. 4! " f; - McGill University

...

"

.",

'

.4! " ...

~k

1:1

f

ft..

(

...

f;

•

AésTRACT

'" ~

a~

The thesis is

f P~iIOSOPhY fi,

analysis of Bal Gangadhar

~ilak's

of k~rma-y~Sè as seen in his cornrnentary on th~

'Gita,the Gïtâ-Rahasya.

'~

The Arya Samaj, for example, cha~pionéd

and racial pride.

1

the idea of cow-protection and in

50

doing antagonized ~

0\

the Muslims.

The Hindu-Muslim riots strengthened the sense

of Hindu communalism and were a contributing factor in the growth of Mus1im separation.

In 1906 the Muslim League

formed as a counterpoise to the Indian National Congress _

and the steady

~osti1e cam~~

_

0

estr~ngement

became an

of Muslims -and Hindus into

important"fa~tot

in the nationalist

movement. 1." . -

Indian nationalism

.

Hindu èommunalism and the linguistic differences within India were two important Sources of qivis,ion.

.Perhaps ~.

the most important factor underlying the gro'wth of the nationalist movement was the influence of British rule. The establishment of British government and the

deve~opment

of communications facilitated centralization and tended to greater unification.

Also, , English becarne the lingua

franca of educated Indians and brought them into contact with European political philosophy and the idea of nationalism prevalent in the West.+ In the de,cade and a half ~rom 1905 to l~'l9 there waSt it

seems,a~'sEmse

of utlcertainty of direction;.

"Indian

nationalisrn was a gathering force but what channels it would "\

take was not yet declared, and several different lines were

22

..

open to ':-i t.

,1 ~,

The aim which-~~s still the most genera11y

.

"

,

,'

accepted was that-India , shdùrd become a self-governing parliamentary democracy."12

nati~nalist

~n its early stages the Indian

movement took the forro of constitutional

'agitation whic~ aimed at secu~~ng for Indians share in the administration of the country.

a

greater

At first,

there was no des ire to sever tfie British' èonnectio~1 but. the reluctance of the government of India,to grant 'reforms produced a distrust of British motives. were being heard.

Now new vaices

Men like Tilak ernphasized not the new

forros of government which the Congress would crea te but rather the immediate struggle. aga\nst imperi~li~m.13 v

get

~he

"To

.', .

British off the backs of the Indtan people was

declared to be the all-absorbing task of nationalism:

the

question of what kind of policy was tO,succeed the British ,

Raj must be left ta look after itself: government was to he democratic

~r

whether Indian

of the traditional type

was aIl one provided that"India was fl!'ee.,,14

However, the

extent to which there;ras a ~ea1 sentiment for independence as opposed to Home RÛle before 1921 is a rooot question. l2George Schuster and Guy wint, India and \DernOcracy (

,

d

29

accuracy, lucidity and vigour. 31 Although Tilak had ideals he was not, according to Ghose, unrealistic or a dreamer. -- Once the ideals were established 1

aIl the rest was for him practical work, the facing of hard facts.

\

-

Ofte\p this involved overcorning great difficulties

.

when they stood in the

~y

use of strong and effectivè ,

of his ~eans

goal. •

Nevertheless, Tilak's

to achieve his end was

u

consistent with his concern for the welfare of the Indian 32 people. ----~~-­

1'1-- -

Old Governrnents and the new battle for swaraj

..

The traditionai conception of government in India was that the" Divine had spoken through the mouths of the' early Iaw-givers 'and that the business of the king was to adrninister the revealed code. 33 "The conception that po1itics was the concern o~he who1e nation, each individua1 " having a concern in and in sorne rneasure a responsibility for the actions of governrnent 'Was unkno'Vln until the arrivaI

\ 1

'of the British." 34 ,.,Immedia tely after the MU,tiny of 1857 3I Ibid ., pp. 293-294.

1

l 1

His Writings~nd Speeches, (

33~'ebrge Schuster_.-aD~uy "

le

l'

32 Ba1 Ganga~har Ti1ak: op. cit., pp. 13-14.

1

~Ibid., p. 20.

Wint, op. cit., p. 70.

7

\

30 '"

the government of India Company to the ~iàwn.

wa~

.. _-......

~"

transferred from the East India ',,\

1

But it was not ~ntil the Government

of India Act of 1919 that the British'Government's po1icy towards India was laid down. 35 In 1905 Gokhale declared that self-government within 36 the Empire was India's political goal. Likewise Naoroji, who presided over the Congress at Calcutta, said that the rights of India "can be'cornprised

in one word, Self-G6v~rnment

or Swa~aj, like that of the United Kingdom or the Colonies. ,,37 It was reserved for Bepin Chandra Pal, who espoused the cause of nationalism in Bengal to define precisely how swaraj could be 'peacefully obtained. 38 Our programme is that we shall so work in the country, so combine the resources of the people, 50 organize the forces of the nation, 50 develop the instincts of freedorn in the community, that by this means we sha11 • • • compel the 5ubmission to our will df any power that may set itself against us. 39 Equa11y definite was Pal as to the methods by which swaraj was to be made irnperative.

Chirol writes:

35Menon, op. cit., p. 19. 36 J . F. C. Fulle~, India in RevoIt (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode Ltd., 19'31), ,p. 132. 37Quoted ibid. 38 Ch'1ro l , op. C1. t ., p. la •

39 Quoted ibid., p. Il.

(

• i'

31

They consis~ of Swadeshi in the economic domain, i.e., th. encouragement of native industries reinforced by the boycott of îmported goods which will kill British commerce and, in the political domain, passive resistance reinforced by the boycott of Government service. 4U Goihale, however, would not back the boycott of government services and schools, being in favour of constitutional

..

agitation. The new party's deterrnination to expand the economic boycott in Bengal to a national -- -ooyc-Ott-ef---al-l---t;hi-rl9~Br±t±Sh-was ï- -in - --- -Gokhale's estimation a disastrous idea, since it meant 'not only Svadeshism in the industrial -field,-out a comprehensive boycott against everything English - English goods, Government schools and Colleges, Government service, honorary offices and so forth so that the only points of contact between the Governrnent and the people should be those of violent hatred.' 41 A politica1 campaign , '---

In 1907 Tilak and Gokhale started a country-wide campaign to convince the people of the correctness of their ,

respective

part~es'

positions.

Concerning the boycott,

Tilak was in firm agreement with Pal. ~

.

In the sessions of

,

the Indian National Congress held at Benares in 1905 and at Calcutta in 1906, when agitaflorr over the partitioning of Benga1 was' a t i ts helight, Tilak had championed the -ide.a 40 Ibid • 4lQuoted in Wolpert, op. cit., pp. 195-196.

«

:t',

'.

32

of swadeshi not as a movement for tbe encouragement of native industries but rather as an economic against British rule. },

we~pon

in the

str~~?le

At Benares the Congress had adopted a

-

This

resoiution which conditiona1ly endorsed the boycott.

was an important precedent and throughout the 1907 campaign Tilak argued that the old'constitutional method of political agit1tion which Congress had followed for the past twenty-one years had finally been proved invalide

In response to d

Gokhale, Tilak wrote edi torials chaJ,lenging the_ validi ty of _ using the word "constitutional" in speaking of Indian agitation.l

In rejecting "violation of the law" and "rebellion"

as legitimate means of agitation, Gokhale was Characterized

,

by Tilak" as one whose political viewpoint had become "muddled, foggy and confusing because he lacks the courage to abandon ,

old methods yet cannot refute the new ideas." Swaraj:

42

the ideal of equality Along with Pal and Ghose, Tilak took a lead role in

developing the philosophy of the independence movement. ~waraj

There were, of course, different ideas about what was and how to get it.

For Dadabhoy Naoroji, Gokhale and

later Gandhi, swaraj did not necessarily rnean independence from the British.

Tilak, howeve~, gave swaraj a' symbolic l

!

42Quoted ibid., pp. 200-201.

l

'J

,

33

religious meaning with strong political overtones not included in Dadabhoy Naoroji's original definition (quoted above p. 30.) ahimsa

At'SO, unlike Gandhi, Tilak did not stress

(harmleS"nJs~ ,.... ,

and guide

or non-violence) as an ..... ethical creed

tO/~~l;Poljtical /

action.

Tilak interpreted

'.

swaraj in a more'militantly nationalistic manner.

Swaraj

was people's rule insgead of that of the bureaucracy. People's rule was a moral imperative for aIl individuals and dharma-was in vain in its absence.

Tilak's philosophy

of independence was not rooted in any historical precedent for, as we have pointed out, the traditional conception of gQvernment in India was not

~hat

of a democracy or

people's rule.

concept of swaraj was founded

on the oelief that

imperial rule in India was itself

Yi

justification was necessary to do battle with the bureau- , cracy.43

The. ideal of swaraj, as Pal exp1ained, was the

ideal of a divine democracy.

"Men are gods and the equality ()

of Indian democracy i5 the equality of divine origin, the o

divine nature, the divine possibilities and the ~ivine destiny of every individual being."44

o

43 Shay, op.

cit.,~pp.

Under British rule

100, 154-155.

44 Quoted'ln Shay, op. Clt., . p. 1~2. Concerning the classical meaning of swaraj Shay notes that "it referred both to the se1f-ru1e of the individual and to the self-rule of "

...

)

34

Indians were not and could not be equal. Tilak's newspapers ,,

.

In his fight for swaraj and support of swadeshi,

~

0

Tilak relied not only upon the enthusiastic support of men such as Pal ànd Ghose, bath of whom were politically his disciples, but also on the wide circulation of his major newspaper, The Kesari (the "Lion"). The Kesari was published in Marathi and was supplemented by an English weekly, The Maratha. 45 In ~7 Tilak-pubffshed a poern "Sivaji' s Utterances"· and an article which gave an account of

s~veral

speeches

on the significance of the murder of Afzal Khan by Shfvaji. Q

men are above common principles of rnnrality.

Therefore,

"did Sivaji commit a sin in.killing Afzal Khan or not?" In conclusion, Tilak urged "do not circumscribe your vision like a frog in a well. '.

Get out 9f the Penal Code, enter

into the extrernely high atrnosphere of the Bhagwat-Gita, ~

the political community. Swaraj was a part of both the ph~losoppy of life and the ph~losophy of pOlitics. The terrn is perhaps as old as the Aryan civilization; it is found in .'the Rig Veda and the Shastras. ", p. 99. Tilak hirnself frequently rerninded the people that the idea of swaraj was an old one ~n India. Similarly, Pal continually pointed out that self-rule was a concept i~egrally related to the traditional values of th,e Indian civiliza·tion. Swaraj was not bas~d on the Western.condept of man in the political cOhununity. 45Lovett, op.

