Gita Rahasya -Tilak 431

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

CHAPTER XII THE STATE AND THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SIDDHA (PERFECT) that is, "the anger (of othere) should be conquered, by one's peacefulness; evil-doers should be conquered by saintliness ; the miser should be conquered by gifts; and falsehood should be conquered by truth". This stanza has been copied word for word in the Buddhistic treatise on Morality in the Pali language, known as the Dhammapada, in the following stanza: — akkodhena jine kodham asadhum sadhuna jine l jine kadariyam danena saccen alikavadinam ll and, in the Santiparva of the Mahabharata, Bhlsma, in counsel- ling Yudhisthira, has praised this ethical principle in the following terms: — karma caitad asadhumm asadlm sadhuna jayet l dharmena nidhanam sreyo na jayah papakarmana II that is, "the asadhu, that is, 'evil' actions of evil-doers (asadhunam) should be counteracted by saintly actions; because, even if death follows as a result of righteousness or Morality, that is better than the victory which follows from a sinful action". But, if the evilness of evil-doers is not circumvented by such saintly actions, or, if the counsel of peacefulness or propriety is not acceptable to such evil-doers,, then according to the principle "kantakenaiva kantakam (i. e., "takeout a thorn by a thorn" — Trans.), it becomes necessary to take out by a needle, that is, by an iron thorn, if not by an ordinary thorn, that thorn which will not come out by the application of poultices  ; because, under any circumstances, punishing evil-doers in the interests of general welfare, as was done by the Blessed Lord, is the first duty of saints from the point of view of Ethics. In enuncia ting the proposition "evilness should be conquered by saintliness", the fact that the conquest of or the protection from evil is the primary duty of a saint, is first taken for granted; and the first step to be taken for attaining that result is mentioned. But, it is nowhere stated by our moral philosophers, that if protection against evil-doers cannot be obtained by saintliness, one should not give 'measure for measure', and protect oneself, but should allow oneself to- become a victim of the evil-doings of villains; and it must be borne in mind that, that man who has come forward to cut the throats of others by his own evil-doings, has no more any ethical right to expect that others should behave towards him like saints.