Emotional Intelligence and the Bhagavad Gita: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue between Ancient Wisdom and Modern Psychology

Abstract

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is an important skill that helps people to understand themselves, manage their emotions, work well with others, and helps them to become good leaders. In modern psychology, EI is mainly linked to scholars like Daniel Goleman, Peter Salovey, and John Mayer. This concept was popularized by Daniel Goleman through his book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ in 1995.Emotional Intelligence is usually explained through five main abilities- self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. Although EI is often seen as a modern idea developed in the twentieth century, its basic principles can be found much earlier in ancient Indian philosophy, especially in the Bhagavad Gītā. This paper studies Emotional Intelligence through the teachings of the Bhagavad Gītā by combining ideas from Sanskrit texts, modern psychology, and philosophy. By closely examining important verses particularly Arjuna’s emotional breakdown on the battlefield and Krishna’s guidance, the study shows that the Bhagavad Gītā presents a clear and well-organized system of emotional understanding and control. This system existed more than two thousand years before modern EI theories. The paper also explains that the Bhagavad Gītā goes beyond modern EI by connecting emotional control with moral duty, spiritual awareness, and responsibility toward society. The study concludes that the Bhagavad Gītā is still very useful today for teaching Emotional Intelligence in areas such as psychology, leadership, education, and mental health.