Cl.'t . ,

p • 48 • ",

•

35

and then consider the actions of grcat men.

46 Il

A week after the poem and the article appeared two

-.

government officers werc assasslnated in PooIla, Maharashtra province.

Tilak was prosecuted for exciting disaffection

for the Government by means of the Kesari articles. was convicted and spent twelve months in jail.

He

During

Ttlak's imprisonrnent the K~sari co~tinued publica~ion and j

on hi

s r"ëfëase Vâ-s-- gdin±ng- in·-circti±a4;i~·a:;.. we.J..Las

prafi ,~ -----

,

In the province of Bengal an "advanced

Il

Press which, ,a-ll/lT

.

~

reveal the progressive stages of a highly organized political

~-----'

campatgn which served as a paradigm to the apostles of unrest, especially the Deccan Brah~ans.gO

Chiro~ 90es on to say that

"not even Mr. Gokhale with aIl his moral and intellectual force could stem the flowing tide of Tilak's popularity in the Deccan; and in order not to

.

b~~swept

under he

~as

,

perhaps ,

often compelled like many rither Moderates tu go furthe:r than )

his own judgment can have approved.,,91 in gaining the allegiance of

barriste~s,

Tilak had succeeded schoolmasters,

professors, Government clerks, in fact, "the large majority uf the so-called educated classes, largely recruited amongst ~-

-~--

-

--------

~---

-

----

-------;-----------

his own and other Brahman castes. 1I92

According to Chirol's report, Tilak's propaganda steadily assumed a more and more anti-British character. "

90 Ch'~ro 1 t op.

. C~

t. , pp. 40-41.

91 Ibid ., pp. 53-54. /

1

92 Ibid ., p. 54.

-_e----

---- ---, -- ---_._- --- --

-- --- - - -

55

dri~~ for self-rule may have been excellent, -but unfortunately

"he 'supordinated a'll things ta his ruling antr-Bri tish passion ,,93 in the prospect thab "if power were once restored to the Brahmans, who~had

already learnt aIl that there was of gbod ta be learnt

from the English, the golden age would return for gods and men. 11 94 In the light of such vitriolic commentary are we not justified in asking whethér Tilak's life was determined by his anti-Bri tish pa&sion ,-"to which he apparently subordinated aIl th~ngs?

Was Tilak simply a ruthless political leader whose

primary motive was ta re-establish the dharmarajya as had

~ , Sh lvaJl ' . . Ma h ' severa l cen t ' ' ara] urles ear l 1er? t h e Marat h a warrlor _~ .. ~t.::-,_--:"our answer ta these gues tions r e f e l : the very na ture of the cri ticisms.

Besides being o'n

of the harshest

cri tics, Chirel is definitely epposed to t e essential spirit of Brahmanism as epitamized in the persan of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a Chitpavan Brahman from the Deccan.

One senses an

expressi6n of Chirol's haughty British bias when he speaks of the attempt made "tq bring Hindu society into closer communion '.d•.th the hig1er ci v.i:lJ-_?:ati-ç!l~95 _wp~_.ch t ,

...

93 Ibid . , p. 53.1 ' 94 Ibid . , p. 55. 95 Ibid . , p. 40.

1 1

..

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ---- ---

- - -----~

--------~~-~~

-

-~-

- _. - ---- ----

t~E.' ~,r~ ~ish

56

~

e- --- ---

rule.rs -"-undoubtedly

represen~---as--welL-as-in

his- comment

that the antagonism between the civilization represented

.

l

.

by the British Raj and the essential spirit of Brahmanism , 96 is "fundamental." That there was a conflict between the orthodox Hindus and the British lS an historical fact; -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ,that it was a conflict between East and West, as Chirol

-.-

suggests, is an unwarranted assumption.

Such ex;:,vagant

generalization~, along with Chirol's overbeari~ttitUde """ towards the supposedly ~ss progressive !ndians, shew a

.....

decidedIy partisan--a-p-p-r-o-a~\~--.---A-r--e--w-e-,--t-h-e-n-, to accept fuLly Chirol's estimate of Tilak's role in the:growth-of

In~ian

unrest?

In the early decades of the twentieth century the 1

. , . \ general sentlme~t towards swara] was represslve. Today, however, the worid has become acutely aware of many diffGrent Iiberation groups, political or othcrwise.

In particular, we

in the West have become accustomed to the, more serious implications and ramifications of civil disobedience.

In recent

years there have been numerous protest movements, sorne quite militant, against racial or sexual discrimination. - -- -

- ---

i~

-----

----------~-

also have a greater sympathy for their goals. surprised at Tilak's propaganda

We .have

Are we

50

behalf of swaraj and

50

ready to condemn him for sorne of the grave impliéations it had? On .:June 24, 1908 Tilak was arrested in Bombay connected with the Kesari's 96 ~., b'd p. 37 .

publicat~on

on~arges

of inflammatory comments

,

~

57

··

,•

,•

,,,

~

__

~_____ --------On -L.t~h,

~-~

1

--

--~=--=-

..... - - « - -

=--="'""'=~-

----

--..--=----=------=. - -

68

'. ' ,,128 a d vance d narty or sect10n.

Tilak was not 50 much

.

interested inQinnovations, the natural delight of the revolutionary temperament, as in the restoration of the old '1,~r""I"'·",,,,,,,_ .........

' particular, 'swaraj envisaged in the Hindu value ways, 1n system as India's birthright. 129 Of course, it is he1prul

........ , ...~

1- --

to

re~ember

that Aurobinqo Ghose himself was no pacifist.

)

Tilak went to the people in the belief that life

1

1,

could have no moral purposefulness unless there were swaraj

----------~}-----~----------------

--------

----

-;r-!- - - -

to protect and promo te the dharma, the dharma of unit y,. and action.

It was probably this emphasis upop the

'

impo~tance

~

of dharma that made Tilak's, efforts towards Indian indèpendence as significant as they were.

..

He continua{lY emphasized 1

that the real spirit of religion "is to make the country - --, your --famH-y--+ns-t;.~d--ù-f---w~king onJ y fo~_ya.ur _Q~n=_ 'rh~_bt~

beyond it is to -1,servp humanity and the next step is to serve 1 Gad. " lift it

"The wh~el of our country \ has gone down ta i ts nadir i (But)

UPi

fir~t

you must help yourse1f.

"One- -will--help., us -unless we are courageous." , ,f

No

"This pi1grimage

---- -- -- --. -~~"APrki1~îrl:itrîrw-T!ni;--t:~tt"l~-rn:~q-f--hn-c:n::r--",$ring-.fxom_.Y9:!lr Qwn nature;

1

----------------~--

7

,. --.-. ---." . Ibid."._p, 632.

r _ cd-GlU'i, p. 54., -------,_=:..-_• 9 Ibid ., p.

1

1

•

"

1

l

,

,

-·--1-,---'-

79

Samnyasa:

not respectable and prohibited

Tilak says that strict adherence to "the inferior

•

path of renunciation" is tantamount to\performing disgraceful ac~s

such as begging for food and that this is not fitting

for any human being. \

Moreover, Tilak maintaips that although ~

samnyasa and karma-yoga are equally productive of release, --------

it is irtsufficient to hold to this point of view. do~s,'says

If one \

Tilak, one may adopt whichever path one likes.

He goes on to say that "our religious t~eatises hale clearly

.,

said that in the Kali-yuea, that is, after the date of the o

Kauravas and the Pandavas, the Path of Renunciation was

---.--------"---.-~r;hi~hl~~d-.~'TI)-_·_-The Gita does not support rilak's view that a man has no choiee with respect to the path of salvation he will \,,:.-

take and that a man should not perform humiliating acts. Nowhere does the Gita declare that aseetic acts are disgraceful and therefore should not he performed.or that a man may not choo~e, the,path he likes. In fact, on this . latter point, it would seem that the/Gita is very catholie and tolera~~ "

.

It offers severai ways to s~lvatioh, sorne

. easier than' 'oj;.hers.

Anyone is free to choose t'he-'- more _ "

..

-d-ifficult- pat b of sa.IIlIllasa (5.6) L~_._ _ _~.·_ _ •

••

_._IOTiIak, GIta-Rahasya, pp. 424, 441, 701 •

..

t

"

1 ,

(

'.

_ _ _ .. - . - ' - - -

-------------------

80

Sattvika action \..,~.-

--- - - - TiTak-sta-tes- that---th~--true -meam;ng---of--aka-rma-n-

~

~

t (worklessness) in the Gita is sâttvika action

(18.9).11

L----\

But if • work is done simply because it Should be done and is enjoined (by Scripture), _ and if (aIl) attachment, (aIl 'thought of) fruit is given UP, tQen that is surrender in Goodness (' way), l deem (18,.9) .12 givi~

-$attvika.action- i5

up the hope -fo-r- fruit in the

perforrnal}ce of those actions ltlhich have fallen to one' s

--------------

~-----)

4

--

81

(

re told that

) .

Blessed Lord said:

~he

To 'give up worKs dictated-by desire, wise men allow (thisJ to be renunciation; -surrender----of---a-l±----the-,--f-:!"ui ts tha-t----(accrueJ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

_ to works discerning men calI selfsurrender·(18.2).14

---:---0.

But does the abandonment of the fruit of works .. "simply mean .

ta renounce or relinquish the benefi t of aIl one' s wO'rks p

with self restraint or does it- involve something more? Accorrring-to-Tilak, sattvika action, samnyas? and tyaga _a!! _Inean

t~

carry out one' s, duties unselfishly which amounts

to dedicating them to

Krish~a.

In this

w~y,

says Tilak,

the'karma-yogin reaches the state of naiskarmyam {freedom - - --

(

~

\...f rom d ' ") 15 from t h e bonds a f works, d etacillllent es~re.

The Gita seems ta favour Tilak's ilILerpret-at-imt-o------------1"-

Cast aIl you-i-worRs on Me, your thoughts (wi thdrawh) 'in what appertains ta self; ,

------~----,h~a~v~e~~R~e~i~t~h~e~r~h~o~p~e~n~o~r~~t~h~o~~;g~h~t~t~h~a~t~~'T;;h~i~s~~---------~---------

~~. ~~~~i~

Cast ofr this fe~er! ___ ~_~~ht _____ _

, The commentaries of R. C. Zaehner also support Tilak's interpretation.

---

-

a~

Krishna Prem

Zaehner suggests that

•

to renOunce othe fruit of aIl oq,e' s work o

' ( 1

]4

•

Zaehnex, The

.

