Leadership Lessons From the Shastras

Introduction

Indic Civilisation is not only the world’s oldest continuing civilization, it is also the world’s most resilient and enduring one. The ancient Rishis, men of higher spiritual experiences and knowledge guided society through their ideas. It is the power and depth of these ideas that created leaders, founders and makers of the Indic Civilisation, generation after generation, century after century, to bestow not only incredible creativity across the diverse areas of human endeavor but also rescue the Indian Civilization in times of crisis.

What were these ideas that inspired leadership? How did these ideas inspire generations? If they have sustained the previous generations, can they inspire the current generation too in a ‘post-modernist’ world?

As India ascends to the world stage with its growing economic clout, it needs to draw and nurture leadership from its own roots, its own genius. The Indic Civilization is one of its own kind with a wide range of thinking, captured in its scripture, into drivers of successful and enduring leadership. This course explores the depth and width of Classical Indic Leadership for leaders (young and emerging as well as mature) to guide and inspire them to leave an enduring legacy as their contribution to the Indic Civilisation.

Course Objectives

• To give a comprehensive overview of Classical Indic Leadership through principles, episodes and personalities within the essential scriptures of Hinduism viz,  the Itihasas, the Dharma Sutras,the Niti Sastras, Kavya and Artha Sastra
• To situate the ideas of Classical Indic Leadership in the context of 21st century India and inspire and enable leaders ( young as well as mature) to apply these ideas and guide not only themselves and their families but also  their teams , their departments, their communities and their organizations, their state and their nation and  leave an indelible and enduring mark as leaders.

Course Outcomes

• A comprehensive exposure to the leadership ideas contained in the Itihasas, the Dharma Sutras, the Niti Sastras, Kavya and Artha Sastra.
• A clear knowledge of how to apply these ideas in the modern and current context.

Course Syllabus

• Leadership in the Dharma Shastras (Manu, Yajnavalkya, Gautama)
• Leadership in the Valmiki Ramayana
• Leadership in the Mahabharata (KanakaNiti, NaradaNiti, ViduraNiti and Bhagavad Gita)
• Leadership in the Panchatantra
• Leadership in the works of Kalidasa
• Leadership in the works of Kautilya

Reading List

• The Bass Handbook of Leadership by B M Bass
• A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism by Swami Harshananda
• Leading Consciously by Debashish Chatterjee
• The History of the Dharma Sastras by PV Kane
• The Valmiki Ramayana by Gita Press
• The Mahabharata by Gita Press
• The Purana by Bibek & Dipavali Debroy
• The PanchaTantra by Chandra Rajan
• The ArthaShastra by L N Rangarajan
• The Complete Works of Kalidasa by C R Devedhar

Course includes

• Live sessions
• Access to class recordings (for asynchronous participation)
• Certificate of Completion upon successful course completion