in Reading Guide 1B you saw how DP contrasted Western, Chinese, and Indian world views, with an emphasis on diversity and context for India. The goddess Lakshmi will be crucial for today's section:

Week 2 Reading C:

Because the rest of the book is this one huge chapter, I have provided the Amazon location numbers for the sayings of the "sutra" to help in navigation. (The Audible book is divided up into smaller sections; this is Audible Chapter 5.)

Business Sutra Kindle-813

DP now develops the idea that "business is yagna." You can read more about yagna at Wikipedia.

The key terms are as follows: "The yajaman initiates this ritual, makes offerings into agni, fire burning in the altar, exclaiming, "svaha"—this of me I offer, hoping to please his chosen deity or devata who will then give him whatever he desires, exclaiming, "tathastu"—so it shall be."

The result: Lakshmi, goddess of wealth: "A yagna is declared a success only if it ushers in wealth and prosperity. Everyone agrees then that Lakshmi has arrived."

DP emphasizes that Lakshmi is important in the Hindi and Buddhist and Jain traditions; you can read more about Lakshmi at Wikipedia.

DP then develops three personality types (gunas) in terms of their relationship to the sacrifice and to Lakshmi herself:

• tamas-guna: goes along with the majority
• rajas-guna: Lakshmi is the target
• sattva-guna: Lakshmi is sign of personal growth

If you are doing growth mindset challenges for this class, sattva-guna will sound familiar: "He of sattva-guna trusts other people's opinions as well as his own and wonders why different people have different opinions of the same thing. Sensitivity, introspection and analysis help him discover and outgrow his fears."

Another model that DP provides is about the value (bhaav) the yajaman grants to the devata:

• tamas-guna goes along with shudra-varna, unconditional followers
• rajas-guna goes along with vaishya-varna (conditional follower) or kshatriya-varna (conditional leader) because he places only conditional instrumental value on the devata
• sattva-guna "will look upon the devata with the bhaav of a dependable, independent, unconditional leader" - brahma-varna

DP then connects fear and gaze: "Gaze allows us to expand or control our mind by being mindful of fear—our fear and the fears of others. [...] Meditation, contemplation and introspection are all about becoming more aware of our gaze."

And then there is darshan: "Everyone can also let the subjective truth reveal the subject: the varna of the one who is observed as well as the varna of one who is observing. This is darshan." 

This illustration brings those models all together:

So, what is the purpose of the yagna? "The rishis realized that humans are not only capable of seeing varna, but can also rise up the varna ladder by outgrowing fear. However, this can only happen when we help others outgrow their fear. That is why they designed the yagna, as a tool that compels us to pay attention to others."

In the yagna, Lakshmi can be churned from the ocean of milk (more about that myth: Churning the Ocean), but so can Alakshmi, Un-Lakshmi, who is the goddess of conflict.

Kama's Vision Statement:

You can read more about Kama, the god of desire, at Wikipedia.

Human hunger is unique Kindle-907

DP connects Kama (desire) to imagination: "Kama, the god of desire, has raised his sugarcane bow and struck our five senses with his five flowery arrows." So, instead of reacting to what we see, hear, smell, etc., we react to what we imagine seeing, hearing, smelling, etc.

The hunger of the imagination gives rise to the yagna: "If this hunger did not exist, if this imagination did not exist, yagna would not exist. It is the unique nature of human hunger that gives rise to culture."

Imagination expands human hunger Kindle-929

Imagination makes us into Brahmas: "Humans have full power over their imagination. We can expand, contract and crumple it at will. This makes each individual a Brahma, creator of his/ her own subjective reality, the brahmanda, which literally means the 'egg of Brahma'."

You can read more about Brahma and his creation at Wikipedia.

Brahma's creation gives rise to culture (sanskriti) as opposed to nature (prakriti): "In his imagination, Brahma sees the whole world revolving around him. So Brahma works towards establishing sanskriti or culture where the rules of nature are kept at bay."

