Hyderabad: CEA has a lesson from Gita for AIS officials

Hyderabad: “Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps. Whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.” This is a verse from Bhagwad Gita in which Lord Krishna exhorts Arjuna to set an example by taking up arms against injustice.

Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian referred to this during his lecture to candidates who are undergoing training for the All India Services.

Though Lord Krishna wanted to enlighten his brother-in-law Arjuna about his duty, Mr Krishnamurthy sought to exhort the trainee officers to set an example to commoners through their exemplary behaviour. The address was redolent with references to the scriptures.

Referring to candidates selected in the civil services exam, Mr Krishnamurthy said, “You make up 0.0001 per cent of India. There can’t be any more special people than any of you. It can’t get any more special than this. You are indeed very very very special. I say that from the bottom of my heart. The way the special behaves, the people will follow it.” Mr Krishna-murthy’s gnana yoga (words of wisdom) did not end with this.

Quoting American economist Professor Gary Becker’s paper, the CEA said there is a reason why old-fashioned virtues have sustained in society over thousands of years. “It is because virtue helps people in the long run.  People are smart. If you are over-smart, they will understand. If the leader is trustworthy, people don’t make second guesses.”

Speaking about the temptation of wealth that cloud the trainee officers when they are holding crucial positions, Mr Krishna-murthy said they must refer to the scriptures to understand how to live life well. “Here I would actually urge you that there is so much wealth in our scriptures on how to live life well.”

Quoting first governor-general Chakravarthy Rajagopalachari’s commentary to the Bhaja Govindam written by Adi Shankaracharya in praise of Lord Vishnu, Mr Krishnamurthy said any knowledge that does not issue out in action is useless tinsel.

Mr Krishnamurthy referred to Hindu philosophical concepts of dwaita (dualism) and adwaita (non-dualism) to explain the approach taken ancient Indians and Western scientists. While the Western approach is dualistic as it sees the observer and observed as two different entities, ancient Indian rishis had adopted adwaita approach as they observe the effect of drugs taken by them on themselves through meditation before treating others.

The original dwaita and adwaita school of thought contemplate the relationship between an atma (soul) and the paramatma (the Supreme Being), he told the trainees.

“Another aspect that I want all of you to imbibe is respect for our culture. We have all grown up reading basically science. I too pride myself on ‘scientific temper’ the way it is defined in the traditional western way. If you have to observe something, you need five senses. But there are important things that are beyond these five senses... My advice to you would be not to shun what basically our scriptures talk about.”