Hear the truth, decide calmly and protect your people, with lessons from the epics
Vidura's counsel, Narada's questions, the Yaksha at the lake and Bhishma on the duties of a ruler, turned into a daily, weekly and monthly leadership practice with ready-to-use tools.
- An e-book of about 10,400 words in 10 chapters, each with a modern scene, the source, a method, a worked example and the file to open
- The Narada Operating Review: 50 modern leader checks in five areas, scored monthly with evidence, actions and a trend by area
- A practice workbook with a streak counter and dashboard, 6 fillable PDF forms, 39 scripts, 27 AI prompts and 52 team emails
- A 52-card dilemma deck, 24 cases retold with discussion questions, a workshop guide and a 12-week calendar
Leadership from the Epics: Mahabharata and Ramayana · Bodhih Pro Kits · 153 by Bodhih Training, trainers to 2,000+ companies since 2008.
What leadership lessons can managers learn from the Mahabharata and Ramayana?
The epics teach leaders to seek unwelcome counsel and act on it (Vidura), review operations honestly (Narada's questions), pause before acting under pressure (the Yaksha), protect the people who depend on them (Bhishma) and hold power as stewards (Bharata). Bodhih Training's Leadership from the Epics kit turns these into daily tools.
Want the full free guide first? Read Mahabharata Leadership Lessons for Managers: A Practical Guide.
You already feel the problem. Here is what it is costing you.
Good news only
The board pack looks fine and the people who know otherwise have stopped saying so. By the time the truth arrives, it is expensive.
Advice agreed with and never acted on
You nod at the review, praise the candid colleague, and then a trusted favourite talks you round. Nothing changes.
Drift that nobody decided
Pay slips a month, a supplier waits sixty days, excellent work goes unthanked. No one chose it; it just happened.
Decisions under pressure
In a crisis everyone acts at once, and three problems replace one. Or a peer's dare pushes you into a promise you regret.
Loyalties that pull apart
A mentor's handshake, a founder's promise, a friend's request: loyalty and principle point in different directions and there is no script.
Picture the next few weeks with the kit open beside you.
Picture tomorrow morning. Before you open the inbox, you write one name on your Vidura check: the person most likely to tell you what you do not want to hear. By lunch you have asked them a real question, and you know something your dashboard did not.
On Monday you draw a dilemma card in the team meeting, give it a minute of quiet and let everyone speak before you do. As you hold your view until last, notice who speaks up for the first time, and what they have been carrying.
At the end of the month you open the Narada Operating Review and answer twenty questions with evidence. Imagine the quarter in which every 'No' became an owned action, and the people area of your review climbed because overtime is now paid on time.
Twelve weeks from now, whether you started with the morning check or the operating review, you will have a Dashboard of kept days, unwelcome truths heard and actions closed, and a team that has learned that bad news is welcome.
22 files that do the work for you
The e-book shows you how. The tools make it happen. Here is exactly what you download.
Leadership from the Epics: Mahabharata and Ramayana (e-book, PDF)
The guide: methods, worked examples, scripts and exercises
Start here: the map of the kit
Map of the kit: the daily, weekly and monthly rhythm, which file to open for each leadership moment, your first hour and a 30/60/90-day plan.
Epics Leadership Practice Workbook
Nine-sheet master workbook: settings, 29-principle library, the morning Vidura check log with streak counter, weekly review with dilemma cards, situations log, monthly team pulse, 28-action programme tracker and a dashboard with a calm-trend chart.
Narada Operating Review workbook
The signature diagnostic: Narada's questions to a new king rewritten as 50 modern leader checks in five areas, with a monthly rotation of 20, yes/partly/no scoring with evidence, actions and owners, a trend by area, a review log and a dashboard.
Morning Vidura check: a week per page
Fillable weekly page for the three-minute morning check (who will tell me what I don't want to hear today?), the decision to pause on, the nearest of the six faults and an evening close-the-loop line, plus a Friday look-back.
Dilemma card discussion sheet
Fillable sheet for the weekly fifteen-minute team discussion of one dilemma card: the card, the round, what we heard, the action we agree and the check-back.
Counsel review: who advises me and what they risk telling me
Monthly fillable review of your circle of advisers: judgement, candour, what each risks by telling you the truth, the mix you need, your sequence for big decisions and the confidentiality line.
Loyalty or right? A Karna dilemma worksheet
Two-page fillable worksheet for when loyalty to a person and loyalty to what is right pull apart: name both loyalties, separate the person from the request, ask whose harm you would join, find the Hanuman move and plan the conversation.
Steward, not owner: Bharata handover plan
Fillable plan for any role held in trust (acting role, inherited team, colleague's client, family business): owner and term, the sandals list, what you may change, a weekly ledger and the handback.