These are the three worlds (triloka), and the three bodies:

• nature - prakriti - physical body (sthula-sharira)
• imagination - brahmanda - mental body (sukshma-sharira)
• culture - sanskriti - social body (karana-sharira)

What do you think of DP's analysis of the three bodies of Ravana and the three bodies of Hanuman? If you like this approach, you can use this idea of the three bodies to develop the characters in your stories (and explain that in your author's note so that other people in class can learn about this model).

Only humans can exchange Kindle-961

DP tells the story from the Upanishads about feeding one another; the asuras do not what to participate in exchange, but the devas do. There is a wonderful Wikipedia article called the "allegory of the long spoons" which compares different versions of this story across cultures.

The yagna is an exchange: "The yagna is the fundamental unit of business, where everything that can satisfy hunger is exchanged."

You can read more at Wikipedia about the prajapatis, especially Daksha and Manu, who oversee the yagna and other exchange rituals.

Remember svaha and tathastu? "Svaha is food for the devata. Tathastu is food for the yajaman. Unless svaha is given, tathastu cannot be expected. As is svaha, so is tathastu."

DP will have much more to say about the ideal of Vishnu later: Vishnu is the "bhagavan, he who always feeds others even though he is never hungry."

Every devata seeks a high return on investment Kindle-986

Don't mix up deva and devata: "A deva is one of the many sons of Brahma. A devata is the recipient of the yajaman's svaha. A devata may or may not be a deva."

DP discusses Indra and his heaven, Amravati (or Indra Loka), as a type of wish-fulfilling return with no investment: "Located beyond the stars, Indra's Amravati houses the wish-fulfilling cow Kamadhenu, wish-fulfilling tree Kalpataru, and the wish-fulfilling jewel Chintamani. [...] All hungers are satisfied in Amravati because Lakshmi here is the queen, identified as Sachi."

Amravati is land of bhog (consumption), without yoga (exertion).

Conflict is inherent in exchange Kindle-1008

Not living in that wish-fulfilling paradise, we are caught in a cycle of expectation and obligation: "The yajaman has expectations once he gives svaha, and the devata has obligations once he receives svaha. Exchange creates debt, or rin. [...] We get entrapped in a maze of give and take, called samsara. We yearn to break free from samsara. We do not want to receive, or give. This is liberation, or mukti."

You can read more about samsara and mukti at Wikipedia.

Remember the yakshas (who hoard) and the rakshasas (who grab)...? Here's how DP fits them into this model: "Sometimes, the devas behave like yakshas, refusing to share what they have, hoarding everything that they possess. Then the asuras transform into rakshasas, who reject every rule of the yagna and simply grab what they want."

Someone can also seek to "outgrow hunger," not participating in the svaha-tathastu exchange; these are the tapasvins: "Indra especially fears tapasvis—those who engage in tapasya, or introspection." 

DP mentions how Indra sends his apsaras to try to distract them from their introspective focus. You can read more about the apsaras at Wikipedia; see especially the section called The Nymph and the Sage.

Imagination can help humans outgrow hunger Kindle-1032

The ideal tapasvin who outgrows hundred is the god Shiva: "Both the yajaman and the devata seek peace, a place without conflicts. This is only possible in a world where there is no exchange, and no hunger. This is the world of Shiva."

You can learn more about Shiva's home, Kailash, and his family — Parvati (Durga), Ganesha, Kartikeya, and the bull Nandi — at Wikipedia.

Even Kama cannot tempt Shiva: "By churning his imagination, he has found the wisdom that enables him to set Kama aflame with inner mental fire, or tapas. [...] His abode is the land of yoga, not bhog."

No yagna for Shiva: "Because Shiva neither seeks tathastu, nor feels the need to give svaha, he invalidates the yagna. Naturally, Daksha dislikes him and deems him the destroyer." For the dramatic conflict between Shiva and Daksha, see the story of Shiva's first consort, Sati.

Human hunger for the intangible is often overlooked Kindle-1051

DP now turns to the god Vishnu, whose paradise in Vaikuntha is different from the abodes of both Indra and Shiva: "Every Brahma wants the prosperity of Amravati with the peace of Kailash. This exists only in Vaikuntha, where Lakshmi voluntarily sits at Vishnu's feet."