.

l

buL1at.beL_th~S!Q.'ting

..

~~~----

Bl:!agava-d-G!~fh--10~---~-

,15Tilak, Gita-Rahasya, pp. 378, 609-619. 16zaehner,_Jhe Bhagavad-GItâ, p. 56.

•

-------------_._----'

-~-/--

-Jt-

82

------~

----

off of all works on God (3.30, 12.6).

In this way one

/

/. " attalns to true d"lspasslon. 17

PreIn says tha t "in ?ddi tion th~

to the rneaning of "relinquishment, ' tyaga aiso has

"~

=---C=---~--':;----=----meaiiTilg-

J

ordona-Uojj',-Of -g:tv1ngaway, .. and-thartyaga-- - in the

"consist~

d~dication

of the fruits which accrue

from right and desireless action~. ,,18

1-

The way of sarnnyasa We have Seen that Tilak's argument against the way --

-

of samn asa is uhequivoca1;

c~early

said that in

i~-~er

Kali-yuga, that

of the Kauravas' and

---

-----

"our religious treatises have

andavas, the Path of

the date

enunciation

!

1

/

.

\

was prohibi,tèd. ,,19

The

1

Gita is, as

1

1

-,Tiiak -argu~etini tEÙY -o~pose(Cto as~eti~-ism-.-- - Neve~tfieless ~-------==

from aboût the time of the ear1y Upanishads there haQ \.,tti?

-------.lr}\------

- --

- -

-

--

--

_

_

_

_,\

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

-

developed itl India a recognized c1ass of hermits or monks -------- who renounced the world and lived a life devoted

te

medita-

1 -

.tion or sorne form of asceticism.

"

The appearance in large -

numbers of s~1:l. people ,in l~ter_ ~_n~~~ _~~ ~e11 _-~nown..

-.

1

-

-------

Many--'

Gf these ascetics engaged ip strenuous exertions, or

l1 Ib id., 18

pp. 172, -327. o

'

-

Krishna prem,'_T_h~e~Y~o~g~a~o~f~-th~e--B~h-a~g~a-v-a-t--G-i~t~a (London: JohnM. Watkins, 1958/), Vide f.potnote, p. 178. --:----r-

19Ti1ak, GIta-Rahasya, p. 70-1-.

r--------=-)--.-----------____~(_"_____ ~ _________________ -------~/, - -----"r{f.,:'j" ,/

,

- J

,

0"

. cO'

1

=--/.-

83

;

1

/

rleliberately subjected themselves ta humiliating tasks such

f

as begging for food in order ta subdue their physical l,

passions.

Their primary aim was to

generat~

the desired

_____ ~el~gious fervour or ecstasy through which the y hoped to g'ain enligh tenment.

fI

In theory, aIl such practices were

only a means, the end being enlightenment."

However,

nth~

rneans becarne the end in sorne later sects, which came ta )

salva~ion

tbink of

f~om

as resulting directly

asceticisrn, __ _

not from ~,n-l-i-ghtenment broug'ht on by ae:ceticisrn." 20

Wi thout

losing sight p~ man's quest for salvation~the~Gi~a strongly encohrages participafIon in the activitiesar--------~-----

- --

normal, worldly life.

-------------~--

---

~-----

1

----

On a few occ~_sions, however,i-t-,-s-p-ea-ks- --------j

1

in terrns which seem to recommend}withdr.awal fropt--the world.

" as carefu).ly Several passages encourage asceti..c__ me.thDds ,_ such organ of l::houghE,

am~

Lfre=ëollscîousness

will, and

OI

Sb

,-

dev~ing-oneself solely to emancipation (5.27,28). These

1

0

•

are not the only passages which suggest a more or less asceLic

poi~of vie~,

yet Tilak holds that-the_path of

asceticism ls prohibited.- It is evident that those passages that say one

renounce the world to live the life

of

I - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - t - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -_________ ~ __ _

a h'eimit, , \

to refrain 'from q6tions,' are decidedly \

Edgerton, The Bhagavad Gita: ~Translated. ew York: Ha and Row, • 130 ..

~

)

.ft'

«

3

t

'

84

rare in comparison with those which take the diarnetrically opposite position.

Furthermore, as Tilak himself points

out, to contra st or magnify the independent characteristics )

-

of action and inactivity, the performance of work and its \

renunciation, is to create an unreal dilemma.

For if

one acts without having any interest or care for the result of what one does, one has already renounced. Tilak

suggests that the kàrma-yogin and samnyasin

justif~ably

,./

are one and the sarne persona arg~ing -

?

But he is/net justified/in

that-the Gita_rules out or p'rohibits" ~nxasà in

--~~

- - - - - -

- - - -

-

--

- -

-

- -

-- - -

the traditional

b ______

~

__

_

L--:;--_ _ _ _~

s~nse;

disgraceful or that one - - - - -, ~,

In this sense,

that it condemns ascetic lIIay -"

acts-as----~

noL choose the path one likes.

-- -

In general, the Gi ta lis less supporti ve of the way of

,

Tilak says that karma. is' es:>.entially the pastime_____.

-

inherently blind, non-pèrmanent, lifeless (acetana) and )

22 . . Tilak, Gîtâ-Rahasya, pp. 72, 75.

/ '---

. - :-=::.: ,

-----~ ~

- - - - - - ------~----._------_

..

86

,-does not by itself eithcr catch-hold of or leave anyone.

Furthe~morc, karma is of itself neither go~d nor bad.~3 Nevertheless, necessity.

aS.ii~ak

Man~,

~?rma

points out,

i5 also a humùn

therefore, make an ef.fqrt to come

to grips with his deeds and prevent them from exerting their binding power on him.

Man must choose a cvurse of

action to hel~ liberate himself. When i t a""'comes neee&&a-Fy----to ~~~~-

b~

Tilak goes on to say that

Gonsi~-lAlbj

ch

i s to-

COll rse

chosen then the word karma can also be ·understood as

meaning dut y

(kartavya-karma) or proper action (vihita-

karma) .24 One especi~lly important po~nt arises from Tilak's

-

-

. He disrcgards the tr.adititm-al-:ll;----------"'-'\I--_ 1 • -

understanding of ·kaI,ma.

Hindu belief that karma in the Gita frequently means the

.

~

practice' of svadharma \one' s own dharma) as prescribed by srut~

and smriti. TilRk writes: h

,f

. . h as not b een It may be 'rthat a partlcular Actlon ~- ~s':::.-. _1,_-----' . gIolloUllce d as Q b Jecll()I1d~Ue dSErasj nay, ---i t may even have been prescribed aS proper, e • g ., in the ca se-l"n po int:~ - EITë-'wa rrior ::ç el igi-op-was the 'pr~scribed' (viflita) thing for Arjuna; but on that account, it does not follow thùt . one shoulq always perform that Action, no·r also that it will always be cert~inly beneficial; rand ,the-injunctions of the Sâstras ar~ very. often mutually contr~âictory.25 1.-

- 23 Ibid . , p. 394-.- -

\~

1

r

"

24 I }:)id. , p. 75. D

\

'(e

1

25 Ibid . , pp. 74.-75. -

( /1

87

Tilak goes dn to say that Iithe subject-matte;.;- of the Gita is to show whether or not there are any means for ascertaining what course should be followed by a person on such an occasion 1

\J

As we shall see.' the "means" -

and if sa, whattthose means are."

to which Tilak_ is referring is the division of karm51: Actions fall 'into two

div~sidns

'.'all

• . • that is, Actions which

do not give any. independent f!uit or benefit and are, therefore nan-bTndirrg, and . . . Actions performed for the benefit of thé- â6êr and, therefore, binding.

1

Nevertheless, Tilak insists

Il

-

that aIl the acts which a man performs are included in the word karma,_ an-d that "the

~ord- '~rma' a~

used in the exposi-

1

tien made in the' Gîta must not be taken in the restricted -. , meanjng or Actions prescribed by the Sxutis-~~i&r---------.~

1

but in a more comprehensive meaning. _

nf6

According to Tilak_, .~-----

then,. man should perfo-rm.'a'cts and shQuld not try ta avold -

them.

Of course,

unse-Ifistl spirit. •

____

(

what~ver\a-rnan

_______

But dQes Tilak- effet" a sufficX-en'try expI1.cit t

--~--

;0,.

_guiq.~

does should be done in an

-

-----=

~

_:fo]:"_GhQo~Jn9__ ?e!:~~~n __tl1~; ~any

-- -

_

- - - - ,-- -"------ ---- ----

_

_

______ _

P?ssibilities of conduct

that lie-open to man in the absence of caste-dut y?

P

Tfie problem

of what kind of acts a man should choose to perforrn and --( how he chooses them __will be raised aga in towards the end

..

o"f this chapter and-- in the:' next ·where we shall disc~s:' Tilak i s 1 ~ -

~

tl_

-- - -

_

~

__

concept of the sthitaprajna (the man who acts perfectly cc selflessly) •

~Ibid., pp. 72-73, 75.-

-- - - - -

~-

---'----~-_!..-..

_ _ _ _ _ _11111

/ 88

The meoning of karma.:-:-yo9f

Wc have seen that Tilak docs not allow for the way of

~amnyasa

in thc sense of ascetic renuncia tj on in his

karma-yoga sY'r:thesis.

"KaY[Tla,' however, is absolutely

"-

./

'-.-/

• 'riecessary because man being man must perforrn actions, and

he must perform actions ,desirelessly lest they bind him to the painful cycle of birth, dcatJl, rebirth and redeath. But how is one to do this and bYe what IDcans?

In the Gita,

we sèe.that God is continually creating the world by power of his Erakr_i t~; hO\lever this perpetuaI activi ty does not fetter him.

He i5 only lhc"spectat.?r of his

"

creation.

In the threc worlds therc is nothing that l g unattained that I--nBeG necd dO / :OOI"-anYt\1}in to gain, yet work (i' the cl ement) j n which T mnvp

Works can never affect Ne/'\.:, l have no yearni'ng for their fruits. Whoso should know that this

r===================~l~'S-~,~fte~~~~l=I~a~m\-'~~t;l~'l~l=in~c~\~Tc~r=ib~e~b~~~~~b~lt7~\!~BE~~k~s~~~~~~~====== (3.22; 4.14).27 __~_-~--------~-4 r - - - -____ _ 1

_." "fh"Ls"paradç,x'icàT l~sson t~at

evaJ. ua t'ion" 0 f ~ma. eGns t.i.t.utc;S" the es s "ntia 1

Krishna reveals to A juna conccrning the question

of howCpne can).-bc a karmiJ.-y~gin yet remaih free.

And i~

precisely this apprcciation of ~ga that fQrms. the basis of .~

Tila~'s

philosophy of energism.

Karma-yoga is prirnardly

disinterested or non-attached actio'î. _ _ _ _ _ _ _"c

..

Q

\

---~-------------------------

27

Zachner, The

Bhagavùd-~}t~,

pp. 55, 59.

/

+"",.

1

1

89

, Th~

root "Y2;lj "_, from \vhich

pcrhl'l.ps the key

wo~d

of the Gita.

yOÇJil

is

dCl

i vod, is

Unfortullately, it is a

very fluid one being used in a great vdrlety of senses. This makes it hard to givc an cxact definitlon of its m~aning

in any given occurence.

',Tilak says that it rneans'

"to join" and that its basic meaning is "union," "combination) "additio~," "co-existence" or "staying t,g,e~her" but that later on,it cornes to mean "device," "meanr;1I or "method.,,28

He continues:

-

~-------

1

-------

-

--

- - - - - - __ _

