Management Gita: Greed’s Great Sin

अहो बत महत्पापं कर्तुं व्यवसिता वयम् । यद्राज्यसुखलोभेन हन्तुं स्वजनमुद्यताः ॥ १-४५॥
aho bata mahatpāpaṃ kartuṃ vyavasitā vayam
yadrājyasukhalobhena hantuṃ svajanamudyatāḥ 1-45

Spiritual Context

Arjuna laments the great sin of killing kin for greed-driven power and pleasure.

Management Context

This reflects self-reflection, greed critique, and ethical regret. Arjuna’s remorse critiques short-termism, a warning for profit-obsessed leaders.

Insights

Reflection prevents ethical drift (Schön, 1983). This aligns with critiques of greed in business (Mintzberg, 2004).

Applications

Leaders can conduct ethical reviews or value audits to counter greed (Heifetz, 1994).

References

Heifetz, R. A. (1994). Leadership without easy answers. Harvard University Press.
Mintzberg, H. (2004). Managers not MBAs. Berrett-Koehler.
Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner. Basic Books.

This excerpt is taken from Management Gita, authored by Sunil Khandbahale