The Bhagavad Gita on Bias
Every leader sees the field through their own likes and dislikes, and the Bhagavad Gita names this plainly. Desire covers wisdom the way smoke covers fire and dust covers a mirror. The wise, Krishna says, see the same self in a learned brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a person whom society had cast out, and they remain equal towards friend and foe. Dhritarashtra opens the whole conversation with the words ‘mine’ and ‘theirs’, and the Bhagavad Gita spends the next seven hundred verses teaching a steadier sight. The verses gathered here show a leader how to judge people and situations without the thumb of preference on the scale.
The 13 verses the book gathers under Bias
Chapter and verse, as listed in the Index of Management Areas, each with The Meaning as it appears in the book. The Teaching and the Reflect question for every verse are in the book.
- 1.1Dhritarashtra asks Sanjaya what his sons and the Pandavas did after gathering at Kurukshetra, the field of dharma, ready to fight.
- 3.34Krishna says that each sense has its likes and dislikes toward sense objects, but one should not come under their control because they are obstacles.
- 3.38Krishna says that desire covers wisdom just as smoke covers fire, dust covers a mirror, and the womb covers an embryo.
- 3.40Krishna says that desire works through the senses, mind, and intellect. Through them it covers wisdom and confuses the embodied person.
- 5.3Krishna says that a true renunciate is one who neither hates nor desires. A person who becomes free from the pull of opposites is gradually released from bondage.
- 5.15Krishna says that the Lord does not take anyone’s sin or virtue. Living beings become confused because their true knowledge is covered by ignorance.
- 5.18Krishna says that the truly wise see the same spiritual self in all beings, whether learned, ordinary, respected, ignored, human, or animal.
- 5.19Krishna says that those whose minds are steady in equal vision have already overcome worldly bondage. Because Brahman is equal and faultless, they are established in Brahman.
- 6.9A truly advanced person keeps a balanced understanding toward all kinds of people: friends, enemies, relatives, neutral people, good people, and wrongdoers. This does not mean approving every action; it means not losing inner fairness and steadiness.
- 7.27Krishna says that all beings become deluded from birth because of dualities produced by desire and hatred. Attraction and aversion cover clear understanding.
- 9.29Krishna says that He is equal toward all beings and has no hatred or favoritism. But those who worship Him with devotion live in Him, and He also lives in them.
- 18.10Krishna says that a true renouncer, established in sattva and free from doubt, neither hates difficult duty nor becomes attached to pleasant duty.
- 18.22Krishna says that tamasic knowledge clings to one small part as if it were the whole truth, without proper reason, without real understanding, and with a narrow view.
Chapter Five, Verse 18
विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि ।
vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini |
शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः ॥
śuni caiva śva-pāke ca paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ ||
The Meaning Krishna says that the truly wise see the same spiritual self in all beings, whether learned, ordinary, respected, ignored, human, or animal.
Wise leadership treats all people with equal dignity while assigning roles and accountability according to dharma and capability.
In the book, this verse is followed by The Teaching and a Reflect question.
Every verse under this area, with its Teaching and its Reflect question, is in The Ethical Leader’s Gita. For copies for your leadership team, see corporate and bulk gifting.