--"'4 Still, it(is not enough even to say in a general w~y that 'yoga' 'means', 'skilful device',or 'method'. Because, according as the speaker rnay '1ish, i t may Jte a means" of Renunciation (samnyasa) or Action (karma) or mental' contro] (Cl tta-nirodha) or o-f---Release-i~?~§a) or of sometb-rng-else. Therefore, in order to explain what particular· skill, means~ methüd'or proccss i8 principally signified in the Gft5 by the use of the word 'yoga' 1 this -word h~ intentionalJy been ciearly defined in the Gîtâ itself as: ':i0gaQ karrnasu kausalam" - (Gi. -2. 50'}--.l-.-c ~ . "'yoga' means sorne special skill, deviccl intellige1lt llleUrod, ~~ glacefai way't)f pûrforming actions". _

----

e

term~.

def~i~l~~

of the aIl important

Franklin Edgerton questions this and argues

that Tilak's Interpretation of yoga as. lia special device 28Tilak,

,

1

,

7,7.

1

l

\

29 Ibid ., p.

"

"Ii

understan~6 that yoga:h karm.:lsu kausalarn i~'

the Gita' s--fundamental

.. , •

.1

of

Tilak

-,

.

.

.

}

90

" cont~t,

for performing actions" 5eems, in the

"

as irnplausible

t

In Edgerton's opinion, ~llak's rendering is

as possible.

c1early a perversion of the obvious meaning that "discipline in actions i5 weal. ,,30

Th'e" commentaries ,of Zaehner 31 and

Radhakrishnan,3~ on the othe~ hand, agree with Ti1ak's

interpretation_~hat_ YO'ga~~_s _~~i~-=-~~ ;~_rf_o_rm~~:~~rk5 \2~5,O) •__. _'~_

'. '.

c---

Tilak says that the speclal means mentioned by the

Ble~,

performanc~

for the sinless

.~

"

equable mind and that wo-rks ac'complished b..Y· this particula'r ,l"

t:

"

•

OL action, i5 an

)-

Y\",k,

are X::9.@.. 33

In

the Gita-Rahasya

he writes: The Blessed Lbrd goe5 on to say that he w

30Franklin - Edge~ton, "Revie~ of Ti-iak' 5 / ïrn d '-Bhagavadg~:t:a Rahasya or_ Karma-Yoga-Si.istra," Jourïa of the American Oriental S0ciety, 56 (1936),_ pp. ~2. -528. D. Mackenzie Brown, in a footnote, says that "Samkara's bha~ya supports: 'He, w~o has evenness of mina, rejects in this \'lorld bbth good and evil actions ._ Therefore strive for Yoga. • In respect ta actions, Yoga~eans we!fare' ---~----- (italics mine). Telang translates it:· 'He$h~ b,qS ~ ~ - . obtained devotiŒLin EhlS wortd casts off b6th ~erit and sin. Therefore appiy-yours~lf to devotion; devotlon ln (aIl) actions is wisdom •. '" "Karma vs. Jnana -in the Gita: .... ~ Rahasya," The Journal 'Of Alian Studies,. 17 ,{Np; 2, Feb. 1958),

~

200.

.

31 Zaehner, The

"

i or

.,. -

Bha~avad-G1ta,

(

' p. 147.

a 3 Radhakrishnan, The Bhagav'adgïtà: Wi th an Introductor ssa, Sanskrit Text, En lisn Tràns1ation and Notes (LondOn: eorge-A11en and Unwin Ltd., 1948), pp. 120-1~1. \ 1

...

GItâ-Rahasya, p. 78.

\ , a ----- -

-

- - - - - -~-- ..... - - - _!.. ---~--

}

1

J

~ -

91

next give Arjvna the justification ~ the war on the authority of th€ Yoga (Gl.2.39), and He to begin with, describes~ow the minds of persons continually engross~ in desire ~ prompted Action like sacrificial ritual, become disintegrated on account of the desire for the reward (GI.2.41.46). He then goes on to say that Arjuna 5hould not allow his rnind to be disintegrated in this \'lay, and should "give up aIl attachment~ (asakti), but not thin~'of_giving up Action", and He has further said to him: "become steeped in the yoga (yogastha) . and per forro Actions" (Gi~) 2.48) and in the sarne place th~rd '~' been . . ~. clearly defined as meani g: . "equability of mind towards su , or failurel34 o

.-i1

According t~ Tilak, therefore, man mus~

\~ rform actions

1

by a skilful device (kausala) which ènab es him to give up aIl attachrnents (asakti).

is a

The ma

yogin, one whose mind is balanced beyond the sway of the pairs of opposites and who, when he acts, is unfettered by kanna.

~al

Action bharacterized by indifference is the,

principle of the

~

that Krishna reveals

ta

.~

{ArjUna (2'.48).

In this context the term action (karma)

has to be taken to rnean voluntary actiyity.

Accordingly"

-J

it may be said that the Gita's .~

~

of balanced reason'

g

is partly of the nature of action and partly of the abandonment of action. IYoga means karma-yoga :,

Tilak goe8 further than mérely saying that ~ i5

IC'

92

sornQ special rncans of perforrnlng or m i.ng.

In the

G~tà -:.- Rahélsyd' 1

.....

~orl:s

\vlth ù'n cqu.:lblc framE:;

he rnù' intains tha t ho héls

'î "ostùblished bcyond élr9umcnt thêtt the word 'yoga' has been used in the Gitâ ln the iense of only the path of Energism (Prélvrtti-marCfil) _ .

,1--

i. e., t1l€

KAr~,1A- YOGA. "

15

He sùys tha t the

\Yords yogin and karma-yùqi12 have becn· used "synonymously"

,Hl

the Blessed Lord' s advicc to Arjunù to

the Gl ta and tha t

V"

become a y_ogin (6.46) haf3" thc'rc f~rc, to be têtkert as mean 1 ng .Lecome oa yagül v/ho performs êtctions skilfully, that. i5, a karma-yoCJln. Likewise,

(4.42) which exhorts Arjuna ta take shelter in

thp- yoqa an d stan d up ùn d [ J' 9 J1t rneùnS The word of the root Yl!.J -

yog~ élrC

kl S"

Il ln " actlon. "36

lmplies actlvity ùs the bùsic meanings

"ta yoke or jOln," "ta prepare for"

and "tomélke",offorts for.,,37

ln;'tnc Gita, the YEga that

"

Krlshna revcals is the rncthod of'~éllvatian which is charac, tcrlzcd by

rarticlp~tion

ln normdl, worldly action without

intcrest in the frult of action.

As We have a]rcady noted,

action donc w..Lth the attitude of lndiffort=>nce is the central principle of Y0tes that the Upanishads "do not yicld

lt

1

1

...1

.

e \

-

n

170

tha.-ll)]Ll=pl.Cat..rnwi~s;:jhfbaii1dd±icc-vv':Îi:-ee~wnoS:frttfih~e~hl1igh-e-s-t~'-e-l-f-d-o-e-s-n-o-t-r-e-f-e-r-t-o-

pri~ciPle as devoid of gualities or attributes. \ . Upani?hads are sruti (vedic revelations) and accotding

- - / /.- - : e First

'

,

The

---

o

_

.t

ta Ramanuja the Gita,. being one of the srnritis (codes), r ,'" suppbrts the sruti.-~s on the autho~ity of the sruti that Ramanuja argues for '\ personal or commentary on

d.

~he ~rship

?f the Ultimate as

Ramanuja.seems net te have written Upanishads but refers to them in support

of his teach'D9 in other works.

4

If the sruti did not .

-

support tiis t

eisti~

,~\.. -,

doctrine, he could not have establfshed

.it only authoritative whereas smriti is corroborative and may not contradict the former. ,

Sankara himself allows for a personal God to empirical consciousness,

1Iht

(Is~ra)

in the final analysis Isvara

is as unreal as the world of maya.

challengin~

In

Absolute or rather hi$ idealistic world

~,~aya,

Sankara's

Ramanuja

attempted to reconcile the world and God and in so doing he

" any consistent view of the universe," but that "SaIhkara insists on interpretïng the Upani~ads in a single coherent manner'. Il According to S~nkara "the knbwledge of Brahman which we gain from the ubanisa9P must be uniform throughout and without contradictidn." °Radhakrishnan also notes that "50 far as the. . . classical Upanisads 'are concerned, it must be said that Samkara's view is·representative of their main tendency." Indiah Philosophy, pp. 467-468. "'4

Vide Appendix A.

.

r«

2

s

171

-(Je"'~----beca;;j~~~~:d~!~f ~he~~e:tiC--:hOOl ;ed:n WlliCh---0

stood over

aga~ the

ta-

f

~f

extreme monist Vedanta

Sankara.

Ramanuja is a monist no less than Sankara but his monism is Visistadvaita understands that

(onen~ss th~

-;---....

,

qualified by difference).

attributes of

God~re

Ramanuja

real, that --

Brahman carr'ies plur-ali:-ty--within Itselrand "that' the world which is the manifestation of Brahman's power is real. Sankara's doctrine oI maya reflected his viewof Both were merely empirically~eal,

God as much' as the world.

and as such were apart from Brahman.

With

Ramanuja,-h~v9r,

Sankara's agnosticism concerning thé possibility of ever comprehending how the \Vorid was really related to Brahman gives way to the bold afflrmation that maya not on1y exists

empirically it also pcrsists.

,

It is the sakti (power) of

J

· Bra h man. 5 Isvara WOlS h

In his Gitabhashya Rarnanuja uses the word maya t "mean

II

miracle working power or iI1U'sion-crea ting influence."

And in the Sribhashya Ramanja holds that maya means "wonderful 5 6

~ 0

Devanandan, .

~p.

cit.rlp. 212. -

-

Van BUltenen, RamanuJa on the Bhagavadqit5: A condcnsed Rcnderin9 of His t.abhasya wi th copië:lust1ü-tesanÇ1 Anv Int:ro: duction, Eng1ish text by J. A. B. Van Buitenen (Delhi: Sundar LaI Jain, Motilal Ban~rsidass, 1955; lst reprint, 1968) ,this lB Van Buitenen's réndering of maya in Visistadvaita, vide. footno te p. I 0 2. -~ --------~--

Gr

•

ft

7

172 ---------

-r-- -------

e

things'- things that have a wonderfu1 nature but not illus~ons." He appears to interpret both avidya and

( ' ""

'" - ways of

deser~.Lng

~ya

as different

the same mysterioùs and \vonderful power

which produces the world of ordinary experienee.

But maya

is also prakriti and prakriti, this world of perpetuaI change, i8 a mode (prakara) of the eternal Brahman.' Prakriti is coneeived

~s

being dependent on Brahman and not separated

or apart from Brahman.

In this way Ramanuja eguates the '\

'manY,in the One and aecepts this world as the self-expression

of· the Absolute.

7

- -




In the Gita, however, Krishna's catcgorical assurance that "who sees Me 109 110

ev~rywhere,

who sees the AlI in Me, for him

Murty, op. cit., p. 279. .

#IÎ

Van BUltenen, op . ci t.., P . 78. III .......~ . . Murty, op. ~t. p. 262.

-

"'\

•

l

210

•

am nat lost,

nor~is

he last ta Me"(6.30)

dis~pears

neither God

112

"

from the sight of the y09in nor âoes

the yagin disappear fram the sight of God. aff~rms

this

po~nt.

suggests that

Sankara himpe1f

Commentinq on (6.30) he writes:

lie who sees ~'le, Vasudeva, the Self of lal1, in aIl beings, and who sees- Brahma, the Creator, and aIl ather beings, in Me, the Self of aIl: - when he has thus seen the unit y of the Self, \ l - who a~ the Isvara ~ never leave his presence, nar does that wise man leave My presence, for his Self and Mine are one, and one's own Self cannot but be manifest ta oneself. 113 /

. Krishna, however, is not only the personal God who forever l'

