Gita Rahasya -Tilak 412

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

CHAPTER XII THE STATE AND THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SIDDHA (PERFECT) Our philosophers say that this Meta physical method is the best of all these methods ; and although the well-known German philosopher Kant has not clearly enunciated the doctrine of the identity of the Brahman and the Atman, he has commenced his disquisition of the principles of Ethics, with a consideration of Pure Reason, that is, in a way; from the Metaphysical point of view; and he has clearly stated there his reasons for doing so. Green is of the same opinion: but these matters cannot be dealt with in detail in a small book like this. I have, in the fourth chapter above, explained by giving a few illustrations why, in finally deciding questions of Ethics, one has to pay more special attention to the pureness of the Reason of the doer, than to the external result of his Actions; and this subject-matter will be further considered in the fifteenth chapter when I will compare the Western and the Eastern ethical laws. For the time being, I will only say that, in as much as it is necessary that there should be a desire- to perform any particular Action before it is actually per- formed, the consideration of the propriety or the impropriety of such Action, depends entirely on the consideration of the purity or the impurity of the Reason. If the Reason is sinful, the Action will be sinful; but, from the fact that the external Action is bad, one cannot draw the conclusion that the Reason, also must be bad; because, that act may have been performed by mistake, or as a result of a misunderstanding, or as a result of ignorance; and in these cases it cannot be said to be ethically sinful. The Ethical principle of 'the greatest happiness of the greatest number' can apply only to the external results of Actions; and as no one has so far invented any external means for definitely measuring the external results of such Actions in the shape of pain or happiness, it is not certain that this test of Morality will always give us a correct result. In the same way, however wise a man may be, if his Reason is not pure, it is not certain that he will on every occasion behave in a morally correct way. And the position will be much worse if his own selfish interests are in any way affected in that matter; because, "svarthe sarve vimuhyanti ye 'pi dharmavido janah" (Ma. Bha. Vi. 51. 4), i. e„ "all are blinded by selfish interests, even if they are well- varsad in Morality" — Trans.).