Gita Rahasya -Tilak 395

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

CHAPTER XI RENUNCITATION AND KARMA-YOGA In the same way, Apararkadeva has given the eleventh hymn of the Isavasya in his commentary on the Yajnavalkya-Smrti , and interpreted it as supporting the combination of Jnana and Karma, as was done by Anantacarya. From this it will be clear to my readers, that I have not been the first person to interpret this hymn from the Isavasyopanisad in a way different from that in which it has been interpreted in the Samkarabhasya. So far we have considered the hymn in the Isavasyopanisad itself. Let us now consider shortly the statement "tapasa kalmasam hanti vidyaya 'mrtam asnute" from the Manu-Smrti which has been quoted in the Samkarabhasya. This is the- 104th stanza of the twelvth chapter of the Manu-Smrti, and that chapter deals with the Vedic Karma-Yoga, as will be seen from . In the course of the disquisition on the Karma-Yoga, Manu says, tapo vidya ca riprasya nihsreyasakaram param I tapasa kalmasam hanti vidyaya 'mrtam asnute II that is. — "tapa and (ca) vidya, these (that is, necessarily both) are producers of excellent Release to the Brahmin"; and having stated this in the first part of the stanza, he, in order to show the use of both these things, says in the second part of the stanza: "by tapa (religious austerity) all sin is annihilated, and by vidya, one obtains amrta, that is, Release". From this, it is quite clear that Manu had, in this place, implied the combina- tion of Jnana and Karma, and that he had in this stanza adopted the doctrine enunciated in the eleventh hymn in the- Isavasya Upanisad. This meaning is further emphasised by the statements in the Harlta Smrti. This Harita-Smrti is available independently, and is also included in the Nrsimha- Purana . The Nrsimha Purana and the Harita-Smrti contain the following stanzas regarding the combination of Knowledge (Jnana) and Action (Karma) :- yathasva rathahinas ca rathas casvair vina yatha I evam tapas ca vidya ca ubhav api tapasvinah II yathannam madhusamyutam madhu cannena samyutam I evam tapas ca vidya ca samyuktam bhesajam mahat II dvabhyam eva hi paksabhyam yatha vai paksinam gatih I tathaiva jnanakar mabhyam prapyate brahma sasvatam II that is, "In the same way, as horses without a chariot, or a chariot without horses (are of no use), the same is the case with the tapa of the tapasvin, and vidya. In the same way, as anna (food) mixed with madhu (honey), and honey mixed with food become a potent medicine, so also do ' tapa’ and ' vidya ', when combined, In the same way as birds acquire motion by means of two wings, so also is the immutable - Brahman acquired as a result of the combination of Jnana and Karma".