By Bipin Ram Agarwal
Senior Working President, International Vaish Federation
In business, the one resource beyond negotiation is time.
Money can be raised, people can be hired, markets can be rebuilt — but once a moment is gone, it never returns. The ancients knew this truth long before management schools put it in frameworks.
न हि कश्चित् विजानाति किं कस्य श्वो भविष्यति ।
अतः श्वः करणीयानि कुर्यादद्यैव बुद्धिमान् ॥
No one knows what will happen to whom tomorrow.
So a wise man should do all of tomorrow’s tasks today.
The above verse captures the essence of business timing. Opportunity doesn’t wait. Action delayed is growth denied.
Time as Capital, Not Clock
The sharpest business minds treat time like capital - precious, finite, and capable of compounding when invested well.
A meeting without purpose, a task without clarity, or a decision postponed all quietly bleed value.
If your calendar doesn’t mirror your priorities, someone else is managing your time for you.
In the Vedic sense, Kaal is not just chronological; it’s moral. How one uses time determines dharma - personal order and organisational rhythm alike. Efficiency follows integrity of intent.
Rhythm and Discipline: The Real Productivity
The Vedic day was divided not by convenience, but by consciousness: Brahma Muhurta for reflection, daylight for work, dusk for gratitude, night for rest. The pattern matters.
Businesses too need that rhythm creation, execution, review, renewal. Constant activity without pause is not progress; it’s noise.
Discipline, like the four ashrams of life, gives structure to growth. There is a time to build, a time to scale, and a time to simplify. Misreading that cycle, expanding when focus is needed or pausing when agility is called for costs dearly.
As business leaders, timing decisions correctly is the real form of strategy. The world rewards rhythm, not restlessness.
Stillness and Focus: The New Leadership Edge
Atharvaveda teaches that mastery over mind precedes mastery over time. Modern business calls this focus. The most effective leaders are not those who work longest hours, but those who work with sharp presence. Every “no” they say preserves the power of their “yes.”
And in the noise of modern enterprise, stillness is the rarest competitive advantage.
Moments of silence — a quiet reflection before a decision, a pause before reaction, create clarity. The Kaal Chakra turns for all, but only those in rhythm with it turn gracefully.
The Rigveda reminds us that even a kshana - a single moment, has value. How we spend it defines what we leave behind.
Time isn’t just a tool of business. It’s the mirror of leadership, the measure of discipline, and the seed of legacy.
Because in the end, profit measures performance, but time measures purpose.
: How Wise Business Leaders Treat Time as Capital, Not Calendar){kind=link}