'communes in love but also "Nirvana that is Brahman too' (6.1S).~,114 Thus let the ath1ete of the spirit (yogin) be constant in integrating (him)se1f, his mind restrained: th en will he approach - that peace which has Nirvana as i ts end and) which subsists in Me (6.15) .1~f5 1

....

Nrishna, then, lOis both tirne (11.32) and eternity (7.24: ,,116 11. 37 e t c. ) . Rudolf Otto speaks of the tension between the persona1 ~nd

\

.

the supra-persona1 which recurs in religious experiènce 112 113

" Zaebner, The Bhagavad-Gïta, p. 67. Sankara, op. cit., p. 199.

114 za'ehr&r, The Bhagavad-Grta, p. 25l. 115 b'd . ~., p. 66 . '~ .,116 ""' Ibid. ,çp.< 252. .(7'

1

) and points out that this is cléarly-seen at the highest stage af the num{nous consciausness in_India. "

The personal

1

and the supra-personal "are bound tagether in indissoluble union as&the two essential pales of the eternal unit y of the Numen."

Otto goes bn to say that the religious attitude

shawn ta the personal aspect of the Numen must be different from the attitude shown to the supra-personal aspect. 117 It i5, however, precisely this essential difference which Advaita Vedanta fails to maintain inasmuch as 15vara is \

absorbed by Brahman, the non-dual Absolute.

Moreover, and

in consequence of this éxtrerne rnonism, aIl profane activity and aIl hurnan acts are transcended i>

saved.

o~

ignored rather than

•

Yet does not the Gi tél'}~s ,'-doctrine of the avatara

(4.7-8) point to the value of warks as seen in Godls own timeless efforts (3.23-24; 4.13-14)?

Wc concIude, therefore,

that the argument of Adva.ita Vedanta that, though the Isvara is the highest reality that the devQtee knows, the Isvara is not the highest reality that he can know,is unjustified, and, as we have already argued, that the Gita affirms that God is the highest reality.

(/

"God is the foundation of the AlI,

l17Rudolf Otto; The Idea of the Holy: An Inquiry into the Non-Rational'Factor in the Idea of the Divine and its Relation ta the Rational (2d ed.; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 1958~, Vide Appendix~5, pp. 199-202. Also vide , Thesis Appendix B.

e, .

212

bot.h of time and eternity (14.26";"7; 15 .19).,.118 0

Whoever thus knows Me, unconfused, as the . Persan (All-) Sublime, knows aIl and (knowing aIl) COITlITlunes with 11e with aIl his being, aIl his love (15.19) .119 ~ - i

Bhakti-yoga and dharma

D. G. Bradley notes that "the term

".

yog~

. came

to be, like the word dharma, almost synonymous with religion. ,', Thus the yoga that a Hindu follows is his path (marga). to salvation, just as his dharma is what he must do to 'fUlfi4 his' religious voeation.,,120

almOS~Synonymous

yet not guite.

Yoga and dharma"are

differen~e

The

between the

two is significant and can perhaps ,be seen in what appears to be a double tension in the Gita:

Flrst, a

st~iving

for

liberation from this world and union with God, bhakti-yoga, the final goal of man

(18.66);

second1y, man's obligation

to do what lS right in the world, dharma

(2.31).

In his karMa-yoga synthesis, Tilak frequently

interpre~s

bhakti in terms of dharma (or perhaps more appropria tel" ln torms of disinterested activity) , and thereby blurs the

118 Zaehner, The 119 b'd

~2:-"

p.

- -

Bhagavad~Gita,

p. 35.

97.

1200avid G. Bradley, A Guide to the Vlorld' s Religions (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentiee-Hall, Ine., 1963), p. 91.

213

e~

distinction between the two. that performing

one:~

As

'!fIe

have seen Tilak maintains

duties in the belief that they are the

intention or will o'f God amounts to a kind of devotion, prayer or sattvika.worship of the Pararnesvara and that such worship must be performed by everybody for the welfare of the world.

Tilak aiso says that the jnanin who worships the

Lord merely as a matter of dut Y (7.16-18) is the most excellent of aIl devotees; he is the man who has realized the Pararnesvara by means of devotion , and has no more to ' acquire for his own benefit but instead of falling into the dilernma of whether ,

or not to perform action performs his respective duties ln accord with the Lord's will.

And to support this view, Tilak

points out that the world is in existence because Isvara has wil1ed it so and that it is his will and activity which hold it together.

When a man strives to gain union with Goù

and this is achieved, when thi individual will merges with 6

the mighty universal Will, man like God helps sustain the world and thereby does his duty.12l Tilak is not alone inohis drive to interpret bhakti .-~--

ln terms of .m~ral behaviour (dharma).

To a lesser extent,

we find a similar emphasis in Krishna Prem and Surendranath Dasgupta.

Prern says that the devotee "caring not for the

intense,bliss of personal liberation, the bliss of sheer l2lTilak, Gtt~-Rahasya~ pp.

572-573, 608-610.

..

214

self-loss in the absolutely blissful Brahmik Seing from which there is no return .

. . seeks only ta serve Sri "

Krishna, the Purushottama, in whatever sphere his ~

_"

is required."

1

se~vice' )

"Thus through his love he throws away

liberation, to find it where he stands.~122

Dasgupta argues

that the whole emphasis, in the Gita is laid on self-abnegation and self-surrender to Gbd.

(,

'We have, therefore in the Gi ta a new solution of how a man may attain his highest liberation. He may remain ,a member of society and perform his %'1 allotted duties provided he has the right sort of moral elevat~on, has fixed his mind on' God, has dissociated himself from aIl attachment, and, by self-surrender and self-abnegation, has devoted himself ta God 123 . . . Self-surrender to God, or self-abnegation, however, does' not in the Gita involve a persqnal relationship'of communion and love so much as it does the moral qualities pf compassion, universal friendship, hurnility, : contentment, want of attachment, self-control and purity. The expectation is emphasized that "a person possesspd of these moral quali ties will be equally unruffled in sorrow and in happiness and that he will be the friend of a11. 124 ,

Q

1

Zaehner says that, Krishna "picks out the performance of caste dut Y as being perhaps the only perfectly acceptable

worship~of'Himself becau~e

He is the ~hor of

.

t~~-ancient

social sysfem which dlvides men into four classes."12S 122

To do

Prem, op. cit., p. 184.

l23 S • N. Dasgupta, Hin~My~ticism (2d ed.; New York, N.Y.: Frederick Ungar PUblishing Co., 195~), pp. 119. Vide Appendix C. " 124 Ibid. , p. 118.

lis Zaehner,

,.

The Bhagavad-Gïta, p.

394.

215

"",,-

one's dut Y in accordance with the state into which one is) born is to confOlÎil to the will of "God.

This, in fact,

D

justifies a man and earns him a place in heaven or causes •

him to enter into God. that not only the ,

o~n

l26

willin~

Nevertheless, Zaehner points out "

and joyous conforming of one's

\

will to the will of God but also union at the ontological

level, to become one with Gad, is the highest love and , 127 loyalty to the Lord. Similarly, Radhakrishnan holds that

,

bhakti is absolute subjection to the abiding will of God and #

that participation in his work for the wonld is the dut y of aIl devotees. itself.

But he cautions that dharma is not an end in ~y

.f

"Union with the Supreme is the final goal~,"l28 ~

Give up aIl things of law, turn to Me, your'only refuge, (for) l will deliver you from aIl evilsi havè no care (18.66).129 In conclusion, we should note that, as with Tilak's interpretation of karma-yoga, his understanding of bhakti-yoga is one sided.

Both are conceived primarily in terms of

dis,intençsted aç'lfivity.

In Tilak' s philosophy of energism

bhakti-yoga i5 the modus operandi of karma-yoga which is justified by jnana-yoga.

Karma now raised to a higher power (1

126zaehner~ Hinduism, p. 107. 127

"Zaehner, The Bhagavad-Gîta, p. ,399.

l28Radhakrishrlan, The Bhagavad-Gîta, p. 75, cf. Hurty, op. cit., p. 318. 129

. Zaehner, The

Bhagavad-G~ta,

p. 108.

,. .

1

,

0._--

,J

216

•

gives content and purpose to.liberation itse1f.

J

"

,

,

'

\

"

/ ù

•

v'

, '

'0

t ....

f

( CHAPTER VI CONCLUSION AND COMMENTS Now that we have traced Tilak's thinking about the inner meaning of the Gita and have offered a vindication of traditional theism,

we shall try to draw sorne conclusions

and make a few comments. To begin with, we have seen that Tilak maintains

o

that his cornrnentary on the Gita is free from personal bias, that he has found the true meaning of the Gita and that tradition supports him. R~hasya

The essential mesJage of the Gïta-

" is that the real teaching of the Gita is karma-yoga.

Tilak believes that jnana=yoga and karma-yoga are in a mutually enhancing relationship; likewise bhakti-yoga and karma-roga.

In

fa~t,

each

~

contributes to the other

.

and raises thé spiritual level of the individual. theless,

•

Never-

Tilak affirms that the way of action is superior

to that of knowledge and devotion to God. We noteQ that, in accord with the Gita, Tilak attempts to save aIl human acts, ta justify aIl profane activity. t~~

Perhaps it is this attitude towards

significance of

the cosrnic process that helps account for Tilak's emphasis

1 on the path of karma-yoga.

J

But Tilak's drive to interpret

218

of Brahman

~nd

not fulfilment of his moral

\

obligations.

Moral behaviour can at best bé only a means of

preparing the devotee for the samyakdarsana, and in this Sankara would have th~support of Ramanuja. B Sankara as weIl as Ramanuja Iris not

50

What in~ires

much the longing fo

more love or righteousness as the longing for, more of the essential and the eternal."

Even in Ramanuja's theology

bhakti means "only a particular kind of knowledge of which one is infinitely fond and which leads to the extinction of all other interests and desires." 9 Although ethical ideas have been supported in this conception of the knowledge that brings release, it' is the inte11ectua1 element that is still predominant and determinative.

As a result, Ramanuja like

