On an individualistic level, how do adults make decisions, and what influences them?
In a broad sense, it comes down to “variables” that are both internal as well as external. After considerable growth of different parts of the brain due to age and a few Saturn returns later, we can be sure that one’s inner self weighs a little higher in making decisions. As Ray Dalio puts it, one’s “principles” weigh the most in decision-making. But despite having principles, we would have to be ruthlessly transparent in admitting that, as humans trying to wing it in Kaliyuga, our “Sankalpa” is rather a weak go-to mechanism.
We are inadvertently influenced by cosmic forces like the antardasha and maahdasha we go through, our habits, as well as the Ayurvedic doshas that are influenced by controllable factors like lifestyle and food habits, and uncontrollable factors like the vayur-agnir-aapaha of the weather of the place we are placed in for the moment, that influence our bodily ayurvedic doshas considerably.
This brings to question the most essential factor that shapes our life itself — polity and politics (in a single word: public policy). Administrators are humans too, so how do they perform their duties “to the best of their capabilities” as they vowed to while taking their oath? To not veer away from taking an optimal decision, from the most decentralised polity units to the highest Sabhas, stakeholder consultation and consensus play the most important role. Performing to the best of one’s abilities comes flawlessly only with a rock-like Vairagya and at an administrative level, a considerable amount of Swadharma Paripalanam.
Dharma for an administrator in India is not just rooted in following the Constitution but also in formulating and executing with the right degree of external diplomacy and addressing any raging internal issues with the right mindset. Politics plays a considerable role in deciding policies. For example, in the United Kingdom, the parties vying for power are generally the Tories, the Labour Party, the liberal democrats, and the Independents.
Hypothetically speaking, if the UK were a place that had an alarming issue of having the risk of 80% of its green cover destroyed, then the need of the hour would be to have more policies that protect the green cover — the nub of the green party, but a cause not directly favoured by the conservatives. In this case, the ideal Dharma or the Summum Bonum for the UK would be to favour policies that protect nature and forest land. But, to say that only the green party can help the state owing to its ideology comes off as a logical fallacy, because other factors like economic and scientific advancement, and the resilience to counter terrorism in the state are key factors too. It is not just interconnected systems thinking, but also design thinking that needs to be executed into timely and actionable policy.
As India’s presence in the world is not only as the oldest democracy, but also as a cultural pot with rich region-based heritage that culminate from strong civilizational thinking that date from the pre-Vedic period, it is incumbent that India not only aces it by keeping with the times when it comes to economic development, aesthetic auchitya, and scientific advancement, but also retains and takes forward the rootedness that kept it alive and thriving in the global landcape in all the ages passed by. In short, the Arthashastra should be deemed as essential as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in administration. In 2025, India is ruled by a party that tries well to touch the original benchmarks of this Dharmic land. If we looked deeper, the foreign service and the El Supremo Nation State used Kautilya’s 4 Upayas in dealing with Pakistan during the recent Pahalgam skirmish in May 2025 in the following ways:
- Sama (Conciliation): We observe that the Indus Water treaty was initially established to bring both Nations to a peace zone, brought about by the Shimla Agreement of 1972.[1] However, India tried its best to reconcile till the last straw, when the adversary sponsored terrorism blatantly, breached land limits, and killed innocent Indian tourists in the name of religion.
- Dana (Gift): While the Indian Government has provided relief assistance to Pakistan on several occasions, including sending blankets during Pakistan’s 2006 natural disasters[2], the Indian Government in 2025 has gone so far as to block the Twitter accounts of Pakistani celebrities, thanks to its ridiculous pro-terrorist endorsements. India here follows the rule that even the daana performed has limits.
- Bheda (Division): Bheda, in the context of Chanakya’s Arthashastra, is creating differences in the enemy camp. With the Gulf Nations trying its best to modernise its world views enhance how it looks to the world and remove the shame of Jihadi terrorism from itself, Pakistan’s demenour of causing constant blemish to the name of Islam and skirting around Arab Nations for favour was seen with major dispproval of the latter. Post the Pahalgam attack, the Saudis even abandoned Pakistan.[3] In the background, India has already set up divisions in the enemy camp by getting the Saudis to have its arms on Indian shoulders via various economic deals.[4]
- Danda (Punishment): The concept is found in Book 7, Chapter 18 of the Arthashastra, which deals with the application of the four Upayas suggests that if the first three methods (Sama, Dana, Bheda) fail, then Danda (here, military force) should be used.[5] Operation Sindoor represents a classic application of Danda, where targeted terrorist infrastructure was attacked specifically while avoiding Pakistani military establishments, showing a measured application of force.
[4] The Conduct of a Madhyama King, a Neutral King, and of a Circle of States
