Blogging about Society, individual and collective behaviour/herd mentality, nudges,economics,business,politics,sports and spirituality and on all the other subjects about which I know very little !!
IMHO, Dharma,artha, kama are wordly karmas and the Universal
laws are Sathyam(sathyam bhoothahitham priyam) and Ahimsa(Ahimsa paramo Dharma)
guiding these karmas, for its(Universe'/Nature/Prakriti's) self preservation.
If you think deeply ,all these immutable laws including Laws of Karma are for
its(Universe/prakriti) self adjusting and balancing and therefore for its
preservation , survival and continuity.If these rules are violated in some instances ,then
the self-balancing kicks in.These violation of eternal principles are
Exceptions proving the Universal Rules of Sathyam and Ahimsa. But When Rakshas
like people,do gross violation of these first principles,huge fight back by
Dharma happens killing Hitlers to restore the Universal Balance for its
survival , preservation and Continuity.This happens due to Bhagawan's sankalpa of Dharma
rules, when he created this prakriti.-Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah- and bestowed these Rules to it.
Above is a kind of explanation to Bhagavat Gita sloka, Chapter 4 Verse 8
"paritranaya sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkritam
dharma-sansthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge".
Another of Bhagavat Gita verse of Chapter 5 Verse 18 which reads:
vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmane gavi hastini shuni chaiva shva-pake cha panditah sama-darshinah
A Brahmin, Cow,Elephant,Dog,Dog-eater are all same and equal, if only we realise that He dwells in each and in all of them and He also says only the truly learned and humble who practises this can be called a Pandit.
This is another example ,IMHO, demonstrating unequivocally that Bhagawan has created all the creatures in this Universe on Equal footing and if we practise the Sama Darshinah as enunciated by Him, we become One with Him.
A Brahmin and a Dog-eater are on same pedestal!!- BG does not propagate anything to the contrary.It is only about practical,day-to-day Spirituality and the clarification based on Satyam and Ahimsa- Dharma- for common doubts encountered by all humans.
If this is not a statement of true Inclusivity and Universal Commonhood then what else can be called?
IMHO, this is the sum and substance of Shaswata ,Sarvodaya,Sanatana Dharma .
Sustainability of Business-ROCE(Return on Capital Employed) & new
ROCE(Return on Climate & Environment)-an Integrated approach
ROCE(Return on Capital Employed), according to Warren Buffet, is an
important Financial Ratio that is used for measuring the combined effect of
Profitability of the Business and the Productivity of the Business assets which
can sustain its value.
Profitability is measured in terms of Return on Sales and
Productivity is measured in terms of how well the Assets of the Business are
put to use by looking at Assets Turnover.
(1)The formula used for calculating Return on sales is PBIT less Tax/Net
Sales.
(2)The formula for calculating Turnover on Assets is Net Sales/(Net
Fixed Assets+Net Current Assets i.e(Current Assets-Current Liabilities)
(3) the formula for calculating Return on Capital Employed(ROCE) is
obtained by Multiplying (1)X(2)- (calculated for every year separately in the
example given below)
The following is a real example of a trend of ROCE of a Business over
the years ,that has three Verticals:
Belts, Oilseals and Engineering.The composite business is called
Polymer.
Now for this Business ,an analysis is done and the ways of how to
improve the ROCE of this Business have been identified. This is as follows:
How to
Improve ROCE of the Business
This ROCE improvement
Plan can be built through Balanced Scorecard Methodology.(The Balanced
Scorecard;Measures that drive Performance-HBR-1992 by Dr.Robert S.Kaplan and
David P.Norton )
EVA Ratio-"Economic Value Added"(Stern Value Management) of
the Business, which is the Economic Profit of the Business can also be
considered as the Ultimate Financial goal of a Business . The EVA is NOPAT(Net
Operating Profit After Tax)- (Invested Capital*WACC) where Invested Capital
includes both Equity & Debt and WACC is Weighted Average Cost of Invested
Capital. In this WACC, the cost of Debt i.e Borrowed capital is calculated Net
of Taxes, where the local Income/Corporate Tax policies allow deduction for the
Interest paid on Borrowed Capital and the Dividend payable/expected by
Shareholders is considered as the Cost of Equity.When EVA is integrated with
Value-Based Management that becomes the key to Sustainable Value Creation by
any Organisation(Stern Value Management-1993- “The Real key to Creating
Wealth”).
