What Entrepreneurs Can Learn from the Upanishads
The Ancient Indian Specter
Imagine a period far away from the present times. Dating back to that era that is so archaic that one could never even have visions of the 21st-century technological developments, or if he had, he would be labeled as a sorcerer. The vision would be like seeing God Himself after crossing over. You must be thinking, which period are we referring to? And how come imagining the age of technocrats and entrepreneurs surrounded by gadgets must be equivalent to having ethereal experiences of demigod-like creatures or visions that are nothing less than sorcery? Well, we are in the C. 500 — C. 800 BCE, and there are no entrepreneurs, no corporate leaders, no business magnates, no tycoons, and no megalomaniacal creatures serving their egos but enlightened souls seeking divine knowledge under the guidance of some authority who knows more than them, who can show them the straight (in terms of morals) path, which can lead them out from the darkness to the light.
So how do these souls approach a higher authority who knows more than them, the teacher, the Guru, to gain spiritual knowledge?
They come and sit down near the teacher to receive esoteric (intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialised knowledge or interest) spiritual knowledge transmitted by the Guru.
Etymology
According to etymologists, in Sanskrit, “Upa” means by, and “Ni-Sad” means sitting down. Hence, the word Upanishad comes into being.
The branch of philosophy that deals with moral values of basically the innate, built-in factor that is found in every human being, the discretion to differentiate between what is wrong and what is right, is known as ethics.
Ethics include the decisions, judgments, behaviours, and choices people believe to be worthwhile and important in their lives.
Entrepreneurship
So when it comes to Entrepreneurship, ethics do play a pivotal role in its long-term sustainability and success. Entrepreneurship is the setting up of a business by an entrepreneur who takes financial risks in hopes of profit. And how can we not mention the Upanishads if we are talking about ethics, them being the Holy Grail of Sanatana Dharma?
So what insights from the Upanishads can a modern-day entrepreneur learn and implement in his business to make it ethically sustainable and stay in the market for the long run?
Upanishads — The Gyan
First, let us dive into what the Upanishads say about ethics in general:
We carry a self known as Atman, which could be referred to as the ego, the thinking part, the feeling part, the part that only thinks about itself and not about anyone else.
We also carry a higher self within that self known as the Brahman, which could be referred to as the transcendental ego, it transcends selfishness, ignorance, greed, lies, malice, envy, and darkness, it helps in self-actualization and connects us with the path towards the Divine.
When the Atman annihilates with the Brahman, all shackles are broken, and all the barriers are dissolved, the illusion of duality collapses and we find God in us.
Each individual is placed on this planet for a specific purpose to fulfill his duty or dharma through the right actions or karma. This leads to self-actualization.
The iterative cycle of death and rebirth is known as samsara and you would be liberated from it or achieve moksha from samsara through the right karma following your dharma sincerely.
Insights for the current day Entrepreneur
Here are the lessons for current-day entrepreneurs:
Honesty — It should be the Dharma of the entrepreneur to be honest and truthful not only as the person himself but also in all his financial and business transactions. This quality of an entrepreneur not only sets him apart in the market from other not-so-honest entrepreneurs as a credible person with a rock-solid brand but also establishes him as a person who could be easily trusted by fellow clients.
Integrity — Doing what others are doing is super easy. It’s called “herd mentality”. When you indulge in such a process ethics go out of the window. Doing what others think is doing right is also easy, although not that easy cause over here “right” is subjective. It could be “right” in one aspect but “wrong” in the other. Let me give you an example. You could be investing your money in firms that burn fossil fuels extensively to generate positive capital though that damages the environment greatly causing hazards and pollution but since it’s “right” for the profit of the company and everyone’s investing in the same grounds you feel it’s perfectly normal to do so being blind towards the environmental damage which is the “wrong” in the “right”. Now let’s talk about what we want to talk about. Doing what “YOU” think is “RIGHT” in the context that you as an entrepreneur are doing it which is not only right in the business sense but also ethically comes off as Integrity. This is what the Upanishads teach us. You should carry out your Dharma dutifully and diligently even if no one else is doing theirs and it should be in the right light. (Good Karma)
Loyalty — Some things in life are not easily earned but take over a period to build. One such quality is TRUST. If you are an honest and integrity-driven individual then you seem to be worthy of the trust of your fellow clients and business partners, the share, and stakeholders. It’s not just a one-day process but through perseverance and doing your Dharma repeatedly every day, every week, every month, and every year through honest and integrity-driven Karma you build yourself worthy of trust and earn the loyalty of your fellow stake and shareholders, clients, and partners. They look up to you as a person of substance like Arjuna of Mahabharata.
Fairness — You would see these days that it’s very common for people to bootlick people in authority and position or power. They just to be in the good books of such people or for special favors always buttress them, flower them with complements, try to win them over, woo them, and whatnot, but when it comes to the treatment of their stature or people below their hierarchy, they don’t leave anything which is not mean or derogatory while doing conversational or other transactions. This is against the Dharma which the Upanishads teach. God or Brahman resides in every soul or Atman so equal treatment and fairness with justice to all beings be it humankind or animals is Sarva Dharma (the Ultimate Duty). Entrepreneurs by respecting and being equitable with everyone in the hierarchy can build a great rapport by being humble and amicable.
Respect for Human Rights — Every Human soul or Atman according to the Upanishads has some basic rights that need to be fulfilled through themselves or by their kinship or the people they come in contact with. A modern-day entrepreneur should show concern for others linked with him through the entrepreneurial model by respecting the rights which are the basic needs to exist and other desires of fulfillment by his fellow partners, clients, stakeholders, and shareholders. It comes under his Dharma to do so.
Law Abiding Citizen — “With great powers comes great responsibilities…”, said Uncle Ben to Peter Parker (Spider-Man) while giving an ethical pep talk about using his special powers justly. The Upanishads are not far from that. Every soul needs to fulfill his duty (Dharma) as it’s placed on this planet Earth for a special purpose hence he needs to abide by the law of the land or nature. If he does that he is in harmony with the universe both esoterically and exoterically or else there will always be a cognitive dissonance leading to bad Karma. Hence the modern-day entrepreneur can learn from this to be conscious about his duties and responsibilities while being in a position of power. To exercise them justly and with discretion.
Stop Injustice — The Upanishads strongly impose upon the root of all evil Karma — injustice and it is one of the main Dharma of every soul to uproot and oppose injustice not in himself but also others cause if unchecked it would lead towards widespread malice, corruption, chaos and darkness in this world. Hence, it should be the Dharma of a modern-day entrepreneur to prevent misconduct of others in the organization and establish firm rules to run a just and equitable entrepreneurial organization that doesn’t breed corruption.
Accountability — The Upanishads also strongly preach what we say in familiar terms: “ Each Man For Himself!” as in acknowledgement, acceptance,and personal accountability for your Karma. Good Karma, if kept in check, will lead to moksha from the samsara,and Bad Karma will keep you stuck in samsara. Hence, the modern-day entrepreneur should acknowledge and accept personal accountability for the business, transactional, and other decisions that he makes that affect the firm and those linked to this both in the short and the long term on ethical grounds.
Conclusion
So, to conclude, a modern-day entrepreneur needs to be honest, integral, loyal, fair in his dealings, a law-abiding citizen, capable of stopping injustice within the firm, and accountable for his decisions. Such qualities can only be instilled in him if he ethically refers to the insights of the age-old wisdom of the Upanishads.
References
https://www.worldhistory.org/Upanishads/
https://en.bab.la/dictionary/english/entrepreneurship
