Karma Yoga Sastra -Tilak
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
Jnanesvara Maharaja himself was a yogi. Therefore, he has written a very detailed commentary on that verse in the sixth chapter of the Gita which deals with the practice of the Patanjala Yoga, and in it he has said that the words of the Blessed Lord at the end of the chapter namely : " tasmadyogi bhavarjuna "...i. e., "therefore, Oh Arjuna, become a Yogi, that is, become proficient in the practice of the Yoga " show that the Blessed Lord has declared the Patanjala Yoga to be the 'pantharaja ' i. e., the most excellent of all paths. In short, different commentators have interpreted the Glta in their own ways by first declaring the Energistic path of Action ( Karma-Yoga ) preached by the Gita to be inferior, that is to say, merely a means for Realisation (jnana), and then going on to say that the Gita has preached the various philosophical doctrines, as also the highest duties from the point of view of Release, which are prescribed, by their respective schools, such as: Non-Dualism based on the doctrine of Illusion, coupled with Renunciation of Action; or Qualified-Monism based on the- reality of Illusion, coupled with Devotion to the Vasudeva; or Dualism, coupled with worship of the Visnu; or pure Non-dualism,, coupled with Devotion; or the Non-Dualism of the Samkara cult, coupled with Devotion; or Patanjala yoga, coupled with Devotion; or Devotion pure and simple; or Yoga pure and simple; or Realisation of the Brahman pure and simple,*The several commentaries on the Gita by the Acarya of the various cults and the important criticisms pertaining to those cults in all fifteen, have been recently published at the Guzrathi Printing Press. This book is very useful for studying the opinions advanced by the various commentators side by side. — all of which are paths of Release, based on Renunciation. No one says that the Bhagavadgita looks upon the Karma-Yoga as the most excellent path of life. It is not that I alone say so. Even the well-known Marathi poet Vaman Pandit is of the same opinion. In his exhaustive commentary on the Gita, in the Marathi language known as Yathartha-dipika, he first says : — " But Oh, Blessed Lord, in this Kali-yuga each one interpretes the Gita according to his own opinion ", and he goes on to say : " Everyone on some pretext or other gives a different meaning- to the Gita but I do not like this their doing, though they are great ; what shall I do, Oh, Blessed Lord? " This is his complaint to the Blessed Lord. Seeing this confusion of the diverse opinions of the commentators, some scholars say that in as much as these various traditionary doctrines of Release are mutually contradictory and one cannot definitely say that any particular one of them has been recommended by the Gita, one has to come to the conclusion that the Blessed Lord has on the battle-field at the commencement of the war described individually, precisely, and skilfully all those various means of attaining Release — and specially, the three paths of Action (karma), Devotion (bhakti), and Realisation (jnana) and satisfied Arjuna in whose mind there had arisen a confusion about these diverse means of attaining Release. |
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