Karma Yoga Sastra -Tilak
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CHAPTER XI
RENUNCITATION AND KARMA-YOGA
Then, where is the sense of making childish objections that the Path of Karma-Yoga does not include Samnyasa in the shape of Abandonment of Action, and is, therefore, contrary to the injunctions of the Smrtis or unacceptable; and fighting about white clothes or saffron-coloured robes? The Blessed Lord has candidly and without bias said that : ekam samkhyam cay gam ca yah pasyati sa pasyati I[1] that is, " that man Is truly wise who has realised that Samkhya and (Kanna-) Yoga are not two from the point of view of Release, but are one and the same"; and it is stated even in the Bharata that, " samkhyayogena tulyo hi dharma ekanta sevitah "[2], that is, " the Ekantika or Bhagavata religion is equal in merit to the Samkhya religion". In short, in as much as true indifference to the world (vairagya) or eternal renunciation ' (nitya-samnyasa), (5. 3), consists in merging all selfish interests in universal interests, and in desirelessly performing all duties which befall one in worldly life according to one's own qualifications, so long as life lasts, for the welfare of all created beings, and purely as duties, those who follow the Path of Karma-Yoga never literally abandon Karma and beg. But, though there may be this seeming difference in outward action, the essential principles of Renuciation (samnyasa) and Abandonment (tyaga) continue in the Path of Karma-Yoga ; and therefore, the Gita lays down the ultimate doctrine that there is no opposition between the Desireless Karma-Yoga and the arrangement of states of life according to the Smrti texts. Brora what has been stated above, it might be thought by some that an attempt has been made in the Gita to harmonise the Karma-Yoga with the Path of Renunciation, because, the Path of Renunciation prescribed by the Smrtis was an ancient religion ; and that the Path of Karma-Yoga was a later creation. But, anybody will see that such is not the case, if the matter is considered from the historical point of view. I have already stated before that the most ancient form of the Vedic religion consisted of the Karma-kanda. By the Knowledge imparted in the Upanisads, the Karma-kanda gradually became inferior, and Samnyasa in the shape of Abandonment of Action gradually came into vogue. This was the seoond step in the growth of the tree of the Vedic religion. But even in those times, philosophers like Janaka and others used to harmonise the Karma-kanda with the Knowledge propounded in the Upanisads, and to go on desirelessly performing Actions till death. |
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