Gita Rahasya -Tilak
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CHAPTER X
THE EFFECT OF KARMA AND FREEDOM OF WILL
In short, although the Atman of a person is fundamentally independent, yet, as a result of the impure inherent nature of the Body, which a person has acquired as a result of his previous Actions, it ia not possible for him to acquire complete Release in one life. But on that account, "natmdnam avamanyeta purvabhir asamrddhi- bhih" [1], i. e. "no one should despair, nor should one waste one's whole life in practising the Patanjala-Yoga, that is, the mere gymnastic exercise of the organs, by a foolish insistence that one will acquire complete Release in one life"- The Blessed Lord has said in the Gita, that there is no haste where the Atman is concerned; that, one should acquire as much Yogic strength as can possibly be acquired in this life, and start the practice of Karma- Yoga; that thereby, the Mind gradually becomes more and more sattvika, and pure ; that, not only this small practice of the Karma-Yoga, but even the mere desire to practice it, will forcibly push forward a man as if he had been put into a grinding mill, and ultimately cause the complete merger of the Atman into the Brahman, if not to-day, to-morrow, and in the next birth, if not in this birth ; that, therefore, even the smallest practice of the Karma-Yoga, or even the desire to practice it, is never wasted ; and that this is the most important characteristic feature of the Karma-Yoga [2]. One must not restrict one's attention to this life, and give up coinage, but should continue one's practice of performing desireless Action, independently, courageously, and according to one's own abilities. This bondage of Matter which one considers to be indissoluble in this life or to-day, as a result of pre-destination ( praktana-samskara ) will become gradually and automatically loose, by the gradually increasing practice of Karma-Yoga ; and when this goes on for some time, "bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate" [3], — sometime or other, as a result of the complete acquisition of Knowledge, the bondage of or the dependence on Matter is broken, and the Atman at last acquires its fundamental or perfect qualityless free state, or Release. What is impossible for a man ? The well-known proverb, 'if a man performs the proper duties of 'manhood, he will become the same as the Narayana', is only a repetition of this proposition of Vedanta ; and, it is on this very account that the writer of the Yoga-Vasistha has, in the chapter dealing with those who desire Release ( mumuksu ) praised the worth of Effort, and laid down the firm proposition, that by Effort everything is ultimately achieved [4].
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