Breaking news: IIMs To Teach From Ancient Indian Scriptures! Here Is The List Of MBA Courses

7 mins read

The allure of getting an MBA is that it enables you to develop leadership & management skills through hands-on experiences. And learning from ancient Indian scriptures can take center stage in this journey as they teach the application of theory to practice, induction of theory from practice, and lead to skill & personality development. 

The logic behind this is simply learning in “hindsight”. That is, learning from incidents, scenarios, and situations that happened in the past and are ripe with lessons. MBA coursework world over, use case studies from present to past corporate experiences. But growing up in a nation with a cultural history as rich as ours makes one wonder, what lessons can we draw from the tales we’ve grown up with? 

New Courses At IIMs Based On Indian Scriptures

IIMs are actively working to align their courses with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. When students graduate from these respected institutes, they're expected to have not just the latest management skills, but also a deeper grasp of the valuable insights from India's rich culture. Some of these courses are already underway, while others are carefully designed for the coming academic year. 

Here are some IIMs that are offering courses inspired by Indian scriptures. Some haven't been named yet, but others have titles that capture their essence.

6 Management Lessons To Learn From Ancient Indian Folklore

Ritika Mahajan, assistant professor at MNIT Jaipur recently wrote about bringing Indian folklore to MBA classrooms. This piqued our interest and left us curious to know more. It led us on a hunt for other lessons that can be learned from Indian history. And here’s what we found:

Be Goal Oriented Like Arjun!

In Mahabharata, Dronacharya takes his students, young princes, to an open jungle and asks them to shoot at the eye of a bird sitting in one of the distant trees. But of all of them, only Arjun managed to shoot down the bird in the eye, on his first try. Why? That’s because everyone else saw the trees, the leaves, and the birds’ feathers scattered around amongst other things. However, Arjun only saw the eye of the bird, and nothing else. This is how goal-oriented and focused he was, that none of the other distractions diverted him from his goal. 

Source: Enlightening Diva

Kurukshetra - Catastrophe Of Acting On Incomplete Information

We all know the tale of Kurukshetra, where Arjun’s son Abhimanyu lost his life. During the war, the Kauravas, conjured a trap called Chakravyu to lure one of the Pandavas in and end their life. But all of the Pandavas knew they couldn’t get out of there, so they never entered the maze. Abhimanyu on the other hand knew how to enter the Chakravyu and chose to head into the trap without thinking about the consequences. But the fact that he only had partial knowledge and did not know how to break the Charvyu, led to his demise inside the trap. 

Source: Beauty of Soul

This goes to show that one should not make decisions based on incomplete information. It is important to gather all the intel one needs before proceeding with a plan of action. 

Knowledge Is King, Or Should We Say, Queen!

In Indian mythology, Lakshmi represents wealth and Saraswati represents knowledge. When discussing their relationship, all the scriptures describe that Lakshmi follows sister Saraswati wherever she goes. This alone is an indication of the fact that knowledge comes first and everything else follows. 

Source: ISKCON Bangalore

An iteration of this can be seen in Mahabharat as well. When Pandavas went to Bhisma to ask him for lessons of his life learnings before he passed away. They knew the importance of knowledge Bhisma gathered through experience, and gathering that knowledge helped them become great leaders in the end. 

Take Teamwork Lessons From Pandavas

The life story of Pandavas from Mahabharat is a well-known tale. They overcame countless obstacles and were the last ones standing at the end of the final battle. Have you wondered where their true strength came from? It came from Teamwork. 

Source: Webdunia

The 5 Pandavas fought against all odds and came out on top of every challenge thrown their way. And eventually defeated a much bigger and more powerful army led by 100 Kauravas. Had they not functioned like a team, their first challenge would have had them biting the dust. But they were a real team. Each member of their team had a role to play, and everyone followed the collective decisions led by their eldest brother Yudhistra, the team leader of sorts.

Vidur Niti Highlights The Importance Of Self-control & Self-management

Vidura fulfills the role of King Dhritrashtra’s advisor in the tale of Mahabharata. He is a knowledgeable man who guides the king in fulfilling his duties. His lessons throughout the tale have come to be known as Vidur Niti. In the 34th chapter of his teachings, this is what he says about an ideal man, an ideal leader-

“The body of a man is like a chariot; his soul, the driver; and his senses, the horses. Drawn by those excellent steeds when well trained, he that is wise and patient performs life's journey in peace.”

“The reasons for an act, and its result should be carefully considered before it is done. A wise man does or does not do an act after reflecting on the reasons of an act and its results if done.”

This highlights the importance of exercising self-control rather than imposing control. One can be rational and reach their full potential only if they have complete understanding and control of their senses, and most importantly anger. This is something that leaders can inculcate in their lives.

Diversity & Collaborative Work Are Key To Overcoming Challenges

In Ramayana, Rama on his quest to free Sita is faced with the big challenge of crossing the Indian Ocean. In his pursuit, he collaborated with Sugreev and the Vanar Sena. Together they accomplished the task with little resources on hand. This was possible because people with diverse backgrounds, knowledge pools, and skill sets collaborated.

Source: Ram Van Gaman Path

While Ram and Sugreev filled in the top managerial roles, the Vanar Sena efficiently carried on the tasks assigned to them. Also, wisdom from Jambavan, and the twin brothers- Nala & Nila’s special ability to keep things afloat in water, all collectively helped them succeed.

Indian culture, scriptures, and history are a treasure trove of lessons in disciplines like psychology, science, and management. Our minds have been titillated with these tales since childhood in hopes of building character, why not continue learning from them and our surroundings constantly? 

What unique spaces have you drawn lessons in management from? Maybe your home kitchen or the plastic-covered remote or the pile of report cards dating back to 1st grade! 

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