Life management skills from the work and life of Shri Madhwacharya

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Life management skills from the work and life of Shri Madhwacharya.

   अमन्त्रमक्षरं नास्ति नास्ति मूलमनौषधम्।  

        अयोग्यः पुरुषो नास्ति योजकस्तत्र दुर्लभः ॥ 

This Samskrita subhashita says that there is no syllable which cannot be turned into a mantra. There is no plant of any medicinal value. There is no man who is perfectly incapable, It is rare to find someone who could identify those qualities discovering and rightly engaging them in appropriate situations.So what can be done to tackle this problem, is there a solution? Can we find any kind of a solution in madhwacharya's life and works. The answer is yes. 

A good leader can rightly employ the right person with the right work. So the leadership quality must be developed in a person to tackle this problem. Questions that remain are what are the leadership qualities which are to be adopted in the person to turn him/her into a true leader. Here Acharya guides us with his life and works.

 

Leading from the front -

A leader must always lead from the front. He must take the responsibility irrespective of the result. One who takes the credit when succeeds and escapes to take responsibility when failure occurs can't be called a leader. Acharya's shows this by his actions. Acharya is praised as Adhyatmajnananeta (अध्यात्मज्ञाननेता) I.e spiritual leader. He also showed how to be a leader of the mundane world. One such incident is described in the 10th canto of Sri Madhwavijaya. 

Acharya was once travelling to Badrinatha. After crossing many villages and rivers, he reached the shore of the River Ganga. The sea route was closed by some turushka king because of the fear of an enemy attack. Acharya did not wish to stay there for a long time. Acharya decided to cross the river with disciples. Acharya led his disciples from the front.  He could have ordered his disciples to take the lead. But that is not a quality of a good leader. He ordered his disciples to follow him. Unmindful of the warnings of the objectors, he enabled his disciples to cross the river, impossible to wade through without boats. With extreme ease by being there advising them to support others in succession. Many people tried to scare him by telling the consequences of his action and advised him not to take such a decision. It was a risky decision. But he strongly believed his decision and executed it very easily.   Many times in life, especially in a leader's life, a situation comes where he will be forced to take a risky decision.  In that situation, he should not hesitate to take such a risky decision. But he must have great belief in the situation and should lead from the front. But a leader should also not take any unnecessary risks. While crossing the river, acharya encountered king's soldiers who were trying to jump into the river to attack him. Here acharya did not fight with them even though it is a very easy task for his calibre. 

 He convinced them with his words. He told them that while you are many in measures (number) there is no fear from us who are few, and when we are coming to contact your king. Why you wish to wrangle with us. Thus acharya avoided quarrel and sorted out the situation without any fight. A leader always has foresight and access to information about its worthiness while taking a risky decision. 

 

Devotion and fear.

Acharya in his commentary of taittirya shruti , explains the meaning of mantra भीषास्मात् वातः पवते ।भीषोदेति सूर्यः ,and says तस्मात् वाय्वादयो देवाः विद्वांसोपि विशेषतः । भीताः स्वकर्म कुर्वैन्ति विष्णोः प्रीत्यर्थमञ्जसा ॥ Here acharya says that Vayu, Surya and other gods do their work because of fear of god and immense devotion. So a leader should earn both these qualities from his followers. If they only fear him, they will work in front of him and try to skip work in his absence. If they only devout him, there is a chance of lack of accountability. So both these qualities are essential for a successful leader. He can earn these only if he works very much hard than his followers. Lord himself works very hard than vayu and surya as explained by shri madhwacharya धार्यते येन विश्वं सदाजादिकं  Every minute lord protects this world without any fail. Also,  leader should care about his follower's problem and try to solve it or should be concerned about them. As explained by Madhwacharya वार्यते अशेषदुःखं निजध्यायिनां God eradicates sorrows of his followers. With these qualities, he can earn devotion as well as respect from his followers.

Rigid and Free 

A leader should be rigid. But when necessary, he should also be liberal. Madwacharyas disciples were very devout. Every day they would  do guru seva with unparalleled commitment. One such day, as usual acharyaru got up before arunodaya was ready to take a bath, his disciple, who carried things for him, did not get up. Acharya didn't wake him up, he quietly went to the river to take a bath, after some disciple suddenly got up, with heavy heart and fear, and rushed towards the shore. He thought acharya would scold him for not performing the duty. But acharya didn't say anything. He knew that the disciple was not lazy, and the error was not committed because of laziness. Acharya didn't scold him. A real Guru should be rigid and simultaneously be liberal when required. These are a few mantras for successful leadership which we can observe from the work and life of Shri Madhwacharya.