October 9, 2021

Navratri Day 2 : Goddess Bhramacharini – Second form of Durga

Determination towards the purpose

Devi Bhramacharini is the second form of goddess Devi Durga. 'Bhram' over here means Tapasya and 'charini' here means a female devotee—an ardent follower. Devi Bhramacharini carries a rosary in her right hand and a commandal (waterpot) in her left hand. It is to her that people pray for strength and focus towards their work.

Narada Muni Ji visited Parvati one day. He told her that in this birth too, she can get married to Lord Shiva, but for that, she would need to do severe penance. Parvati decided that she will do any kind of Tapasya to marry Lord Shiva. She went into severe penance. It was no ordinary Tapasya, her practice went on for thousands and thousands of years. After years of her Tapasya, Lord Shiva was pleased and agreed to marry her.

Devi Bhramacharini is known for immense sacrifice, perseverance, and purity. She is the symbol of the perfect devotee, ready to forego all comfort to achieve what she has set her heart upon. As Devi Parvati went into severe penance for thousands of years to please Lord Shiva and marry him, it is the leader's main responsibility to be steadfast about achieving the goals. It is only natural for the mind to digress, to try to wriggle out of a tough commitment, but the soul must be set on the goal in order for one to achieve it.

The simple formula that has worked for me is 3 D’s

Discipline

Determination

Dedication

A leader should be determined in executing the strategies; strategies that are the best and it’s a win-win-win for all the three, i.e., for the customers, employees, and all the stakeholders. He should make the team introspect about why they come to work and create an emotional connection to the organizational objective. Without that inspiration, the team will not have reason to go beyond the call of duty and become just transactional.

The leader must constantly push his team members to move beyond their comfort zone to achieve something extraordinary. Devi Bhramacharini did not undergo her Tapasya because it was easy. She did it, despite it being extremely difficult because she was a woman of power who would not falter on her way to her goal.

A leader has to stay determined and focused on his goals, as Devi Parvati was completely into her Tapasya without any food or water. He should constantly introspect and continue with what went well, abandon what did not go well, create and be innovative in products and services to customers, so that the organization and its people thrive on better prospects and opportunities.

Shubh Navratri

Srikanth Ram, a life and business coach, is also the author of the No 1 Bestseller “Leadership lessons from 22 Yards”- An interesting comparison of cricket and corporate stories for entrepreneurs and leaders to create high-performance teams and winning culture.