Yaksha questions: calm answers before action
Two-page fillable sheet for incidents, crises and decisions under pressure: stop the rush, four calm questions answered in writing, one next step, the three-question pause and the fairness test.
24 epic leadership cases, retold with discussion questions
24 scenes from the Mahabharata and Ramayana retold in Bodhih's own words, each with a source reference, a modern workplace parallel, three discussion questions and the principle it teaches.
Leadership scripts and messages
39 exact-words scripts, emails and chat messages for unwelcome counsel, consultation, the operating review, calm under pressure, speaking up, duty of care, stewardship, loyalty and promises, each with when to use it.
Team workshop facilitator guide
Facilitator's guide for a 90-minute and a half-day team workshop on the epics' leadership lessons: timings, slide outline, exercises with the dilemma cards and cases, debrief questions and follow-up.
Team leadership code (one-page charter)
One-page team charter to adopt in the workshop: how we give and take counsel, how we decide, how we speak up, how we look after each other, how we keep promises and how we open gates.
Principle of the week: 52 team emails
52 short team emails or chat posts (one per card), each with a subject line, one principle, one dilemma for the weekly discussion and one action.
AI prompt pack for leaders
27 tool-agnostic AI prompts grouped by leadership moment, each with what to paste in and what to check, plus privacy rules.
Worked example pack: Ngozi's first quarter
The main forms completely filled in for one composite leader: a morning Vidura check week, a counsel review, a Narada review, a Yaksha pause, a loyalty dilemma, a handover plan and a dilemma card discussion.
All principles on one page, and about the sources
The 29 principles in plain words with what each does not mean, plus a card on the texts and translations used and how to read them.
Situation finder, and misreadings and mistakes
Decision card: for each common leadership moment, the principle, the first move and the file to open; plus the common misreadings of the epics and mistakes to avoid.
Epics dilemma card deck
52 printable dilemma cards in four suits (Counsel, Judgement, Duty of Care, Character), one principle per card with a verbatim source line or an In plain words line, a dilemma question and a one-line action, plus a how-to page.
12-week programme calendar
48 calendar events for the 12-week programme: the morning check and weekly card, the team discussion, the Friday review, plus the counsel review, three Narada reviews, the workshop and the final review.
12-week programme task board import
28 programme tasks ready to import into Trello, Asana, Planner, Notion or Jira, with week, focus, task, file to open and status.
Chapter by chapter
Each chapter opens with a real situation, gives you a method and ends with something to do today, using the tools in your kit.
- Format
- PDF e-book + XLSX + fillable PDF + DOCX + printable PDF + ICS + CSV
- Files
- 22 files plus a one-click ZIP
- E-book
- 69 pages
- Works with
- Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice, Word, Google Docs, Acrobat Reader, GoodNotes, Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple Calendar, Trello, Asana, Notion
- Best for
- Managers, team leads, founders, heads of function, HR and L&D leaders of any faith or none
The Counsel You Do Not Want
Vidura's counsel to a sleepless king: why useful truths are rare, why hearing them is only half the job, and the three-minute morning check.
Marks of the Wise: Judgement Before Action
The agent, act and purpose test before any decision, the marks of the wise, and the six faults that ruin judgement.
Counsel and Confidence: Whom to Consult and What to Keep
Not alone and not with everyone: whom to consult, whom to avoid, at least three advisers, and what to keep confidential until it is decided.
Narada's Questions: The Operating Review
Narada's questions to a new king as a monthly operating review: fifty checks across people, money, advisers, customers and the weak and the absent.
The Yaksha's Questions: Calm Answers Before Action
The Yaksha at the lake: four calm questions before action when everyone is rushing, and a fairness test for hard choices.
The Dice Game: When a Leader's Weakness Goes Unchecked
Yudhishthira's dice game: finding the pattern that switches your judgement off, fencing it, and why silence in the room is not neutral.
Bhishma on Duty of Care: Protect the People Who Depend on You
Bhishma on the duties of a ruler: protection first, neither too mild nor too fierce, protecting the messenger and the weapon not made of steel.
Steward, Not Owner: Bharata and the Sandals
Bharata and the sandals: holding a role in trust, the sandals list, a weekly ledger and handing it back in good order.
Followers and Loyalties: Hanuman and Karna
Hanuman's initiative and upward tact, and Karna's loyalty dilemma: what to do when loyalty to a person and to what is right pull apart.
Promises, Rigid Duty and Closed Gates: Rama, Sita and Ekalavya
Rama's promises and Sita's reply, and Drona's closed gate to Ekalavya: keeping your word without others paying for it, and opening gates to talent.
Not just reading. Tools you will actually open again.