Sankara sees the ideal set by the Gita as being that of detachment from the world and personal salvation rather than transformation of the world by social action. lO The G1ta-Rahasya reflects Tilak's activism and pragmatic concern.

~

Tilak saw in modern India a forro of escapism based' 8 Murty, op. cit., pp. 317-318.

( ,

-

9Quoted in Nicol Macnieol, op. cit., pp. 243-244. Vide Appendix D. lOIbid., p. 246.

_

_~

_________ w____.M"~________. " " " " " " " " " " "

\ 'l,

\

,

upGn renunciation.

222

Moksha was sought at the expe se of

r

worldly activity. - He saw that rnâny Hinpus sat idl

by

prais{ng.Krishna and chanting "Hari, Hari" (Lord, Tilak, however, wanted to mobilize aIl Indians for and political action. ,

The rnetaphysical schemes' of

.-

and Ramanuja were of littleo value, being essentiall-

the

philasophical supports ta the rnargas (paths) that l personal salvation.

What Tilak wanted

~as

..

J

to

to convin e aIl ','

Hindus that to follow the path of karma-yoga was to accord with the essential teaching of the Bha,gavad-G'ta, and that this

~

problerns at hand.

of action be directed to solving t e This 'is not to suggest that Tilak'

G!ta-

Rahasya was written merely in reaction to the

of

foreign rule and/or the philosophical schemes of the whic~

stressed personal salvation.

Rathe!,

;'

.

a~ T~lak

declared, his prirnary motive in writing the Gita-Raha

a

was to set forth a clear exposition of the essential' of the Gita. ll Once this task of revealing the true of the Gita was accornplished he could then turn nis attention ta seeing, to its practical application. Tilak's interpretation of the Gita's essential message as karma-yoga is basically in terms of a practical morality, 1 .... :j-..

IITilak, Gitâ-Ra,hasta, p. xxvii.

.- ==

223

a policy for world-solidarity for

~he

(lokasamgraha)~-His

concern

world in which man has a significant part to play

reflects the Gi ta' s doctrine that Go d' . appears upon this earth

.\

'

again and again tb a~complish His purposes (4.5-B).

)

In'

trying to restore \the prope~ em,phasis to the way of karma-yoga, Tilak hoped to defend the dharma of India and thereby support lokasamgraha.

AIso, Tilak believed that he was justified in

emphasizing the Gita's was

~

~

of action since

~waraj

(self-rule)

moral imperative and dharma was in vain in the absence

of swaraj.

~In

fact, Tilak claimed that India's spiritual 1

destiny lay'in political freedom.

12

Speaking on the topie

of Home Rule as swaraj "witl:lin the Empire and not inaependent of it,,,13 Tilak argued that from an historica~ point of view it was the Hindu's right to have Home Rule.

But more importantly

and from a religious t:>oint of view Home Rule was dharma". In Tilak' S own words, "you cannot sep-arate Home Rule from us, r~,

as you cannot separate the quality of 'heat' from firei both are inseparably bound up.~14 Dharma, of course, has more to do with the

natu~e

qnd

12wolpert, ·op. cit. Wolpert- points out thàt "Tilak recognized no distinction between religion and politics." p. 68.

r

/

13Tilak, His Writings anq Speeches, p. 226.

14 Ibid ., p. 230.

224

~~ehaviour of men than with their beliefs.

But even if one

argues that the Gtta is vitally concerned'with conduct one cannot deny that the Gita also teaches that bhakti, which i5 e5sential to the lire of d~votion, is man's highest spiritual state and involves full

particip~tion

in the life of God.

Brahman become, with self serene, he grieves not nor desi~es; the sarne to aIl contingent beings he gains the highest love-and-loyalty to Me. By love-and-loyalty he çomes ta know Me as l really am, how greàt l am and who; and once he knows Me as l am, he enters {Me) forthwith (18.54-55) .15 Thus "devotion ta God is not only one of the means that will lead to the vision of the self which is aiso Iiberation, but ~l

.

• .' devotion ap.d love, now raised to a higher power, 9 ives

content and purpose ta liberation itself.»16

It is precisely

this understanding of bhakti, which regard.s love as being the ~

essential aspect of ~he whol~ religious e~perience, that Tilak ,

discounts

or

overlook~.

From his

practi~al

point of view,

bhakti is escapist unless united with karma-yoga for the ~elfare

\

of the warld. Concerning\this last point, we should acknowledge

that'~hakti,

in its own way,.mjnirnizes the importànce of

karma-yoga.

Tilak himself is fully aware of

th~s

problem

and says that "if Devotion ,is looked upon as the highest 1: 5

1}

Zaehner, The Bhaga'vad-GItà, p. 107.

l6 Ibid ., p. 27.

'\

e\ ~

..

-

Mt

225

,

1

i

duty of man from the point of view of mode of life, then the

•

1

~,

lifelong performance of the worldly duties pertaining to one's particular status, becom~s an inferior mode of life.,,17 ,JI.J

Doubt1ess Ti1ak was justified in showing concern for

t~

path of action, especially in the light of India's past religious tradition with its ernphasis upon the path of renunciation.

AIso, the prob1ems of political rule by the

British probably helped focus his attention on the way of karma-yoga.

Nevertheless, in a,greement wi th Gandhi, we are

forced to conclude that although Tilak "has written on the ,

f

"'

/

inner meaning of the,Gita .. •, he has not understood the ,18 ' age-old spirit Qf India, has not understood her soul."

.-' According to Gandhi, Tilak's karma-yoga philosophy, as seen in Tilak's own life, was not sufficiently infused with 'a "spiritual motive. ,,19

Despite the L~td's support of the dharma,

He does not give man to believe that morality itself is man's ultimate purpose or end.' On the contrary, Krishna tells Arjuna that union with God is his final goal. Give up aIl things of law, turn to Me, your only refuge, (for) l will ~TIliver.you from aIl evils; have no care (18.66). 17Tilak, Gîta-Rahasya, p. 22. l8Quoted in Eric Erikson, op. cit., p. 356. t

19IbidL 20zaehner, The Bhagavad-Gîta, p~ 108, cf., Murty,-op. cit., pp. 317-318. .,

c,

Q

226

• B. Kumarappa rejects the view that is in essence mora-l conduct and says that "rnere di'sinterested perfor~.ance

suffice.

of one 1 s religious and social duties does not

The Deity is not a mere moral governor of the

universe.

He is above all charac1ferised by love.,,21

And

Edgerton rnaintains that "in its relation to the ultimate goal of salvation, morality is only a secondary rneans. never sufficient to achieve that goal.

It alone is

But on the other hand;

it leads to ever better and higher existences, and helps to prepare for final success."

He points out that the importance

of morality, the ethical standard furnished by dharma, cornes out most clearly on the negative side.

Il

Immoralit y is clearly

regarded as a serious, indeed usually a fatal, hindrance .(16.22) . 22 Il

This "means to irnply only that one must get rid

of immorality first, before seeking the way to salvation.,,23 Nevertheless, in the Gita we are told that even a very wickèd man can be saved. Even though you were the very worst among aIl evil-doers, (yet once you have boarded) wisdorn's bark, you will surrnount aIl (this) tortuous (stream of life). However evil a man's livelihood rnay be, let 21 B. Kumarappa, The Hïndu Conception of the Deity (London: Luzac and Co., 1934), p. 288. 22 Edgerton, The Bhagavad GIta, p. 183. 23 Ibid ., vide footnote.

227

.r

him but worship Me with love and serve no' other, ~hen shall he be reckoned among the good indeed, 5~+ his resolve is right (4.36, 9.30).

Edgerton says that "these' passages s""uggest a sort of magic absolution from sin by devotion ta Gad, or to knowledge, as , ., • 25 the case rnay be." From passages in the

G!t~-Rahasya

as weIl as from

sorne of Tilak's public addresses one may at times have the impression

t~at

his philosophy of karma-yoga is in response

or reaction to European ways. ,Also, one cannot help recall Gandhi's commént that Tilak "underwent six years' intE.rnment ' 1 ay a courage a f European varlety. . ,, 26 b ut on 1 y to d lSp

, Havlng

examined 1ilak's philosophy of'energ{sm, we are 'now in a --

position to raise the question whether Tilak 'was conscious 24

Zaehner, The Bhagavad-Gïtâ, pp. 60, 77.

25Edgerton, The Bhagavad Gïtâ, p. 183. Edgerton gQes on to note that "it might be inferred from them (4.36, 9.30) that it makes little or no difference what a man may do, so long as he succeeds in possessing' himself of the key to salvation. This is, however, probably n0t a faira inference from the Gïtâ's words. In the first place we must remember that the Gïtâ is poetic' in its language and not infrequently ernphasizes its ideas by a certain overstatement. . . . ~ Sec0ndly, the Gïta undoubtedly means to imply' a reformation and repentance on the part of the ~inner as a prerequisite, or at least concomitant, to the attairtment of 'devotion' or 'knÇ>wledge.'" p.183. o

26Quoted in Eric Erikson, op. cit., p. 356.

-t'

(

228

of the various poiiticai as weIl as the non-Hindu phiiosophicai and religious influences on him. Tilak frequently makes refercnce ta Christianity and such philosophers as Kant, Mill, and Comte tG

illustra~e

a

-::-..... paitic~lar

point.

For example, ift reference to the ac~lvism

of the Western world Tilak writes:

o

The modern Western moral philosopher, . . . considers worldly life as an embodiment of happiness, and bespeaks the performance of Actions which produce public good in arder ta enable everybody to obtain this happines~ of worldly life: this is the important difference between the Karma-Yoga of the gItâ and the Western Materialistic Path of Action. 27 Tilak goes on tb say that not aIl modern

~'1estern

philosophers

subscribe to the view that worldly life is productive of happiness.

He singles out Schopenhauer as an examplc of those

thinkers who ~while adrnitting thdt worldly life is princlpally full of unhappiness, ffiaintain that one shduld not give up worldly"life, but should try as mubh as possible to reduce the unhappiness of others,

since,~t

i6 the dut Y of a wise

man ta :r;educe this general \unhappinoss as rnuch as possible.,,28 Howevcr, according to

~'ilak,

"there must stilJ be a considerable