A sample of Strategy Map developed with EVA &ROCE Ratios being
tracked on Quarterly basis by comparing Actuals vs Target ,under Balanced
Scorecard Methodology for a Co. in India is given below:
The benefits of drawing out a Strategy Map like
this on Financial perspective built on Financial Ratios at the pinnacle, and
Customer ,Operational and Learning & Growth perspectives are many due to
interplay of cross-functional interactions and improvements flowing through the
entire organisation. When this happens the organisation functions as a one
whole being with all its parts working in Sync, Synergistic & Sustainable
ways.
On an external environment, it is like all the
players of a Team planning a carefully laid out Strategy in a tournament for
winning a World cup in Soccer or Cricket!!
Since, the world has already moved into Sustainable
Business models with 3Ps as the focus-Profit, People and Planet, and is now
rapidly moving into Sustainable business through harmonious assimilation of
Environment,Social and Governance values into Business Sustainability(The
Investor Revolution-HBR-May-june 2019 bySvetlena Klimenko and Robert G.Eccles).
Now, we have reached a point where we need to
integrate traditional ROCE-Return on Capital Employed with the new Return on
Climate and Environment.ESG reporting in
India started in 2009 with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) issuing the
Voluntary Guidelines on Corporate Social Responsibility, since then the
reporting landscape has come a long way with the introduction of Business
Responsibility Reporting (BRR), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), IR,
National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct (NGRBC) and the newly
introduced Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR) (introduced
through a SEBI circular dated 10th May 2021).
World Economic forum on its part has come out with set
of 21 core and 34 widened metrics and disclosures in its report “Measuring
Stakeholder Capitalism:Towards Common Metrics and Consistent Rporting of
Sustainable Value Creation “(WEF report,2020), as an extension of Stakeholder
Capitalism Metrics standing on 4 pillars-People,Planet,Prosperity and
Principles of Governance.
For future growth of the Sustainable Business Value
Creation the integration of these metrics with Financial Metrics, is
sine-qua-non.
ROCE is an important Financial Ratio that is used for measuring the combined effect of Profitability of the Business and the Productivity of the Business.
Profitability is measured in terms of Return on Sales and Productivity is measured in terms of how well the Assets of the Business are put to use by looking at Assets Turnover.
(1)The formula used for calculating Return on sales is PBIT less Tax/Net Sales.
(2)The formula for calculating Return on Assets is Net Sales/(Net Fixed Assets+Net Current Assets)
(3) the formula for calculating Return on Capital Employed(ROCE) is obtained by Multiplying (1)X(2)-(calculated for each year separately in the example given below)
The following is a real example of a trend of ROCE of a Business over the years ,that has three Verticals:
Belts, Oilseals and Engineering.The composite business is called Polymer.
Now for this Business ,an analysis is done and the ways of how to improve the ROCE of this Business have been identified. This is as follows:
How to Improve ROCE of the Business
This ROCE improvement Plan can be built through Balanced Scorecard Methodology.
EVA Ratio-"Economic Value Add" of the Business, which is the Economic Profit of the Business can also be considered as the Ultimate Financial goal of a Business . The EVA is NOPAT(Net Operating Profit After Tax)- (Invested Capital*WACC) where Invested Capital includes both Equity & Debt and WACC is Weighted Average Cost of Invested Capital. In this WACC, the cost of Debt i.e Borrowed capital is calculated Net of Taxes, where the local Income/Corporate Tax policies allow deduction for the Interest paid on Borrowed Capital and the Dividend payable/expected by Shareholders is considered as the Cost of Equity.