E-book
- Leadership from the Epics: Introduction, 10 chapters, Conclusion and two appendices, with 55 short quotations from two public-domain translations and fresh In plain words renderings
Spreadsheets
- Epics Leadership Practice Workbook: settings, 29-principle library, morning Vidura check log with streak counter, weekly review, situations log, team pulse, 28-action programme tracker and dashboard
- Narada Operating Review: 50 questions in five areas, a monthly rotation of 20, scores with evidence and actions, area trend, review log and dashboard
Fillable PDF forms
- Morning Vidura check: a week per page
- Dilemma card discussion sheet
- Counsel review: who advises me and what they risk telling me
- Loyalty or right? A Karna dilemma worksheet
- Steward, not owner: Bharata handover plan
- Yaksha questions: calm answers before action
Word templates
- 24 epic leadership cases, retold in our own words with discussion questions
- Leadership scripts and messages: 39 scripts, emails and chat messages
- Team workshop facilitator guide: 90-minute and half-day versions
- Team leadership code: a one-page charter to adopt
- Principle of the week: 52 team emails
- AI prompt pack: 27 tool-agnostic prompts with what to paste in and what to check
- Worked example pack: Ngozi's first quarter, the main forms filled in
Cheat sheets
- Start here: the map of the kit, first hour and 30/60/90 days
- All 29 principles on one page, and about the sources
- Situation finder, and misreadings and mistakes
Print, calendar and import
- Epics dilemma card deck: 52 cards plus a how-to page
- 12-week programme calendar (48 events) for Google, Outlook or Apple Calendar
- 12-week programme task board (28 tasks) for Trello, Asana, Planner, Notion or Jira
When you have worked through it, you will be able to…
Every outcome is practised with a worked example and a tool, not just described.
- You will be able to start each day with a three-minute check that brings you one unwelcome truth
- You will be able to test any decision for agent, act and purpose, and spot which of the six faults is pushing you
- You will be able to consult the right few people, keep counsel until a decision is ready and announce it well
- You will be able to run a monthly operating review with evidence and owned actions
- You will be able to slow a crisis down with four calm questions and a fairness test
- You will be able to name the pattern that switches off your judgement and fence it
- You will be able to hold a role in trust and hand it back in good order
- You will be able to work through loyalty, promise and gatekeeping dilemmas with your team
Know your starting point. Prove your progress.
People who measure before and after improve faster and can show it. AssessAll, our sister assessment platform, has AI-graded assessments that pair with this kit. Take one now, work through the kit, then re-take it.
A taste of the Introduction
It is 02:40 in Lagos and Ngozi Adeyemi is awake. Six weeks ago she became managing director of Kestrel Distribution, a consumer-goods distributor with depots in Lagos, Accra and Nairobi and a shared-services team in Pune. The founder, Mr Bello, now chairs the board. At 10:00 she presents her first quarterly review to him. The numbers look fine, because Tunde, her finance director, has made sure they look fine. What keeps her awake is a three-line email from Efua Mensah, who runs the Accra depot. Suppliers in Ghana are being paid forty days late, two drivers have resigned over unpaid overtime, and "nobody at head office wants to hear this." Ngozi has read it four times. She has not replied.
The honest comparison
| Free templates and typical advice | This kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Popular quotes found online, often modern paraphrases | 55 verbatim lines in the e-book from two public-domain translations, each checked, with fresh plain-words renderings |
| Feedback | 'Be open to feedback' | A daily three-minute check, a monthly counsel review and scripts for thanking the messenger |
| Operations | A generic checklist | Narada's questions rewritten as 50 evidence-based checks with a monthly rotation, actions and trends |
| Team habit | One inspiring offsite | A 52-card dilemma deck, 52 matching emails and a workshop guide |
| Hard parts of the stories | Ignored or glorified | Caste and gender injustice named plainly as abuses of power, with a 'What this does not mean' box in every chapter |
| Respect | Religion used as a sales hook | Literature and heritage read with care; no ritual, no claims about the divine |
Made for you if…
- Managers and team leads who suspect they hear only good news
- New leaders and acting leaders holding a role in trust
- Founders and heads of function who want a disciplined monthly operating review
- HR and L&D leaders looking for ethical-leadership material that works across cultures
- Leaders of global and hybrid teams who want stories that start real conversations
- Senior professionals of any faith or none who are curious about the epics as leadership literature
Probably not for you if…
- Anyone looking for religious teaching, devotion or ritual: this kit offers none
- Readers who want the epics retold in full or a scholarly commentary
- Formal investigations, disciplinary cases or legal disputes, which need HR, legal or compliance
Built by trainers, tested in real rooms.
Bodhih Training has designed and delivered corporate programmes since 2008. Bodhih Pro Kits package what works in those workshops into a guide plus the exact tools we use, so you can apply it the same day without a facilitator in the room.
From here to using it in three steps
- STEP 1
Tap Get the kit
Name, email and country. UPI, card or netbanking in India; international cards everywhere else. No account to create.
