• Drawn from teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, a Practical Guide to dealing with uncertainty in today’s Volatile, Complex and Ambiguous world in Trump 2 era. 

Levied in July 2025 Liberation Day Tariffs by U.S. President Trump 2 and subsequent events caused uncertainty worldwide. How does one deal with it?

We are often told that we live in a VUCA world - volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Markets fluctuate unpredictably. Technologies disrupt established systems. Institutions struggle to retain trust. Individuals experience increasing mental restlessness and stress. There is speed everywhere, but very little stillness.

When we reflect on this condition, the opening scene of the Bhagavad Gita comes to mind. Arjuna stands on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, overwhelmed and confused. His crisis is not merely political or military - it is psychological and moral. He is paralysed by doubt and imagined consequences of action.

In many ways, that is our condition today.

The Gita describes itself as a Yogashastra - a science of yoga. Yet yoga here is far more than physical postures or breathing techniques. It is a comprehensive framework for living with clarity, balance and responsibility.

Sri Krishna defines yoga in several profound ways. "Samatvam yoga uchyate" - yoga is equanimity. "Yogah karmasu kaushalam" - yoga is excellence in action. And in Chapter 6, He says, "Tam vidyad duhkha-samyoga-viyogam yoga-samjnitam" - know yoga as the separation from union with sorrow. 

This definition is especially relevant in our times. Much of our suffering arises not from events themselves, but from attachment to them - attachment to success, recognition, control and outcome. When circumstances fluctuate, the mind becomes disturbed because identity is tied too tightly to external results.

Yoga, in the Gita’s vision, loosens this binding. 

There is also a very practical teaching that deserves attention:

Yuktahara-viharasya

Yukta-cestasya karmasu

Yukta-svapnavabodhasya

Yogo bhavati duhkha-ha (6.17)

For one who is moderate in food and recreation, balanced in action, regulated in sleep and wakefulness - yoga becomes the destroyer of sorrow.

How relevant this is today.

Anxiety often arises from imbalance - overwork, overstimulation, irregular habits and constant comparison. The Gita does not advocate withdrawal from life. It teaches disciplined moderation.

A regulated lifestyle forms the foundation of mental steadiness.

The teaching of Nishkaam Karma further strengthens this foundation. "Your right is to action alone, never to its fruits." This does not suggest indifference to results. Rather, it calls for freedom from emotional dependence on them. 

In a volatile environment, outcomes are never fully in our control. If inner stability depends entirely on success, anxiety becomes inevitable. But when one performs one’s duty with sincerity while surrendering attachment to results, strength develops. One acts fully, yet remains inwardly composed. 

The Gita extends this principle through the idea of Lokasamgraha - action undertaken for the welfare and cohesion of society. Sri Krishna reminds Arjuna that even the wise continue to act, not for personal gain, but to sustain social order. "Whatever the best do, others follow." 

In modern public life, business and leadership, decisions driven purely by self-interest weaken already fragile systems. When action is guided by dharma and responsibility toward the larger good, collective resilience grows stronger.

Equanimity therefore becomes not only a personal virtue but a social necessity.

The Gita also teaches that our true identity is deeper than temporary roles. We are not merely our designations, successes or failures. We are the witnessing consciousness - the Atman - behind changing experiences. When this understanding becomes firm, complexity loses its power to intimidate. One responds thoughtfully rather than reacting impulsively.

In an ambiguous world, trust is equally important. The Gita encourages surrender to a higher order - not fatalism, but faith that life unfolds within a larger intelligence. When action becomes an offering rather than an assertion of ego, anxiety reduces.

Arjuna’s crisis did not disappear because the battlefield vanished. It disappeared because his understanding changed. He moved from confusion to clarity, from paralysis to purposeful action. This is the enduring message of the Gita as Yogashastra. 

Our VUCA world may not become less volatile or uncertain if we cultivate balance in lifestyle, detachment in action, commitment to Lokasamgraha and steadiness of mind, we can meet uncertainty without fragmentation.

Yoga, as taught in the Gita, is not escape from life’s battlefield. It is the inner discipline that enables us to stand firmly within it - calm, responsible and awake.

Sri Krishna also reminds us that the fluctuations of life are temporary. “Matra-sparsas tu kaunteya… anityah” (2.14) - experiences of pleasure and pain, heat and cold, arise and pass; they are transient. What we call today’s VUCA realities are not permanent conditions but passing phases in the larger flow of existence.

As the Gita concludes, Sri Krishna does not compel Arjuna. “Reflect fully, and then act as you choose” (18.63) - the freedom to follow or not remains with each of us. Yet the final assurance is unmistakable: “Where there is Krishna, the Lord of Yoga, and Arjuna, the archer, there are prosperity, victory, welfare and firm righteousness” (18.78). When divine wisdom guides human effort, the result is promised - good fortune, success and stable order. 

The choice to follow the Gita or not rests with us. Yet the promise - the eternal guarantee of noble and victorious outcomes for those who live by its wisdom was declared by the Lord Himself.

Dr. Milind R. Agarwal   is an entrepreneur, teacher and Founder & CEO of Quickwork, with a deep interest in Indian philosophy and its application to contemporary leadership and society. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Mumbai for his doctoral thesis titled “Srimad Bhagavad Gita: Search and Application of Values to Management,” reflecting his ongoing work in integrating timeless Indic wisdom with modern management thought.

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