Gita Rahasya -Tilak 390

Srimad Bhagavadgita-Rahasya OR Karma-Yoga-Sastra -Bal Gangadhar Tilak

CHAPTER XI RENUNCITATION AND KARMA-YOGA The same conclusion is arrived at in the Chandogyopanisad (8. 15. 1), and there is a clear statement in it at the end, that "the Jnanin who first finishes his course of education at the hands of his preceptor, and thereafter lives in his family and' follows the rules of Ethics and morality, goes to the sphere of the Brahman and does not return"; and sentences from the Taittiriya and the Svetasvatara Upanisads having the san» purport have been quoted by me above . Besides, we do not see it stated in the Upanisads, that those who have advised the Knowledge of the Brahman to others,, or their disciples who had acquired the Knowledge of the Brahman, adopted Renunciation in the shape of Abandonment of Action, except one or two like Yajnavalkya. On the other hand, they seem to have been householders, from the descrip- tions which have been given of them. One cannot, therefore,, look upon all the Upanisads as supporting Samnyasa, and has to say that some of them mention the alternative paths of Samnyasa and Kaima-Yoga, whereas others support the union of Jnana and Karma (jnana-karma-samuccaya). But, the- doctrine-supporting commentaries on the Upanisads do not show these differences, and they usually say that all the Upanisads support only one Path — and that too principally the Samnyasa Path. In short, these doctrine-supporting commentators have dealt with both the Gita and the Upanisads in the same way; that is to say, these commentators have had to stretch and mutilate some hymns in the Upanisads, as has been done by them in the matter of some of the stanzas in the Gita. Take, for example, the case of Isavasyopanisad, Though this Upanisad is short, that is, consisting only of eighteen' stanzas, it is considered to be of greater importance than the' other Upanisads; because, this Upanisad has been mentioned in the Vajasaneyi Samhita, whereas the other Upanisads have been mentioned in the Aranyakas; and it is generally accepted that the Brahmanas are of lesser importance than the Samhitas, and the Aranyakas of lesser importance than the Brahmanas. This Isavasyopanisad is from top to bottom in support of the harmonising of Jnana and Karma. It is stated in the very first hymn (mantra) of this Upanisad that, "whatever existed in the world must be considered as 'Isavasya', that is, located in the Paramesvara; and in the second hymn, there is a clear statement that, "one should desire to live for a hundred years while performing Action desirelessly".