- STEP 2
Download instantly
Your download page opens at once, with every file and a one-click ZIP. A permanent link lands in your inbox too.
- STEP 3
Open the first tool
Start with the quick-start chapter, then the main spreadsheet or planner. Most buyers use something from the kit the same day.
Write one name tomorrow morning
Write the name of the person most likely to tell you an unwelcome truth, and ask them one real question before lunch. Whether you begin with the morning check or the Narada review, you will quickly hear what your team has been waiting to tell you.
Personal licence for the buyer's own use (and use with your own team or clients where the kit says so). Please don't share or resell the files. Team and company licences: solutions@bodhih.com.
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Leadership from the Epics: Mahabharata and Ramayana: FAQs
Read the free guideAlready bought? Resend my linkIs this a religious book?
No. The Mahabharata and Ramayana are read here as literature and heritage that millions of people also hold sacred. The kit uses their stories for leadership practice, teaches no ritual or devotion, makes no claims about the divine and treats believers' reverence with respect.
Which translations do you use, and why?
Every quotation is copied word for word from two public-domain English translations: K. M. Ganguli's prose Mahabharata (Calcutta, 1883 to 1896) and R. T. H. Griffith's verse Ramayan of Valmiki (1870 to 1874). We use them because they are complete, freely available and owe nothing to any modern author. The 55 quotations in the e-book are registered and checked; everything else, including every 'In plain words' line, is Bodhih Training's own writing.
What is Vidura Niti, and why does it matter to managers?
Vidura Niti is the name commonly given to Vidura's counsel to the blind king Dhritarashtra in the Udyoga Parva of the Mahabharata (sections XXXIII to XL in Ganguli's translation). It covers the marks of the wise, whom to consult, what to keep confidential, the six faults and the advice a ruler does not want to hear. Chapters 1 to 3 turn it into a daily check and a counsel review.
What are Narada's questions?
When Yudhishthira became king, the sage Narada asked him a long series of questions about advisers, money, pay on time, rewarding merit and protecting the weak (Sabha Parva, section V). The Narada Operating Review workbook rewrites them as 50 modern checks in five areas, twenty a month.
How does the kit handle caste and gender in the stories?
Plainly. Ekalavya's exclusion, the mocking of Karna's birth, Draupadi's humiliation and Sita's ordeal are named as abuses of power we reject and used as lessons, never as models. Every chapter has a 'What this does not mean' box against misuse.
Do I need to know the epics already?
No. Each chapter retells what you need in plain English, and the 24-case library gives short retellings with discussion questions. People who know the stories well will find them treated with care.
Will this work with a global, hybrid team?
Yes. The dilemma cards and cases are about workplace choices, not culture or faith, and the facilitator guide covers remote and hybrid sessions. Examples come from Lagos, Bengaluru, Manila, Nairobi, Dubai, Melbourne, Ohio and São Paulo.
How do I measure my starting point?
If you want an outside view, AssessAll offers the Ethical Leadership and Judgment, Decision-Making Under Uncertainty, and Mentoring and Sponsorship assessments. They are separate products; the kit's own Narada review, Team Pulse and Dashboard track your practice over twelve weeks.
Can I turn this into a development plan?
Yes. Take the habits that stick after twelve weeks and build them into a development plan; the 70-20-10 idea, most learning from doing, some from others and a little from courses, is a useful frame. Jobulary, a separate product, is one place to build that plan.
How does it relate to other Bodhih kits?
It goes deep on counsel, judgement, duty of care and loyalty through the epics. The Bhagavad Gita has its own kit, The Gita Leader. For ten traditions applied to personal life, see Old Wisdom for Modern Days; for hard feedback, one-to-ones, delegation and negotiation in depth, see the Difficult Conversations Kit, the One-to-One and Feedback System, the Delegation and Workload Planner and the Negotiation and Influence Kit.
How much does Leadership from the Epics: Mahabharata and Ramayana cost?
₹1,299 including 18% GST for buyers in India, or $34 for buyers outside India. One-time payment, no subscription, with an automatic invoice.
How do I get the files after paying?
Instantly. Your download page opens the moment payment succeeds, and a permanent download link is emailed to you. Download each file separately or everything in one ZIP.
What software do I need?
Any of the usual tools: Excel or Google Sheets for spreadsheets, Word or Google Docs for templates, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Preview, Xodo or GoodNotes for the fillable PDFs, and Google, Outlook or Apple Calendar for the calendar plan.
Can I get a refund?
Because it is a digital download, kits are not refundable once downloaded. We always refund a duplicate charge or a failed delivery, and if a file is corrupted and we cannot fix it within 3 working days. Full terms: bodhih.org/refunds.
Can my company buy this for a team?
Yes. Team and company licences, and workshops on this topic run by Bodhih Training, are available. Write to solutions@bodhih.com or call +91 99000 11601.
