By Jaya Row

While civilisations focused on overcoming the external world, Indian thinkers turned inward, mastering the mind. Success and happiness followed as by-products. When we lost touch with this wealth within, external bankruptcy followed.

Like Gulliver bound by the tiny Lilliputians, we remain asleep to our own greatness, held captive by the distractions of the world. All we need is to awaken to the powerhouse of wisdom we are heir to. Gita, composed thousands of years ago, addresses the Arjuns of today – dynamic, ambitious young people striving for excellence. It offers a practical formula for success.

Many people are hugely talented. But discipline, hard work and consistent application are essential to translate this talent to success. You need to learn the formula for success. Otherwise, brilliant people often falter at the final hurdle. A well-prepared student suddenly freezes at an examination. A gifted athlete loses because of the obsession with the trophy. A highly qualified candidate fumbles during an interview due to anxiety.

Why does this happen? Focus shifts from present action to result. Action is under your control. Result depends on many factors beyond your influence. Dependence on the fruit makes you a slave to the world. Whether you will emerge a topper in the exam or win the Olympic medal depends on a host of external factors. But no one can take away the fact that you are an outstanding performer. Find fulfilment in the action. Give your best to it. Enjoy it. Then you are independent of the result. And success follows naturally.

Set your sights on an ideal greater than your personal ambitions. The nobler the ideal, the greater the energy, enthusiasm and creativity it unleashes. But if your mind is preoccupied with the goal while acting, attention shifts from the present to the future. Concentration slips. Action is flawed, and the result is failure.
The student anxious for marks is agitated, makes a series of mistakes and underperforms. The batsman in the nineties thinks of the century instead of the next ball – and gets out.

The secret is simple: while acting, focus completely on the action. Do not allow thought of the result to interfere with the task at hand. The mind is at peace. Action is perfect. Excellence follows.

To excel and be happy one must necessarily have a higher mission in life. Hard work must follow. Nothing worthwhile is achieved through lethargy and inactivity.

Gita outlined the six-point path to success. The formula consists of two parts – generating energy and preventing its dissipation.
Energy is created in three ways. First, the intellect directs all thoughts to the chosen goal. Just as light, wind and water gain power when channelled in one direction. Scattered thoughts lose their strength. Second, the mind is devoted to the goal. You must love the goal, surrender to it. Then the power of the goal becomes yours. Third, the body acts dynamically. The more you act the more vitality you generate.

Energy leaks away through three channels – regret over the past, anxiety for the future and frenzy in the present. The intellect keeps the mind anchored in the present, preventing it from wandering into wasteful avenues of past and future.

Jaya Row’s commentary on Gita is broadcast on YouTube every Saturday, 6-7.15pm. Message 99200 54000

END OF ARTICLE