Infosys’ founder NR Narayana Murthy inspired by Bhagavad Gita, reveals his favorite Mahabharata character

NR Narayana Murthy, the founder and former chairman of the Indian IT services company, revealed that he is deeply inspired by Bhagavad Gita. The billionaire also spoke about his favorite character from the Indian epic Mahabharata.

While speaking at Moneycontrol’s Startup Conclave 2023, Murthy said, “The character that has inspired me the most from Mahabharata is Karna, and that is because of his generosity. That is the way I grew up.”

The Infosys founder also revealed how he has tried to emulate the Mahabharata character in his life. He noted that he has been generous in distributing the wealth that accumulated from Infosys with his colleagues and other company members.

“I was fair to the extent possible; I enjoyed the company of people who thought that Infosys was their company. I enjoyed the company of people who showed more enthusiasm than me in many ways. I knew that in order to do that, I cannot say that I will keep the major percentage,” said Murthy.

Murthy also highlighted that there have been times in an entrepreneur’s life when they have to embrace faith and God. He also quoted Bhagavad Gita to impart a lesson to the audience.

“There are times when you have to transcend logic and embrace faith. And that is the time when your belief in God will all fructify,” said the Infosys founder.

Quoting Bhagavad Gita, he said, “As Bhagavad Gita says - all of that you do, whatever you are supposed to do, do that in the best possible way, in the best possible manner, and leave the rest to God.”

In the same event, Murthy’s wife, Sudha Murty, speaking about her husband, said that successful men are “not normal.”

She said, “I just want to tell you all that it is very difficult to deal with a more successful man. They are not normal, they are eccentric, they don’t have logic at home- it is only in the office.”

Murty also said that as per her experience, ‘successful men’ expect a lot from their significant others. She said, “They expect you to be their wife, secretary, finance manager, nanny, adviser and many more roles. A woman has to do all those. And any one of them you fail that affects them badly.”