यो यत्र कुशलः कार्ये तं तत्र विनियोजयेत्

यो यत्र कुशलः कार्ये तं तत्र विनियोजयेत्।

कर्मण्यवृष्टकर्मा यः शास्त्रज्ञोऽपि विमुह्यति॥

नारायणपण्डितप्रणीते हितोपदेशे ३-५४

yo yatra kuśalaḥ kārye taṁ tatra viniyojayet|

karmaṇyavṛṣṭakarmā yaḥ śāstrajño'pi vimuhyati||

nārāuaṇapaṇḍitapraṇīte hitopadeśe 3-54

The subhashitam from Hitopadesham of Narayana Pandita underlined the importance of harmonious deployment and knowledge, skill and efficiency in any line of activity..

A person who is having skill and training and good knowledge in a field of activity or work, should be engaged or deployed in that fields alone.

Even if a person has great knowledge in many shastras and humanities, if he is not having skill and orientation in a particular field of activity, then that person would be baffled, and helpless, in spite of being the best in many fields..

But in real life, this happens too many times.

For a moment let us forget about fellows with no skill or knowledge being deployed in a work.. He need not have any confusion.. He will blotch up the issue within a short time and would be out of the field..

But a great teacher, if he is sent to a battlefield with guns or bows and arrows may not succeed.. Of course, there are good teachers in military training schools and academies.. but that is incidental..

And teachers, especially in academic matters wage battles to death.. That is another thing..

A Vadhyar cannot hold a mass in a church, in spite of his great Vedic knowledge.. And a father of the Church may not conduct us through an amavasya tarpanam..

A good student with quantitative skills in mathematics but not adept in literature and in use of romance, if he dons the mantle of a poet or a fiction writer, may face failure..

An advocate or judge may interpret laws and even decide the fate of a nation for millenniums.. But if he is handed over a scalpel and is asked to correct a hernia, what can he do?

Skills and knowledge are vital.. But deployment with proper orientation is equally vital.. or even more vital..

Regards

k v ananthanarayanan