Gita Rahasya -Tilak
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
The dance which Arjuna had t-o make on the battle-field of Kura, after having finished his period of remaining incongnito (ajnata-vasa) was of quite a different nature. When the Blessed Lord was preaching the Gita, He has in numerous places, and showing reasons at every step and using the conjunction 'tasmat' i.e., 1 for this reason ' — which is an important conjunction showing the reason — said: — "tasmadyudhyasva Bharata" — i.e., " there- fore,O Arjuna, fight " [1], or "tasmad uttistha Kaunteya yuddhaya krtaniscayah" — i.e., "therefore, determine to fight and rise [2], or " tasmad asaktah satatam karyam karma samacaya " — i. e., " therefore, give up attachment, and do your duty" [3], or, "~kuru karmaiva tasmat tvam " — i.e. " therefore, perform Action " [4], or " tasmat..... mam anusmara yudhya ca " — i.e., "therefore, think of me and fight "[5] ; " the doer and the causer of everything is I myself, and you are only the tool ; and therefore, fight and conquer your enemies " [6] ; " it is proper that you should perform all Actions, which are your duties according to the Sastras *' [7] — all which is a preaching definitely Energistic ; and in the eighteenth chapter of the upasamhara (conclusion), He says again : " you must do all these duties " [8], as His definite and best advice ; and ultimately asking Arjuna the question : — " Oh, Arjuna, has your self- deception, due to ignorance, yet been removed or not ? " [9], He has taken an acknowledgment from him in the following words : — nastomohah smrtir labdha tvatprasadan mayacyuta I sthito'smi gatasamdehah karisye vacanam tava II i. e., " my doubts and my ignorance about my duties, have now been removed ; I shall now do as You say ". And it is not that this acknowledgment was merely orally given by Arjuna, but thereafter, he did really fight and in the course of the fight arising on that occasion, he has actually killed Bhisma, Karna, Jayadratha, and others as occasion arose. The objection taken to this by some is that : the advice given by the Blessed Lord preached Realisation (jnana) based on Renunciation (samnyasa), or Yoga or Devotion, and that that was the principal subject- matter of proof ; but that as the war had already started, the Blessed Lord has here and there briefly praised in His preaching the worth of Action and allowed Arjuna to complete the war which had been started ; that is to say, the completion of the war must not be looked upon as the central or the most important factor hut something which was auxilliary or merely an arthavada. upasamhara and phala of the Gita is not satisfactorily accounted for. The Blessed Lord had to show the importance and necessity of performing at all costs the duties enjoined by one's dharma while life lasts, and the Gita has nowhere advanced any such hollow argument as the one mentioned above for doing so ; and if such an argument had been advanced, that would never have appealed to such an intelligent and critical person like Arjuna. When the prospect of a terrible clan- destruction was staring him in the face, whether to fight or not, and, if fighting was the proper course, then how that could be done without incurring sin, was the principal question before him ; and however much one tries to do so, it will be impossi- ble to dismiss, as an arthavada, the definite answer given to this principal question in the following words, namely : — " Fight with a disinterested frame of mind," or " Perform Action ". Doing so would amount to treating the owner of the house as a guest.
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