Swadharma could lead India’s entrepreneurial surge

Imagine 10 million entrepreneurs growing their businesses, and in the process generating 100 million+ jobs. How do we build such a movement?

“śhreyān swa-dharmo viguṇaḥ para-dharmāt sv-anuṣhṭhitāt | swa-dharme nidhanaṁ śhreyaḥ para-dharmo bhayāvahaḥ”

Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 35

Recently, in response to extreme amounts of flak that India Inc has been receiving for the way India does business, financing, et al, one of the foremost businesspersons of our generation, responded on Twitter, saying: ‘…I have lived long enough to see us face earthquakes, droughts, recessions, wars, terror attacks. All I will say is: never, ever bet against India’. This brought cheer to the markets, which have frankly put, led to a beleaguered existence of late.

I belief that there are fundamentals, and there are sentiments.…and then, there is the foundation.

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Bet for us, bet against us, bet or do not, that is a choice, but the fundamentals of India are too strong to be shaken so easily. Were we to go by sentiment, while the global economy went from pillar to post looking for reprieve these past three years (inclusive of global wars), the Indian economy held fast, which is also what helped us realise that our (Indians’) innate sense of preservation would hold us in good stead.

While the sentiments and even fundamentals are perhaps ephemeral, over the last few years, I have been trying to understand the foundations of our entrepreneurial spirit from an Indic lens — what makes us resilient as entrepreneurs? How do we persevere in the face of adversity? How do we stay steadfast despite all the ups and downs? In the Bhagavad Gita, I have discovered these five principles of entrepreneurship — Swadharma, Karma, Aham, Stithaprajna, and Shraddha. Over the next few articles, allow me to elucidate my thoughts on each of these principles.

Of Swadharma

As I built, and subsequently sold my first startup, I started contemplating the raison d’etre of my life. I spent years trying out various experiments, living different experiences, and getting pulled in multiple directions.

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita: “śhreyān swa-dharmo viguṇaḥ para-dharmāt sv-anuṣhṭhitāt | svabhāva-niyataṁ karma kurvan nāpnoti kilbiṣham" [It is better to do one’s own dharma, even though imperfectly than to do another’s dharma, even though perfectly. By doing one’s innate duties, a person does not incur sin.]

In trying to find my own Swadharma, I spent nine days in the hallowed precincts of the Sabarmati Ashram, contemplating on my purpose. Through reflections and introspections, I arrived at my purpose; which is: …to serve the Supreme by empowering every human being to unleash their infinite potential to a create a world of abundance and oneness.

With the magic that I have witnessed through the Head Held High Foundation, where we transform low educated village youth into English-speaking, computer-literate, confident professionals, I believe in the innate, infinite potential that exists in every human being, and the possibilities of directing that potential to create a world of abundance, and oneness. This has helped me realise that the purpose must be much larger than oneself, and that as long as I live true to it every moment, it is a day well spent, and a tiny step towards achieving this purpose.

India’s Job Creators

Imagine now applying this purpose to unleash the potential of millions of entrepreneurs, to see their true purpose as nation-building by being job-creators. Imagine 10 million entrepreneurs going on to grow their businesses, and in the process generating 100 million+ jobs. Such a movement will, at the very least, strengthen our foundations to overcome ‘earthquakes, droughts, recessions, wars, and terror attacks’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi too said this several times in stressing that more than jobs, India needs job creators.

Can this become our Swadharma as a nation? To empower every entrepreneur to unleash their infinite potential, to create a world of good jobs— providing growth opportunities to our entrepreneurs, meaning to their lives as changemakers, and abundance to employees.

The mind boggles at the thought of the massive change that such a mass entrepreneurship movement can usher. By making this purpose larger than ourselves, we can galvanise the entire ecosystem as a force multiplier and sow the seeds of this movement that we may not live to see growing into a tree, but rest in the belief that this will bring about a definitive shift to India’s future.

The translation of the verse from the Bhagavad Gita quoted at the beginning of this article is: “It is far better to perform one’s natural prescribed duty, though tinged with faults than to perform another’s prescribed duty, though perfectly. In fact, it is preferable to die in the discharge of one’s duty, than to follow the path of another, which is fraught with danger.”

What Is My Swadharma?

This verse is important because we need to look beyond the entrepreneurship models of the western world and evolve our own thoughts, words, and actions — and do it today — on building an entrepreneurial society based on our own philosophies. How do we come together to realise the true potential of India, whether it be in the 10 million jobs we look to create via the route of mass entrepreneurship, the trillions of dollars that we will add to our economy, and whether it be when each and every one of us asks ourselves — What is my Swadharma, and how does it benefit my fellow beings, my nation, and the world?.

For it is only when we define our own purpose, our Swadharma, is when the right Karma will follow.

(Madan Padaki, Co-founder, Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship, and President, TiE Bangalore.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.