Gita Rahasya -Tilak 361

Gita Rahasya -Tilak

CHAPTER XI RENUNCITATION AND KARMA-YOGA The Saint Tukarama has with; that intention described the characteristic features of a saint- by the following words: — Of them who are unhappy and in distress I he who says that they are his I That man should be recognised as a saint I know that God is in such a man I Or, He who spends his energies in doing good to others I has realised the true state of the Atman I And he has described Saints, that is, those noble souls who- have Realised the Paramesvara by means of Devotion in the- following terms :- The incarnations of saints are for the public welfare I they labour their own bodies for the benefit of others II And Bhartrhari has said that,, " svartho yasya parartha eva sa- puman ekah satam agranih", i. e., "that man with whom the interests of others have become identical with his own, is really the highest of saints". Were not Manu and other law-makers, Jnanins ? But, instead of exaggerating the worth of the illusion in the shape of the pain of Desire, and destroying all natural instincts, such as, of doing good to others etc- along with Desire, they have laid down the Sastric bonds, such as the arrangement of the four castes etc., for the universal benefit ( lokasamgraha ). The laws which prescribe learning for the Brahmins; warfare, for the Ksatriyas ; agriculture, protection of cattle, and business for the Vaisyas ; and service for the Sudras and which have been enjoined by the Sastras consistently with the characteristic qualities of the different castes, have not been made for the benefit of every individual, It is stated in the Manu-Smrti, that the division. of vocations among the four castes, has been made for universal benefit, bearing in mind the fact that in the interests of the protection of society, some persons must for a consider- able length of time study warfare and be ready for war, and that others have got to meet the other needs of society by attending to agriculture, business, education, and other matters; and even the Gita supports the same division . I have stated above that if any of these four castes ceases to perform its duties, then to that extent, society will be incapacitated, and even runs the risk -of being destroyed. Nevertheless, it is not that this vocational division is uniform everywhere. The arrangements which have been suggested for the maintenance of society by the ancient Greek Philosopher Plato in his book on this subject, and by the modern French Philosopher Comte in his book called Natural Philosophy, though similar to the arrangement of the four wastes, are yet, to some extent, different from the arrangement of four castes mentioned in the Vedic religion, as will be seen by any one reading those books.