EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE THROUGH THE BHAGAVAD- GITA FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Key Word: Emotional Intelligence; Conflict management; Bhagavad-Gita

Let’s not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realizing it. ~Vincent Van Gogh, 1889. “Emotions are internal events that coordinate many psychological subsystems including physiological responses, cognitions and conscious awareness [7]. Emotions are instinctive which were there with man even before he evolved into what he is today. When man evolved from apes he developed the rational brain which distinguishes him from other animals. This rational brain has helped him to understand and analyze his emotions and given him an edge over the others. But many a time it can be seen that he sadly fails to use his rational brain against the emotional one. It is often rationalization in retrospection. There is an emotional outburst first and the analysis later – often too late for redemption. Thus it can be said that emotions define a person. Mano matram jagat; mano kalpitam jagat. (“the world is as the mind sees and feels it; the world is as the mind thinks of it’.[10] The recent years has witnessed the immense scope and relevance of “Emotional Intelligence” (EI) in every realm of life. Research abounds in proving the role of EI in bridging the gap between the successful and the talented, but not so successful people. This paper approaches EI from a different perspective – from the perspective of an Indian mind, which is trained and groomed to perceive emotions as the root cause of all evils. The Bhagavad-Gita, which is considered the fifth Veda, talks about not just emotional intelligence, but goes a step forward to discuss emotional stability. The lessons thatwe can take from this time tested book are innumerable and this paper adds a drop to the ocean by finding effective measures for conflict resolution.

Gayathri, N Asst. Prof. (Sr.) and Dr. Meenakshi, K. Asso. Prof.                The Author is from School of Social Sciences and Languages, VIT University, Tamilnadu, India