'Gyan' is what is told & 'vi-gyan' is what is heard

Our memory shapes how we see those who seek to instruct us. And how we see
those who instruct us determines what we actually hear.
Krishna reveals the Gita to Arjuna on the brink of battle at Kuru-kshetra. Sanjaya,
blessed with telepathic sight, overhears this and transmits it to Dhritarashtra, the
blind king of Hastinapur, father of the Kauravas, uncle of the Pandavas, who sits far
from the battlefield in a comfortable palace. This structure, with two speakers and
three receivers, is aimed to draw attention to the complexity of any communication,
the wide gap between knowledge given (gyan) and knowledge taken ( vi-gyan).
Krishna and Sanjaya speak the same words, however, only Krishna is the source of
the knowledge, while Sanjaya is merely a transmitter. Krishna knows what he is
talking about. Sanjaya does not. Arjuna, Sanjaya and Dhritarashtra hear the same
verses, but they process it differently.
Arjuna is seeking this knowledge; he believes that Krishna will solve his problem so
is fully attentive, processing what he is hearing. Sanjaya is merely doing his duty
passing on what he hears; he does not need to understand what Krishna is saying.
And Dhritarashtra is impatient, uninterested in what Krishna is saying, eager only to
know the fate of his sons. If anything, he fears what Krishna says for Krishna is on
the enemy side.
When you are communicating: are you Krishna, who knows what he is talking
about? Are you Sanjaya, the transmitter, merely the messenger? If people see you
as Sanjaya, will they connect with you the same way that they would if they saw
you as Krishna? In modern management, everyone is expected to behave like
Sanjaya - transmit what the management says. And then we wonder why no one
respects Sanjaya.
Are the people around you Arjuna or Sanjaya or Dhristarashtra? Are they interested
as in case of Arjuna? Are they merely memorizing like Sanjaya? Are they
disinterested, even suspicious, as in case of Dhritarashtra? We want front line

people to be Arjunas, we want middle level people to be Sanjaya, but more often
than not they turn out to be Dhritarashtra who is constantly wondering what is the
game behind those fancy words.
Our memory shapes how we see those who seek to instruct us. And how we see
those who instruct us determines what we actually hear. The Sanskrit word of
memory is smriti, for seeing is darshan and for hearing is shruti.
The Vedas are called shruti: that which is heard. Later scriptures are called smriti:
that which is remembered. Shruti is always valued over smriti, because shruti is
seen as ideas that are timeless (sanatan) and eternal (saswat) while smriti means
ideas that are contextual, fixed to a place and period. Shurti is what we hear (gyan);
smriti is what we actually process and assimilate (vi-gyan). Darshan is the practice
of gazing upon the deity enshrined in a temple, a practice that became popular with
the rise of Puranic Hinduism. Darshan leads to insight. Darshan therefore also
means philosophy: our assumptions that shape our reality. In Vedic tradition, Vedic
wisdom reveals itself to those who see what others could not, would not, or did not
see. These are the observers (rishis), who heard what others could not, would not,
or did not hear.
We often let our memories distort our understanding of the world and so very often
do not hear what is told or see what is shown. There is a popular joke of a man once
asking, 'Can I smoke while praying?' and the priest replying: absolutely not!
Sometime later, the same man asked, 'Can I pray while smoking?' and the priest
said it was okay! Both questions were same but the priest gave opposite answers
for his memories that valued prayer over smoking made him react to the first half
the question and prevented him from hearing the entire question.
Like that priest most people are quick to the draw, too eager to react, and so less
inclined to listen. We want to be Krishna, but not Arjuna. We end up as being
Sanjaya, and those in front of us become Dhritarashtra. Thus the Gita of the
corporate world goes unheard.

(The author writes and lectures on relevance of mythology in management. He is

the author of Business Sutra: an Indian approach to management.)

Five ways to maintain workplace etiquette

Offices are increasingly doing away with cubicles and shifting to open floor plans. It
becomes important to maintain certain behavioural standards.
Offices are increasingly doing away with cubicles and shifting to open floor plans. It
becomes important to maintain certain behavioural standards within the office
environment. Brinda Dasgupta shows you how to practise workplace etiquette.
Avoid Regional Languages
Avoid conversing with team members in your mother tongue in group meetings.
"Someone who doesn't speak the language will feel excluded," says Indranil
Mukherjee, VP and global practice lead for systems integration, SapientNitro.
Express Yourself Well
With many employees working remotely, a large part of office interactions now take
place over email and video conferencing. "Work on communicating ideas clearly,
and express yourself without sounding condescending," says Suresh Raina,
managing partner, Hunt Partners.
Stay Clean

Be sure to keep your workstation neat and maintain personal hygiene. "Always
make sure your standards of personal hygiene and cleanliness are up to scratch,"
says Mukherjee.
Respect The Workspace
Put in the extra effort to ensure your colleagues don't have any concerns about your
habits. "Keep common areas like restrooms and kitchens tidy, keep your voice down
while on the phone, and conform to organisation-mandated dress codes," says
Mukherjee.
Follow Seniors
Often, the best way to go about adopting a certain model of behaviour is to watch
how the seniors do it. "Executives higher up the corporate ladder can set an
example for their juniors on workplace etiquette," says Anand Talwar, CHRO at ITC
Infotech.