This illustration shows the comparisons and contrasts between Vishnu, Shiva, Daksha, and Indra:

There are three types of food that can be exchanged during a yagna Kindle-1066

Now DP will expand on the idea of the goddess: Lakshmi is a resource for the physical body (sthula-sharira), but there is also Durga, power for the social body (karana-sharira), and there is also Saraswati, wisdom, for our mental body (sukshma-sharira): "Lakshmi and Durga are compensations when the hunger for Saraswati is not satisfied."

These three together make up "Narayani" (counterpart to Narayana), and we see them in three ways: drishti (objective vision) reveals Lakshmi, divya-drishti (subjective vision) reveals Durga, and darshan (observing the subject) reveals Saraswati.

DP finds something similar in Jainism, pairing the vasudevs with Lakshmi, the chakravartis with Durga, and the tirthankars with Saraswati.

We have to make room for the Other Kindle-1094

DP now explains what he calls the Narayan potential: "By paying attention to other people's hunger, we get a glimpse of who they are. In other words, realizing the Narayan potential helps us do darshan."

Again, this will really resonate if you are doing growth mindset challenges for this class: "Changing varna is difficult; changing guna seems impossible. We prefer social growth to mental growth. We prefer things to thoughts. We do not trust Narayan's ability to attract Narayani. We would rather grab resources than invest in the potential. [...] The quest for sattva-guna and brahmana varna is always difficult as along the way we get distracted by what we have or do (jati) and less by who we are and can be."

Yagna can be a tool for personal growth, if we allow it to be Kindle-1115

Use the mythological stories to chart your personal growth: "In mythological terms it means moving from being Daksha ("We must be right") and Indra ("I am right") towards Shiva ("Nobody is right") and Vishnu ("Everyone is right from their point of view but everyone has to face the consequences of their choices.")"

Aspire to become swayambhu: "Shiva and Vishnu are swayambhu, increasingly self-reliant and having an identity which is independent of the yagna. To become swayambhu—dependable, responsible yet autonomous—is dharma for humans. It is the realization of our potential."

DP finds this story in Buddhism and Jainism also: "In Buddhist mythology, this idea is expressed as discovering the jewel (mani) by letting the lotus-mind (padma) bloom. In Jain mythology, it is expressed as discovering the tirtha just like the tirthankar."

Reading Guide: 2D. Pattanaik. Business Sutra.

Make sure to check out the overview of Devdutt Pattanaik's Business Sutra. In Week 1, DP connected mythology and business management (1A), contrasting Western, Chinese and Indian perspectives (1B). In the first Reading Guide for Week 2, this was the sutra: human hunger is unique; imagination expands human hunger; only humans can exchange; every devata seeks a high return on investment; conflict is inherent in exchange; imagination can help humans outgrow hunger; human hunger for the intangible is often overlooked; there are three types of food that can be exchanged during a yagna; we have to make room for the other; and yagna can be a tool for personal growth, if we allow it to be.

Here is the next part of the sutra, which is full of all kinds of stories from both the epics and also from other Indian storytelling traditions. You will be able to find lots of ideas here for a story you can retell in your blog this week:

Week 2 Reading C:

Drishti, observing objective reality Kindle-1147

Here is what DP said last time about drishti: "These three together make up "Narayani" (counterpart to Narayana), and we see them in three ways: drishti (objective vision) reveals Lakshmi, divya-drishti (subjective vision) reveals Durga, and darshan (observing the subject) reveals Saraswati."

You can read more about Lakshmi, Durga, and Saraswati at Wikipedia.

Details of Lakshmi's iconography: "The pot represents the human capability to innovate. It enables humanity to break free from the constraints of nature. Lakshmi holds a lotus in one hand and a pot in the other. The lotus represents natural wealth or Bhudevi while the pot represents cultural wealth or Shridevi."

You can read more about the Earth, Bhudevi, at Wikipedia. Remember how Sita is connected both to Lakshmi (she is Lakshmi's avatar), and also to Bhudevi (her mother).