A sample of Strategy Map developed with EVA &ROCE Ratios ,under Balanced Scorecard Methodology for a Co. in India is given below:
The benefits of drawing out a Strategy Map like this on
Financial perspective built on Financial Ratios at the pinnacle, and Customer ,Operational
and Learning & Growth perspectives are many due to interplay of
cross-functional interactions and improvements flowing through the entire
organisation. When this happens the organisation functions as a one whole being
with all its parts working in Sync & Synergy.
On an external environment, it is like all the players of a
Team planning a carefully laid out Strategy in a tournament for winning a World
cup in Soccer or Cricket!!
Vyadha Gita, literally means Song of the Butcher, is part of Mahabharat and is actually a collection of teachings imparted by a Butcher to a Brahmin Sannyasi. This is our heritage and none less than Swami Vivekananda extolled Vyadha Gita as the essence of Karma Yoga. A Butcher , a housewife and a Brahmin Sannyasi are the three characters in this mystical story occurring in Vana Parva section and is told by Sage Markendeya to Yudhistra, the Pandava Prince.
Lord Krishna, it seems, says in Srimad Bhagavata Purana that this Butcher is someone who attained perfection /realisation/emancipation by Satsanga.
So let us dvelve a little into that incredible story where a Brahmin Sanyaasi is taught Dharma and Ahimsa by a Butcher of all the beings!! In terms of social heirarchy Vyadha is at the lowest status when compared to a brahmin and yet this story finds a prominent place in Mahabharata ,which is acclaimed as the Fifth Veda.
A young Sanyasi went to the forest,meditated, did penance. After years of Yoga practice, and hard work, he was sitting under a tree, when some dry leaves fell on his head.He looked up and saw a crane and a crow fighting on the tree-top .He angrily glanced at them at uttered" How dare you throw these dry leaves upon my head", and a flash of fire emanating from him burnt up the poor birds immly.Such was his Yogic power and he felt elated that he had acquired such powers in his grasp that could burn others if he became angry.Next day he went to a house asking for alms as per his daily ritual and cried out "Mother, give me some food". A woman from inside the house answered "Wait, I will come". In the meantime he felt angry and due to arrogance he thought to himself "This wretched woman has asked me to wait without knowing the power I have". The woman politely answered " I am neither a crow nor a crane!". The Sanyasi fell at her feet and asked her how she came to know of the incident which happened in the forest.She replied " I do not know any Yoga or meditation like you do; but ever since my birth I was ding my duty to my parents initially and now after marriage I am looking after my husband as he fell sick. I have been doing my duty cheerfully and wholeheartedly.that is all.But by doing my duty I have become illumined; thus I could read your thoughts and know what you had done in the forest.If you want to learn further you can go to such and such town and meet the Dharmavyadha(Righteous Butcher)". Sanyasi felt reluctant to go and learn from a Vyadha(Butcher) but he realised that there must be a reason behind this and so he went to meet Dharmavyadha.Vyadha was in his workplace cutting meat and the moment he saw this Sanyasi he enquired whether he was sent by the said woman. He listened to his teachings which are called Vyadha-Gita. According to Dharma vyadha
"no duty is ugly, no duty is impure. My birth placed me in these places,situations and environments. In my boyhood I learnt the trade; I remain unattached, and I try to do my duty well. I try to do my duty as a householder, and I try to do all I can to make my father and mother happy. I neither know your Yoga, nor have I become a Sannyasi, nor did I renounce this world and go into a forest; But all that you have heard and seen has come to me through my way of doing my duty without any attachment and that is my way of life".
Swami Vivekananda says that this Vydha Gita contains one of the highest flights of Vedanta. This story on Karma Yoga of doing one's duty wholeheartedly ,whatever be the station of his life ,without attachment to the results, makes one fully enlightened and leads to the realisation of the soul.
Thus Ved Vyasa unhesitatingly has called this also a Gita.
