With no end in sight, the Corona pandemic continues to take its toll on human health. More in terms of mental than physical. The fatality rate due to the corona infection still hovers around two to three percent but the intriguing feature is that the fear of the pandemic is such that as if anybody who catches corona is going to die. There are diseases that kill more people than corona, yet more people are fearing corona than all the other diseases taken together. One probable reason may be that there is no certain treatment in sight. Of course, claims to the contrary are there in big numbers. However, the important point is the fear of the pandemic and its impact on human mind. And the answers are not easy to find. Even as the International Labour Organisation study finds that one out of two young people are subject to anxiety and depression, there are scant efforts to handle this psycodemic. The young apart, the old as well as the children, are also suffering from the mental distress. The Covid-19 protocol further adds to stress and fear. The very feeling that wearing mask gives is sickening. People are scared to venture out and are confined to homes unless it is necessary. As we appear clueless about the answer to the pandemic, let us try to find the solution in the Bhagavad Gita. The lessons may, perhaps, show us the way to cope with Corona fear and anxiety. Many of us, like Arjuna, are burdened with anxiety and fear of the impending war and seem to have given up. It is this giving up that is the most dangerous of all the psychological states that leads to most of the problems of mental health. Arjuna, out of fear of adverse outcome, tells the Lord that he sees little point in fighting the war which he is not sure to win. Rather, in the heart of his hearts, he thinks he is going to lose. It is then that Lord Krishna recites his essential Gita lessons, suggesting why fighting is important, winning or losing being of little consequence. So Krishna tells Arjuna to drive away his fear and ready himself for the war. We are in a similar plight in this Covid situation and our fear is of defeat or death and anxiety of uncertainty of the outcome. Gita lessons offer the panacea for living in turbulent times which in Management jargon is a VUCA world, that is Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. The principal lessons of Gita can be summed up in the following basic tenets. First and foremost is to drive away your fears and submit to God with full faith. The second is to prepare yourself to fight and for this you need to learn to control your mind, which is the biggest distraction. The third tenet is to focus on effort and not to worry about the results. Worrying about the results will sap vital energy you need to apply, in order to put wholehearted efforts. The results are not in your hands as some other force controls the outcome. You only have right to efforts. But the Lord also says that if efforts are put in wholeheartedly and with full faith in God results will be achieved. As the battle with Corona is still on, fear is the biggest detriment in influencing the efficacy of our response. Have faith in God and fight.
Pathak is a professor of management, writer, and an acclaimed public speaker. He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com