Decisions:

He who takes a call is a karta Kindle-1184

A karta is a doer, someone who takes action, someone who is proactive. Meanwhile, the karya-karta is one who does what another person tells them to do, a follower — not a proactive doer.

DP tells the story of how Sita chose to act when Ravana, in disguise, came to her in the forest when she was alone: "Had she obeyed her husband without any thought, she would have been the karya-karta, or the obedient follower, and he the karta, or the responsible leader. But [...] Sita chooses to take a call. [..] That proactivity transforms her into a karta, a doer, regardless of the fact that her decision did not serve her well."

You can use this distinction between the karta and the karya-karta in any story that you tell, helping to see how the plot moves along based on the calls, decisions, and actions of each character, both karts and karya-kartas.

Everyone is a potential karta Kindle-1205

DP uses the name and image of the cosmic serpent Shesha as a symbol: "The mind of every human being can be compared to the mythic serpent Adi-Ananta-Shesha whose name translated literally means One-Infinity-Zero. Narayan sleeps in the coils of this serpent. Vishnu sits on it. Shesha, the coiled hoodless state, is like a dormant mind that does not think or take a decision. Ananta, the state with infinite unfurled hoods, is like a mind full of ideas. Adi, the state with a single hood, is like a focused mind, ready to strike; this is the mind of the karta. [...] We can let the serpent of the mind stay coiled or spring out its many hoods. Only we can make it strike."

You can read more about Shesha at Wikipedia.

A karta who allows and enables others to take a call is a yajaman Kindle-1221

For this section, DP tells the marvelous story of Vishnu's relationships with Narada and Garuda: "Despite being given the freedom to take decisions, Narad chooses to stay karya-karta, follow decisions rather than take them, as he is too afraid of the consequences. Garud, on the other hand, anticipates the needs of Vishnu, decides to enquire voluntarily and is thus a karta. Vishnu who allows Garud to be a karta is a yajaman."

For more about Narada and about Garuda, see Wikipedia. This might be a fun story to retell for this week! It brings out Narada's character perfectly, and also helps you see understand Vishnu and Garuda better too.

A yajaman has the power to take and give life Kindle-1251

In this section, DP tells the story of Rama and Vishvamitra, in which Rama hesitates to kill Tataka (but Vishvamitra insists) and also hesitates to free Ahalya (but Vishvamitra insists): "Ram, well-versed in theory, is thus given practical lessons about being a yajaman: he will be asked to take life as well as give life."

You can read more about Tataka and about Ahalya at Wikipedia.

The size of the contribution does not matter Kindle-1269

For this section, you will read another story about Rama; this one is about Rama and the squirrel: "Ram values the squirrel not for his percentage of contribution to the overall project but because he recognizes a yajaman. A squirrel today can be a Ram tomorrow."

For more about this famous squirrel, see this blog post: Rama and the Squirrel.

It's just a difference of scale: "A kupamanduka, or frog in a well, and a chakravarti, or emperor of the world, are no different from each other, except in terms of scale. Both their visions are limited by the frontier of the land they live in. In the case of the frog, it is the wall of the well. In the case of the king, it is the borders of his kingdom. Both can be, in their respective contexts, generous or prejudiced. To expand scale, both have to rise."

You can find both of these terms, kupamanduka and chakravarti, at Wikipedia.

All calls are subjective Kindle-1291

This section features the frame-tale of the Sanskrit classic, Vetala Panchavimshati, which you can choose as a reading for this class: Twenty-Two Goblins, translated by Arthur Ryder. It is a marvelous book! For more about the goblin (demon, vampire, ghost — there is no one single term that corresponds in English) called vetala in Sanskrit, see Wikipedia. You can also learn more about the Kathasaritsagara, or Ocean of the Streams of Stories.

DP uses the story of the king and the vetala to illustrate this important idea: "Everyone looks at the karta for a decision despite data being unreliable, the future being uncertain, and outcomes that are unpredictable. Not everyone can do it. He who is able to make decisions independently is the karta. He who allows others to do so is the yajaman."

