Gita Rahasya -Tilak 366

Gita Rahasya -Tilak

CHAPTER XI RENUNCITATION AND KARMA-YOGA This is the Path of Samnyasa which was established by Sri Samkaracarya in the present Kali-yuga, and Kalidasa, who followed the teaching of the Smrtis, has described the powerful kings of the Solar Dynasty ( suryavamsi ), in the beginning of the Raghuvamsa as follows: — saisave 'bhyastavidyanam yauvane visayaisinam l vardhake munivrttinam yogenante tanutyajam II that is, "they were such as performed adhyasa (brahmacarya) as children, took up the worldly life entailing the enjoyment of the objects of pleasure in their youth (grhasthasrama), they lived in the woods during old age, or led the life of a mum and ultimately took their Atman into the Brahman according- to the rules of the Samnyasa state, by practising the Patanjala- Yoga and gave up their lives. Similarly, it is stated in the Sukanuprasna in the Mahabharata that :- catuspadi hi nihsreni brahmanyesa pratisthita I etam aruhya nihsrenim brahmaloke nahiyate II that is, "this ladder with four steps (in the shape of the four stages) ultimately leads to the state of the Brahman. When. n this way, a man goes up this ladder from one state into the text higher state, he ultimately acquires greatness in the sphere of the Brahman". And after that, the following order has been described, namely :- kasayam pacayitvasu srenisthanesu ca trisu I pravarjec ca param sthanam parivrajyam anuttamam II that is, " a man should, in the three steps of this ladder, destroy is early as possible his kilbisa, that is, his faults in the shape if selfish tendencies, or Attachment to objects of pleasure, md should then renounce the world ; parivrajya, that is,. Samnyasa is the most excellent state of all ". This same course of going from one state to another state of life has also been mentioned in the Manu-Smrti( But Manu had fully realised the fact that if in this way there was an inordinate increase in the desire of people to take up the fourth state, the activity in the world would be destroyed,, and society would ultimately be lamed. Therefore, after having definitely enjoined the performance of all activities which are necessary to be performed in the previous states of a householder, and which consisted of acts of valour or of universal welfare, Manu has laid down the clear limit in the- following words, namely : grhasthastu yada pasyed valipalitam atmanah I apatyasyatva capatyam tad aranyam samasrayet II that is, " when his body has become covered with wrinkles, and he has seen his own grand-children, the householder should: become a denizen of the woods, and should take Samnyasa ".