Key Ingredients Of Success & How To Be Lucky -From Gita

Ingredients of Success & How to be Lucky !

Here we talk about 2 verses of Gita that refers to Karma ( your actions ) & Results /Outcome.

About Gita 

For non-starters , let me say that Gita contains immense knowledge and wisdom.

It is in Sanskrit language and covers almost very aspect of life and this universe.

It contains knowldege that has stood the test of the times ( centuries ) as it is
 existing since last 5000 years .

To go deep in Gita’s wisdom on success and fate, let’s  first focus on one of its most popular verse (from Chapter 2 ,verse 47)

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन

Karmanye Vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana .

It means :

You have right to put efforts but no right on getting results .

In simple words , “Perform your duty but do not have any expectation of the fruits”.

Many a times it seems so incomplete & bit confusing and to some , it may sound demotivating!

Why & how to put efforts when we can’t be sure of results !

Well – if you also get confused – you can get the full answer in other verse of Gita.

It is in verse 14 ,chapter 18 of the book  where Krishna talks about the ingredients of success as well as chances of  becoming lucky (fate) .

अधिष्ठानं तथा कर्ता करणं च पृथग्विधम् |
विविधाश्च पृथक्चेष्टा दैवं चैवात्र पञ्चमम्

adhiṣhṭhānaṁ tathā kartā karaṇaṁ cha pṛithag-vidham
vividhāśh cha pṛithak cheṣhṭā daivaṁ chaivātra pañchamam

It focuses on 5 elements that are key to achieve great success .

Let’s  break down this verse  and try to interpret the meaing of each element.

1. Adhishtan अधिष्ठानं –  Action-area /field

The field you are working !

Questions to be asked ?

a) Whether it is a growing industry ?

For example did you opt for civil-engineering or software field in last two decades. The outcomes would have been very different.

The people who worked in pager-industry in 90s lost out to the people who worked in the internet-industry!

b) Whether it has a long runway for growth in forseeable future?

For example industries like software, food, equity-markets ,health have huge potential to grow in this century. So chosing a field where you plan to work in next 10/20 years becomes very important for your sucess.

c) Does it help the society ?

At times there might be field which are growing fast and may show huge potential but these may not be helpful for the society in the long run e.g. business of drugs etc.

Working in these might give you short-term success but this success might not be sustainable and you may run into troubles.

2. Karta कर्ता Who’s the Doer ?

The person doing the job .

Questions to be asked ?

Is he/she capable enough

Has he/she learnt the skills !

Has he/she put enough efforts and time to practice & improvise those skills .

(To understand more , you can read here )

3 . Karna करणं

This refers to resources as well as your senses .

It talks about the availability of the tools of the trade , the resources required to perform certain activity in the field you have chosen.

And it also refers to your senses (physical as well as emotional ) i.e. whether you like the work that you are doing .

Your senses and emotions should be aligned with your efforts and the field you are working in. This is also called passion.

In this very short video,Steve Jobs beautifully explains the need for having passion for your work.

4. पृथग्विधम् विविधाश्च पृथक्चेष्टा

Many and different type of efforts.

Are you trying everything ?

Are you using different ways to achieve that success ?

Are you trying various ways to find the solution ?

5. Devam दैवं  –

It is luck – dev kripa, blessings of the gods !

Only if one has tried enough to  get the first four elements right , then gods may bless him or her !

In short, once you have chosen the right field, you have trained yourself and practiced enough , you have resources and  passion for your work, there are chances that you would get lucky i.e. Devs (gods) may bless you with extra-ordinary success.

अधिष्ठानं तथा कर्ता करणं च पृथग्विधम् |
विविधाश्च पृथक्चेष्टा दैवं चैवात्र पञ्चमम्

Belive me once you imbibe this verse in your life , you don’t need any motivator or any self – help book . Whenever you feel doubtful , feel frustrated or feel bored -try going back to this verse again and remian focused and you might become lucky one day.