amaunt of improvernent in the Western Karma-Yoga which attcmpts to reduce unhappiness, befare it can come ta the level of the 27 . , Tilak, Gït5-Rahasya, p. 698, cf., p. 760.

28Ibi~.,''p. 698.

229

Karma-Yoga in the Gïtâ, which gives greater importance te the happiness resulting from Self-Identification, than te mere Màterial happine3s, and which preaches that aIl warldly affairs should be carried on, while experiencing this happiness born of Self-Identification.,,29

According to

Tilak the problem with Western energism is that it "desires ,

happiness or desires the obviation of unhappiness, that is

,)

to say, in either case, desires something, and is sakama

\

(based on Desire), whereas the Karma-Yoga of the Gïtâ i ..s always indifferent about the Fruit of Action - or,' if the same meaning is cQnveyed in other words, the Karma-Yoga

of~

\

the Gïtâ is sattvika and the Karma-Yoga of the West is rajasa (Gî 18.23 and 24). ,,3D

is critical \.Of Mill, Spencer

and Comte whorn he

having abandoned the "comprehensive

principle of Self-Identification (atmaupamya)" in favour of building "the edifice of Morality on the

~xternal

principle .{~

of 'Universal benefit'

(sarvabhüta-hita), or (the greatest

" 31 gaod of the greatest number.'" It is clearly evident that Tilak's judgments concernlng the value of different moral and religious views are sometimes made in reference to the West. 29 lb id., p. 6 ~ 9 . 30 Ibid ., pp. 699-700. 3l Ibid ., p. 687.

-e

~Wi th

respect to these summaries

,

_.... --,

230

of the opinions of the Western philosophers Tilak

~rites:

As my principa~ object has been only.to expound the import of the Git~, l have accepted as authoritative the doctrines laid down in the Gïta, and have'mentioned the Western opinions only so far as was necessary in order ta show to what extent the doctrines of Western moral philosophers or scholars. tally with the doctrines in the Gîta. 32 In order that we have a balanced picture it is important to point out that Tilak also makes reference te .,

the Eastern religions.

Tilak cites the Buddhists and more

o ~sp~cially

the Jains who, according to him,

of Renunciation to aIl the castes. 1I33

"opened the door

In one passage in the

GItâ-Rahasya he says': Although Buddha had in the beginning preached the inactive Path of Renunciation, yet, soon thereafter, there was a.reform in the Buddhistic religion, consistem with the Karma-Yoga of the GIta, by it being preached that Buddhistic ascetics should not remain in th~ woods, in soli ttide, like rhinqcerOs'ê:i, but shoulf} continually exert thernselves for the propagation of reli~ion and for"public good. 34 ,

.

It is in~èresting to note that Tilak's understanding of both the Western and Eastern religious traditions is generally in terms of the Gitars

~

of action.,

Perhaps

Tilak iscsimply unwilllng to acknowledge the differences .'

32 Ibid ., p. xxiii.

'.

33~bid.,

pp. 703-704, cf.,( p. 702.

34 Ibid ., p. 703.

,

.-,

,)

231

amongst the various faiths,but more than likely these references to other faiths point to his enthusiasm for the path of energism.

, ~fuether 'the religious values of Buddhism,

Ja~nism

and Christianity can be apprecfated within this Hindu ~

framework is indeed a debatabie point, despite Tilak's insistence that the karma-yoga of the Gita "applies equally weIl to aIl persons in aIl countries," 3 5w1)ether "the soci'ety . a Hln . du lS

~

.

sO~lety

. . d u sOclety, . Ir 3 6 or a non-hln

. . wh et h er lt lS

ancient or modern, Eastern or Western. Tilak's arguments in favour 'of the Gita's

~

of

action are not' to be interpreted as an attack on the worth or va 1 1'd'lty of Hinduism.

0

f ot h er falt ' h s 37 nor are t h ' '1 y a d e f ence ey~prlmarl Here, Tilak's appeal iS,to the catholicity of

the path of ~nergism and therefore his emphasis on the way of karma-yoga has as its

~ain

thrust his belief that ethics,

rather than beinq dependent upon any particular arrangement of society, e.g., the four classes, is founded upon the "universal Metaphysicall phi1osophy,,38 of the Gita. /

,

Tilak

himse1f affirms this be1ief inasmuch as he is wi11ing to

1

35 Ibid . , p. 696. 36 Ibid . , p. 697. 37Ibid., cf'. p. 712. 38 Ibid . , p. 696.

232

oblig~tion~

overlook the

of

caste-d~ty,

especially considering

that man now lives"in the kali-yuga. ' But in aIl fairness to

.

Tilak it is not sufficient to note that his philosophy of ~arma-yoga ~eans

simply overlooking the obligations of the

various Hindu castes.

"

Tilak's appeal to the ethical principles

f~unded upon the "~niversal Metaphysical philosophy"39 of t~e Gita is also catholic.

In the

Gïta~Rahasya

he says that

"the \.riter of the Mahabharata was fully alive to the 'fact that the compass of the principles of Ethics like, NonViolence {ahimsa} etc., is not restricted to the four castes,

\ and that these principles ordinarily apply ta the wHole of " 40 mankind." 1

In the Gita-Rahasya as weIl as in sorne of his public addresses Tilak says that the doctrine of action is an ancient one in India.

Western activism is not the only philosophy

available for social action in India which must be freed from the British Raj.

As we have pointed out, Tilak sees

the decline of the karma-yoga philosophy as a result of the teaching of the Jains and the Buddhists who emphasized the way of renunciation. the path

o~

Since both these religions offered

renunciati?n to aIL castes even

{warrior} caste was corrupted by it. :;/~

39 Ibid . 40 Ibid .

th~

kshatriya

Eventually, the leaders

233

of the way of karma-yoga, the 'kshat'riyas, who were defending , , India against the MoJlems, were decirnated and the remaining Hindus were inclined to sit id1y by chanting "Hari Hari" (Lord; Lord) instead of performing their duties. way~

Tilak accounts for thegreat

erophas~s

In

thls--~----

on the way of

renunciation in the Gita commentaries of the classica1 - -41 sCh61ars. Tilak once stated that he "wanted to show that

,

-

our Vedanta is not wlthout ethics and that ethics is in no \ . 42 way inferior to the western. Tilak' s._.9wn oii"'work and wri tings

1

Il

cou1d hard1y be described as forming the basis of a modern ' . re l 1910US movement . 43 Nevertheless, Tilak' s po1itical work . as weIl as his

Gita~Rahasya

reflect the hopes of such men

as Vivekananda and Coomeras'warny both 'of \'lhorn looked fcirward "

to the uplifting of the old bindu religious, social and moral traditions.

The Western scholat and missionary, J. N. Farquhar

holds that aIl the modern re1igious movements in India have

)

41 :tbid. , pp. 704-705.

" s 42Qtiot~d in J. Deotis Roberts, "Kar'rna-Yoga in Tiiak' Gita Raha~a: A Comparative Study'in Religious and Political Philosophy, The Journal of Religious ~hought, (1967-68), 24, Il

p. 90., /

43D. Mackenzie Brown, op. cit. Brown says that Tilak's Gita Rahasya ~tands out as perhaps the major philosophical work of the Indian Nationa1ist movement and was characterized by Gandhi, despite his disagreement with sorne aspects of it" as a 'rnasterwork cornmentary on the Gita.'" p. 198. ".

, , /,

mG

234

been "ruled" by Christianity.

"In, every çase -the attempt' 1

is made to corne up to Christian requirements. . • • Christianity il has been the normi and nQ part of the rnost 6rthodox movement -~---~----

--~fulIy

--------

comprehensible except when seen from, the Christian

point of view. ,,44'1 No doubt the social and religious background )

of the "times helped give---

-- -

-~----~

- -- - - - - - - - - -

"The end of the century witnessed the apogee of

missio~ary

actiyity in India.

from aIl sides:

The attack on Hinduism was

the injustices of the caste system, the

alléged lack of social purposes in Hindu teachings, its worlddenying

chara~ter, e€c.,,45

through the Gita's message dharma.

For Tilak it was evident tbat enly

Coui~dia

raise

~he

wheel of

And the Gita as ne~ly interpreted in the Gîta-Rahasya

provided an answer to these charges.

However, te suggest

that Tilak's philosophy of"energism w-as merely a reaction to the Christian or European way fact that Tilak himself firmly the old Hindu values.

W~d

be to lose sight of the

~l~ed

that he was restoring

•

In one of his speecnes on the way of

karma-yoga and swaraj he says that "the Karma Yoga which l preach is net a new theory . . . . It must be remember~d that Karma Ydga has been our sacred heritage from tirnes irnmemorial 44 J. N. Farqu h ar, Mo d ern Re l"~g~ous Movements ~n . Ind'~a (New York, N.Y.: MacMillan Co., 1915), p. 434.

45 K .

M.

panikkar, op. cit., p. 43.

1

- JI ft

".,

235 /

when we Indians were seated on the high pedestal of wealth and lore.,,46

.

Tilak wanted. swaraj and this involved fighting

against the. Bri tish Raj but he was also genuinely inte.rested ~

-in

establish1ng-a~-rrpractical

Vedanta."

Tilak 1 s philosophy

of energisrn is not a reaction t9 Christianity nor i5 it simply "'~an attempt to graft onto the activism of the West

conceived.

Rather his karma-yoga synthesis 1s an attempt

to search for the values of the past for the needs of the pre,sent.

The Gita-Rahasya, a rnodern-day corrunentary on an

ancient scripture, is itself proof of this. Tilak's contribution We have seen that Tilak was a forceful and impressive "

personality, that he had great popular succe5S as a politician and that he was truly a,profound and learned

.'

the Bhagavad-Gita.

on

co~entator

.

We have also seen that when his Gîta-

Rahasya is examIned in order ta extract a sound and systematic philosophy, his thought i5 inconsistent or incomplete.

Tilak's

philosophy of energi-snl is neither satisfactorily reconciled '\'.,.1 "

-

with Sankara's Advaita Vedanta nar fully appreciative of the bhakti-yoga preached in the Bhagavad-Gita.

His attempt to

4 6Tilak, His Wri ti)ngs and Speeches, p. 245. "\

236

jus~ify

aIl, profane activity, to save aIl htlman acts is

indeed admïrable and in accord \ii th the true spirit of the Gita's

~

of action.

spiritual destiny.

However, lokasamgraha, the raison

~he

Lord Krishna is man's final goal.

