Focus and Perspective: The Eye and the Vision

The Mahabharata tells the story of Arjuna, the third of the five Pandava brothers, who was an extraordinary archer. During an archery lesson, his teacher, Drona, pointed to a bird sitting on a branch and instructed his students to aim for its eye.

“Describe what you see,” Drona asked each one.
Yudhishthira, the eldest, replied, “I see a bird on the branch of a tree.”
Bhima said, “I see a bird on the branch of a mango tree.”
Duryodhana, Arjuna’s cousin, added, “I see a bird on the branch of a mango tree that stands before a banyan tree.”
When it was Arjuna’s turn, he said, “I see only the eye of the bird, nothing else.”

When the time came to shoot, only Arjuna’s arrow hit the target. His teacher smiled — this was the power of true focus.

When Focus Fails: Arjuna in the Battlefield

However, later in life, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna lost that very focus. For the first time, he looked beyond the target — and what he saw filled him with despair. Standing before him were not faceless enemies but his granduncle Bhishma, his revered teacher Drona, his cousins, friends, and family members.

Arjuna was torn by conflicting emotions.
He had to fight to reclaim the kingdom rightfully belonging to him and his brothers, which the Kauravas had refused to return. Yet he wanted to withdraw because he could not bear to raise his weapon against his own kin.

He had to fight to avenge the humiliation of his wife, Draupadi, who had been dragged into the gambling hall and disrobed by Dushasana. Yet he wished to withdraw, believing peace was better than violence.

He had to fight because it was his duty as a warrior to uphold justice. Yet he wanted to withdraw because the price — the lives of his loved ones — seemed too great.

He had to fight to prove himself the greatest archer of all, especially to Karna. Yet he wanted to withdraw because his victory would be forever stained with blood.

Focus and Perspective

Here we see a man of great focus unable to handle perspective.
Focus is about targets, ambition, and achievement.
Perspective is about cause, context, and consequences.

Focus is attention; perspective is awareness.
Focus drives action; perspective drives understanding.
A person with focus acts decisively — but may act thoughtlessly.
A person with perspective thinks deeply — but may hesitate to act.
In excess, either can be destructive.

The Balance of Mind: Patanjali’s Insight

In Patanjali’s Yogasutra, two practices are highlighted: Dharana (concentration) and Dhyana (meditation).

• Dharana focuses the mind on one point — it is about narrowing attention.

• Dhyana expands the mind — it is about awareness of the whole.

One leads toward the infinite; the other toward the precise.
One cultivates mindfulness; the other, mindlessness.
In the state of tamas (ignorance), neither is valued.
In rajas (activity), only one is valued.
In sattva (balance), both are harmonized — and that harmony leads to wisdom.

Focus vs. Perspective in Modern Organizations

In today’s workplaces, many leaders are trained to be so focused that they lose perspective.

• A salesperson may dedicate their life to selling and fail to appreciate the strategic role of marketing or demand generation.

• A CEO may obsess over short-term balance sheets and spend more time with the CFO and spreadsheets than with the business development team shaping the company’s long-term vision.

• HR professionals may focus so narrowly on policies and recruitment that they forget they operate within an evolving industry context, losing connection with entrepreneurs who need strategic partners, not administrators.

  Every function is part of a business.
  Every business is part of an industry.
  Every industry is part of an economy.
  Every economy is part of society.

Focus limits our vision to the part; perspective reminds us of the whole.
Many professionals let perspective follow focus — their job becomes more important than the organization’s mission. True leadership demands the opposite: focus should follow perspective. One must first understand the whole before concentrating on one part.

Key Differences Between Focus and Perspective

Focus:

Definition - Concentrating attention on a specific goal or task

Scope - Narrow and specific

Nature - Doing and achieving

Driven by - Ambition and target

Result - Efficiency and precision

Risk - Tunnel vision, impulsiveness

Ideal State - When guided by perspective

Perspective:

Definition - Understanding the larger context and consequences

Scope - Broad and inclusive

Nature - Thinking and understanding

Driven by - Awareness and insight

Result - Wisdom and balance

Risk - Overthinking, indecision

Ideal State - When complemented by focus

A Simple Example

Imagine a photographer.
If he focuses too narrowly, he captures the details of a flower but misses the beauty of the entire landscape.
If he only keeps perspective, he sees the vast scenery but fails to capture a clear subject.
The best photograph requires both — focus for clarity and perspective for meaning.

Balanced Vision

Arjuna’s dilemma teaches us that life demands both — the precision of focus and the wisdom of perspective. Focus gives us direction; perspective gives us purpose. Only when both are aligned can we act wisely and effectively — hitting the target without losing sight of the world around it.