All decisions are contextual Kindle-1322

In this section, DP uses one of the riddles from the story of King Vikramaditya and the vetala to illustrate the importance of context: "In some cultures only biological fathers matter, in some, legal fathers matter and in others, foster fathers matter more. There is no objective answer in matters related to humans."

And stories also change from context to context, based on the storytellers and their audiences!

In addition to the vetala's riddle, DP also invokes the Mahabharata and the Ramayana for more examples of cultural context: who is the father (or not), who is the wife and who is the husband, etc., and concludes: "Laws by their very nature are arbitrary and depend on context. What one community considers fair, another may not consider to be fair. What is considered fair by one generation is not considered fair by the next. Rules always change in times of war and in times of peace, as they do in times of fortune and misfortune. [...] Essentially, every decision has a consequence, no matter which rule is upheld and which one is ignored. This law of consequence is known as karma."

Not everyone can handle the burden of uncertainty Kindle-1346

For this section, DP tells the wonderful story of the King Bhartrihari who receives a jewel and gives it to his wife, only to find it in someone else's possession the next day... and there are more surprises to come: "Bhartrihari has to confront the horror of human existence. We can never know everything and we can never be sure. All information is incomplete, and all readings distorted by personal prejudice. And yet we have to take decisions all the time."

You can read different versions of this legend about King Bhartrihari at Wikipedia.

Every decision has a consequence Kindle-1366

For this section, DP pairs the story of Dasharatha shooting an arrow while hunting in the dark and accidentally killing the boy Shravana with the story of Pandu who accidentally shot the sage Kindama in the form of a deer. Both stories feature the drama of karma: "An arrow that has been released from the bow is a metaphor for a decision that cannot be withdrawn."

You can read more about Shravana at Wikipedia, and also about Kindama.

Decisions are good or bad only in hindsight Kindle-1388

I love this story! Garuda tries to help a sparrow escape death, but achieves just the opposite outcome: "Garud realizes in hindsight that what he thought was an act of kindness turned out to be an act of cruelty for the sparrow."

If you like this story too, check out DP's article devoted to this story: Frames of Reference.

You can read more about Yama, the god of death, at Wikipedia. For someone who did manage to outwit death, see the story of Yama and Savitri.

Decisions are often rationalized in hindsight Kindle-1407

For this section, DP looks at the different interpretations of Shikhandi's presence on the battlefield of Kuruksetra... and the way competing characters rationalize their interpretation after the fact: "The Kauravs protest: the rules were breached, Shikhandi was a woman and no woman is allowed on the battlefield. The Pandavs insist Shikhandi is a man: he was born with a female body but later in life, due to the intervention of a yaksha called Sthuna, had obtained male genitalia. Does that make Shikhandi a man or a woman? Is Bhisma wrong to assume Shikhandi is a woman? Is Arjun right to assume Shikhandi is a man?"

You can read more about Shikhandi at Wikipedia.

If the decision is bad, the yajaman alone is responsible Kindle-1429

DP begins with the life and career of Valmiki, the sage who composed the Ramayana but who was, in his younger days, a highwayman known as Ratnakar; you can read more about Ratnakar the robber at Wikipedia.

DP then segues into a comparison of the different attitudes of Rama and the Pandavas regarding their exile: Rama "is no karya-karta to his father. He is a yajaman. He is never shown complaining or blaming Kaikeyi but is rather visualized as being stoic and calm throughout. In contrast, the Pandavs blame the Kauravas and their uncle Shakuni."

DP can then conclude: "Provocation makes action a reaction, turns a yajaman into a devata and a karta into a karya-karta. A yajaman takes his own decision. [...] A yajaman is one who does not blame anyone for any situation."

If the decision is good, the yajaman is the beneficiary Kindle-1458

In this last example of decisions and consequences, King Indradyumna is surprised by the results of his lifetime's actions: "He is remembered on earth for a lake that was unconsciously created, and not for the cows that were consciously given. He benefits not from his decisions but from the unknown consequences of his decisions."

You may know Indradyumna from his later incarnation as the elephant Gajendra! You can read more about Indradyumna and about Gajendra at Wikipedia.

Karma: it creates an endless chain of stories! :-)