Moreover, Tilak's karma-yoga philosophy fails to provide adequate guidelines for moral behaviour in the absence of caste-dut y:

Tilak himself once said that "there.must be

sorne restraints

~pon

Society, and in arder to keep these

, 1

"

1

restraints permanentIy therépust be a living prlde in trie - -

.

anClent

.

.

.

lnstltut~ons.

,,47

"

"

Tilak's appeal to the old Hindu

traditions is, however, far too general to serve as a guarantee for lokasamgraha and also belies his argument that caste-dut y is ,not the ,sole source of authority for moral action.

'Neverthel~s, Tilak practised what he preached. 1

He reconciled his personal actions and his philoSbphy of karma-yoga.

Nehru's remarks regarding Tilak's influence ,. in Britain reflect this facto ~

1 was away in a 'fa~ off country studying, but there his voice, his $tory' re~ched us . . w~en we grew up under t~at influence, we were moul~ed by ,it; and it was really in a sense, the India of which the then youth had been prepared very largely by Tilak, by what he said, what he had written and, above aIl, what hé had suffered, it was that which was ev~n

47

Quoted in Wolpert, op.. ci t., p. 121.

\

237 /'

•

the inheritance on which Gandhiji had started. his vast movements. If there had not been the moulding of Indian people, of India 1 s. i'magination and India's youth by Lokamanya, it would not have been easy for the next major step to be taken. 4 8 -"

j

Lokamanya Tilak's contribution to India was to re-interpret , the concept of karma-yoga in the Bhagavad-Gita into a mandate for social and political action.

His specifie goal was

swaraj and he successIully roused nis fellow countrymen to action by appealing to the traditional Hindu values embodied ~n

the Gi ta.

Clearly, the legacy of the Lokamanya was swa,raj.

,48Quoted in J. Deotis Roberts, op. cit., pp. 97-98. \,

,

238

·e APPENbIX A That Ramanuja sees the Upanishads (sruti) establishing God as personal, and' sees the Gita (srnriti) as confirming this, ois indicated in his commentary on the Vedcmta Sutras., Concerning the idea that the Lord loves and chooses those devoted to Hirn

Ramanuj~

notes that thé sruti and smriti agree.

He writes that "scripture and smri/ti following decl~rations,

~gree

in

~aking

'A man knowing him passes over death'

(Svet. Up. III, 8); 'Knowing him thu? he here becomes (Taitt. Ar. III, 12, 7);

immorta~'

'Neither by the Vedas, nor by auste-

rities, nor by gifts, nor by sacrifice can l be those hast seen me.

the

50

seen as

But by devotion exclusive l may

in,~his.

form be known and seen in truth, 0 Arguna, and also be entered into'

(Bha. Gi XI, 53, 54);

'Tnat ~ighest Person, 0 P~rthà,­

may be obtalned by exclui>ive devotion

~ (VIII ,22) . ,,1

Ramanuja

ar~ues that since "bondage is something real it cann6t be

put an end to by knmvledge."

He goes on to assert "that

,the cessation of such bondage is to be obtained

~y

thr:ough

the grace of the hlghest Self p1eased by the devout meditation of the worshipper."

,

HMoreover,

1 George Th'lQaut,

'--

Il

says Ramanuja, "texts such

f t h e East, Vol. Sacre d Boo k s o 48 of The Vedanta Süt.ras with the' commentary of Ramanuja,' Trans. by G. Thibaut, Part 3, 'ed. by F., Max Muller (50 Vols.; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1879-1966), p. ',16. ~

1

239

as 'But diffcrent i5 the highes t Person' and 'Having known the Self and the ~

Up.

~over

(Bha.

~.î_ ]~YL

a& separate'

17)

1

(Svet.

l, 6), teach that it is the cognition of Brahrnan as the

imvard ruler different tram the individual soul, that effects the highest aim of man, i:e~ final release.'" 2

According

ta Ramanuja the Self of aIl is the Supreme Persan and he notes that "in the Scripture'and Srnriti a1ike, wherever the '-.]

origination and destruétion of the world are d~scribed, or the greatness of the Supreme Persan is glorified, the Pradhâna and aIl its effects, no less thap the individual s6u1s, are declared ta have ~heir Self in that Supreme Ferson."3 There are, of course,.other instances, not involving the Gi ta where Ramanuja sees the Upanishads speaking of God as personal.

'.

2 Ibid., p. 145. 3 Ibid ., p. 359.

240

"

APPENDIX, B

Ninian Smart

s~s

that there is a polarity ïn the

Indian tradition between dhyana (contemplation) and bhakti which serves to explain, in a large manner, the differing patterns of theo1ogy.

Dhyana "involvcs turning away from

the world of perception, eliminating mental images, stilling discursive

thou~ht."

In contra st to dhyana, bhakti "feeds

on the. imaginative apprehension of the numinous."

Bhakti

is intrinsically directed towards an, object of worship, whereas the practicc of contemplation is directed towards liberation.

Furthermore, bhakti "involves a fervid re1iance

upon ttle Qther, while dhyâna can be sclf-sufficient. ,,1 Zachner points out that the spiritual exercise of yoga, "integration," "Cêln be reached by a man's own efforts provided, of course,

that h1S

ch~!acter

has been sufficiently purified

from the passions in previous births.,,2

Smart notes that

bhakti also means dc~otion_and loyalty to Krishna as weIl as trust in Him.

Such love expresses itself \n worship and

adoration but makes no sense except as directed to the Lord.' INidian Smart, The Y6g1 and the Devotee, The Interplêly between the Upanishads and Catholic Theology (London: George Allen and UBwin Ltd., 1968), p. 36. 2 .

R. C. Zaehmer, The Bhaqavad-GItâ, p.

26. Cf., p.

285~

241

Dhlana can occur in the context of belief in G0d but it also oceurs by itself it can,

therefore~

~ince

quitc unlike

bhakti, be independent of worship and adoration.

Smart

eoncludes that "worship and the concept of God necessarily -

go together, while speculation and worship on1y contingently , 3 go together." Smart ~ays that, in the Upanishads tat tvam asi implies the coa,lescence and synthesis between dhyana and bhakti.

Tat tvam asi implies the coming together of the

yogic quest ana the sacrificial ritualism and (rather undeveloped) won!;hip of the Brahr.1an. shadows the Gita's uneasy

synthesi~

This in turn foreof dhyana and bhakti

where dhyana as a reaI1s of saI va tian is essentially replaced by bhakti. o

,~

4

Dasgupta sees a more hannonious relationship between dhyana and

bhakt~.

He points out that knowledge in the Çita

is praised but only because true knowledgc is conducive to the acceptance of a life of

~hakti,

i.e., the calm contem-

plative life of complete self-abnegation ~nd self-surrender ta Gad which demands that onels mind be wholly God and the thought of Him.

imme~sed

in

Since bhakti i5 contempla t'ive

mediation of God stirred by a deep-seated love for Him, the Q

3

Smart, op. cit., pp. 29, 36.

4 Ibid ., pp. 36, 47. Glta, pp. 150-151.

Cf., Edgerton, The Rhagavad

/'

242

transition froID the state of yoga concentration ta contem...

plative union with God is, according to Dasgupta, not

difficu1t ta understand. 5

"

•

•

•

55. ,N. Dasgupta,.

(He

~~ cit., p.

d,

122.

•

"

243-

(

e APPENDIX C That aspect of the Supreme that manifests in man as personality is the source of grace.

In reference ta

Godls grace Tilak notes that only the Isvara redeems. The Gita-Rahasxa he writcs: is contained in the

~ath

In

"The pO\V'er of redemption which

of Devotion is not a power possessed

by sorne living or lifeless image, or by g building of brick and mortari but that belief, which every worshipper for his own convenience halds with rcference to such image, ta the effect that it is the Ïtvara,,(~ic) is the thing which~ really redeems."l

In another passage Tilak says that "the

act of increasing Equability of Reasan who have . in persans, ,

.

~

taken to the Path of Devotion, is perEormed by the Paramesvara Himself.,,2

ITilak, Gtt5-Rahasy~, p. 588. 2 Ibid ., p. 1069.

'1

==____.................

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _~~~_ ~ _ __________

244 \

(

e

(

APPENDIX D Nic~l

In contrast to

~acnicol,

Van Buitenen argues

tha t Ramanuj a readily' "enlargcs upon the d,evotional 'passages of the Gi ta" and tha t

"11Ïs, style often

approach~

tha t of

the ardent devotee who gJ-orifies his God in fervid 1ita~ies.,,1 Van Buitenen translates (18.65) of Ramanuja's Cïtabharya ta read that Arjuna "should love God excessively and therefore 1

practice the above

repr~pentation

while being comp1ete1y

absorbed in the woiship of God, and hurniliate himse1f before God.

If he does

50,

then"

'GOG

prom~es,

he shall attain

God,

for he is hcld very dear by God, so that He cannat endure , ,> 2 being separated from him and hence makt2s hirn reach Hirnself." Both Dasgupta and

Kurn~rappa

interpretation howovçr.

appear to support Macnicol's

Dasgupta says that Ramanuja "defines

\

~~votion

sm~th

(bhakti) as a contemplation of God unbroken as the

and ceaseless f10w of oil."

Dasgupta goos on ta sùy

that in Ramanuja's concept of devotion "contemplation and conmmnion are mbre prominent than any exuberLlnce of feeling.. " 3 Slmllarly, KUnlélrappa no tC's . tha t

"Ramanuja gives to bhakti

a predominantly rncdi tative significance" and that IIhe regards J

'1 'Van Bui tcneo, op. cit., p. 18.

2 Ibid., p. 174, cf., Zaehner, The Bhagavad-Gîtâ, pp. 265-2~ 3,

.

Dasgupta, Hjndu Myslipisw, p. 121.

~

245 ~-

i

e

-----

.

1

the redeeming knowle...dge taught by the

Upani~ads

as nei ther

something purely intellectual (nor s'omething accomplished once and for aIl, but as a meditative devotion practiced continually throughout one's life and mystic intuition of the

culmi~ating

in a

Deity."~

\

4 '

.

Kumarappa, The Hindu Conception of the Deity, p.

/

290.

246,

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•

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0

2nd ed., New York: Frederick

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Edgerton, F. »Review of Tilak's SrImad BhagavadgItâ Rahasya , or Karma-Yoga-Sastra," Journal of the American Oriental Societ~, 56, 1936. \

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Princeton, New

Ellu~,

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."I