‘DHRITI’ and ‘BUDHI’ as Drivers of Success – A Perspective from Bhagavadgita

‘Dhriti ‘ in Sanskrit is a beautiful word with a lot of significance. And in Bhagavdgita,one will find this word being used on more than one occasion. As we will see now It provides a lot of insight into how success could be achieved in material or spiritual life.

In the Chapter 18 of Bhagavadgita, Krishna gives a series of Slokas differentiating the characteristics of a man of wisom (Saathvic Being) from those who are purely material minded and lazy.

The 26th sloka says: “Mukta sango anahamvaadi Dhriti utsaha sanvitah Sidhi asidhi anirvikarah karta saathvikmuchyate”

Here the important qualities of a wise (noble)man are enumerated: While there is no hierarchy of qualities,’Dhriti & utsah’(fortitude & enthusiasm) certainly do stand out as very important from the point of view of success in a mission. The other qualities such as being non-egoistic,unattached,being unnerved by success or failure are also equally important to cultivate.

Similarly in the 29th sloka–“Budhe bhedam dhritischaiva—“. Here the 3 types of ‘Budhi‘(intellect) & ‘Ddhriti‘(fortitude) are being introduced.

In the 30th sloka the desirable type of ‘Budhi’ is described as “pravirthimcha nivrithimcha kaarya akaarye bhayaa abhaye–vethi budhih–“

The discriminating intellect should know what ought to be done and what ought not to be done,what should be feared and what should not be feared etc.

Likewise in the 33rd sloka the desirable kind of ‘Dhriti‘ is desribed as “Dhritya yayaa dhaarayate manah pranendriya kriyah—avyabhicharinya dhritih–“

The ‘Dhriti‘ (or fortitide) should be so unwavering in its action that it exercises total control on the mind and senses(to align them towards the goal).

Here two things are considered very important – one is the ‘Budhi’ and the other is ‘Dhriti ‘. According to Swami Chinmayananda ‘Dhrirti ‘ signifies 3 qualities enriching one’s character. They are: Fortitude,consistency of purpose and actions. To quote Swamiji ” It is that power within ourselves by which we consistently see the picture of a goal that we want to achieve; while striving towards it,’Dhriti’ discovers for us the necessary consistency of purpose—.‘Dhriti ” paints the idea,maintains it constantly in our vision,makes us steadily strive towards it and when obstacles come,’Dhriti’ mobilises secret powers within ourselves(shall we say will power?) to face them all courageously,heroically and steadily”. Swamiji says there is no single word in English which captures all the above characteristics. For want of a better word Swamy Chinmayananda translates it as Fortitude.

This reminds one of the modern management’s way of conceptualising success in an organization. A succesful organization has to have a great deal of clarity on the following aspects:

1. A Vision,

2. A Mission

3. An action plan and

4. Resources needed to implement action plan.

Even if a single ingredient from the above recipe for success is missing there will be retardation of the growth process. Just to illustrate if an organization has no vision but has everything else in place,there will be lots of random activity resulting in confusion. One can argue on similar lines with respect to the other ingredients to success as well.

It seems to me that the powerful word ‘Dhriti ‘ carries with it the flavour of all the 4 components (that is vision,mision,action plan and resouirces) of success mentioned above. Obviously it has to be combined with another important characteristic ‘BUDHI ‘ which is nothing but a discriminating intellect. The discriminating power of intellect is instrumental in creating the right vision for the organization. ‘DHRITI & BUDHI ‘ have to go hand in hand to ensure that the vision is attained.

In the following post I will try to give a couple of live examples of oraganizations to illustrate the role of ‘DHRITI & BUDHI’.