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Bhagavad GitaMay 30, 2026·2 min read

Kauśalam

By Hyuma Mahadevia

Most of the bad calls I have watched in business came from smart people who had decided in advance who they were going to be in the room. Mahabharata gives you three options for that decision.

Bhishma stayed rigid even when the data changed. He had a vow. The vow had him. By the end, even Krishna had to invent a workaround to take him out, because Bhishma was not going to update himself for anybody, including reality.

Drona kept flipping with his emotions. Tell him his son was dead and his weapons fell. Flatter him and he expanded. Threaten him and he shrank. A great teacher of archery and a very expensive employee in a crisis.

Krishna stayed flexible because he was rooted in context, logic, and dharma. Notice the seat Krishna chose. He drove the chariot. From the charioteer's seat he could see the whole field, the changing wind, the faces on both sides, the moment Arjuna started to break. He could change tactics because his ground was deeper than any single decision.

BG 2.50: buddhi-yukto jahātīha ubhe sukṛta-duṣkṛte, tasmād yogāya yujyasva, yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam.

Yoga is skill in action.

Skill is the word that matters. Kauśalam. The capacity to do the right thing in this moment, free from yesterday's call and free from whoever is shouting loudest today. The verse names buddhi as the source of that skill. Buddhi is wisdom that reads the moment and stays rooted to dharma at the same time. Bhishma had rules. Drona had reactions. Krishna had buddhi.

The verse tells you which one to aim for.

Most leaders I know believe they are Krishna. Most are Drona in a Bhishma costume. They flip under pressure and then call the flip "principle." The question you ask honestly to yourself is this. Is the refusal to change because the data has not changed, or because the old call has become part of who you are? Is the willingness to change coming from a clearer read of the situation, or from whoever pushed last?

Skill in action means changing the call when the data changes. Dharma is what keeps you rooted while you do it.