"Agile" Upayas of Dharm Sastha | Ayyappan and the Purusharthas | Pandavas in Management

The Pandavas mastered the four Upayas or strategies of statecraft and the four Purusharthas under Krishna. 

Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha anchored the Pandavas while they employed Sam, Dana, Dand, and Bhed in Dwapara Yug.

Who else did the same on the ‘dharma’ journey in Kali Yug? Swami Ayyappa, the Dharm Sastha, or the champion of righteousness. 

With Vrishchika Sankranti on November 17, 2015, Vishnupadee Punyakalam commences, as well as Ayyappa’s Sabarimala Mandala Kalam. 

Hari-Haran (son of Vishnu and Shiva) Ayyappa is also called “Parvati-Hriday-Anandam”. He employed Shaiva-Vaishnava Saktheya principles in war leadership, management, and statecraft.

Read More: Pandavas’ Ambit of Bharat: Atman over Ambition in Mahabharat

The Purusharthas 

The Purusharthas (Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha) are the ultimate, hierarchical goals of a human life, moving from worldly conduct to ultimate liberation.

The management philosophy of “Agile” values are a non-hierarchical set of preferences for a project management methodology.

• One could weakly map Dharma (right conduct, duty) to Individuals and Interactions, as it's about the "right way" to conduct a team.

• One could also weakly map Artha (material value) to Working Software, as it is the tangible "wealth" or value being produced.

• However, the correlation completely breaks down after that. Kama (desire, pleasure) and Moksha (liberation) have no logical or effortless parallel in Customer Collaboration or Responding to Change.

Read More: Agile as Democracy: Decoding the Manifesto with Sama, Dana, Danda, and Bheda

The Upayas (An Effortless Correlation)

This correlation is much more powerful. The Upayas are strategies for achieving a goal, particularly in diplomacy or management. The Agile Manifesto is, at its core, a strategic document, and it beautifully maps to these concepts.

The manifesto's "Value X over Y" structure is a direct preference for certain Upayas over others.

(a) Individuals & Interactions / (c) Customer Collaboration

These two values are a clear and direct expression of Sama (Conciliation / Alliance).

• Sama is the strategy of persuasion, diplomacy, and building alliances.

• Valuing Individuals and Interactions is choosing Sama (persuasion, talking) over a rigid process (a form of Danda, or "the stick").

• Valuing Customer Collaboration is the literal definition of Sama—treating the customer as an ally, not an adversary to be "managed" via a contract.

(b) Delivering a Working Software

This is a pure expression of Dana (Giving / Offering).

• Dana is the strategy of giving gifts, making concessions, or offering incentives to build goodwill and achieve an outcome.

• In Agile, the "working software" delivered in small, frequent increments is the ultimate gift. It's the tangible "Dana" that proves the team's value, builds trust, and incentivizes the customer to collaborate (Sama).

(d) Responding to Change

This value represents the mindset required to use Sama and Dana effectively. But its true power is in what the manifesto rejects.

The Agile Manifesto can be read as a radical preference for Sama and Dana over Danda (Punishment / Force).

• "Contract Negotiation" (the rejected item) is a strategy based entirely on the threat of Danda. A contract is a document that says, "If you don't do this, we will apply force/penalties (Danda)." Agile replaces this with Sama (Collaboration).

• "Processes and Tools" (the rejected item), when valued over people, become a form of internal Danda—a rigid "stick" to force compliance, rather than a helpful tool.

• "Following a Plan" (the rejected item) is the same. An iron-clad plan becomes a Danda to punish the team for deviation, even when the reality of the project has changed.

(As for Bheda (Divide), the strategy of "divide and conquer," it is antithetical to the entire Agile philosophy, which is focused on uniting cross-functional teams and breaking down silos between business and development.)

Conclusion

The Agile Manifesto isn't just a 1:1 map to the Upayas; it's a philosophy built on them.

It is a strategic choice to build projects using Sama (Collaboration) and Dana (Delivering Value) while actively rejecting a reliance on Danda (Contractual Threats and Rigid Plans).