Gita Rahasya -Tilak 561

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

CHAPTER XV CONCLUSION Schopenhauer goes further, and maintains that this imperceptible Substance is of the nature of Desire, and the English Moralist Green maintains that this Substance at the root of the creation has been partially incarnated in the human body in the shape of the Atman ; and as for the Glta, it clearly says that, "mamaivamso jivaloke jivabhutah sanatanah" , (i. e., "parts of My eternal essence take the form of Life, in the world of Life (the world of Action)" — Trans.). The writers of the Upanisads say that this imperceptible Substance at the root of the universe, is permanent, one, immortal, independent, and of the form of the Atman, and that nothing more can be said about it ; and it is doubtful whether human knowledge will ever go beyond this conclusion ; because, as the imperceptible Substance at the root of the world is invisible to the organs, that is, necessarily quality less, this quality less Substance cannot be described by any words which denote a quality, or an object, or an Action ; and that is why it is called "'ajneya' (unknowable). But though this knowledge, which we acquire of the imperceptible World-Substance, cannot be described to a greater extent in words, and though it may be small to all appearances, yet, as it is the sum and substance of all human knowledge, the exposition of worldly Ethics must be made by reference to it; and it will be apparent from the exposition made in the Gita that there cannot be the slightest difficulty in the way of doing so properly. In order to properly understand how the thousands of activities in the world should be carried on — for instance, how commerce should be carried on, how wars should be fought out, what medicine should be given to a sick person and in what circumstance, or how one should measure the distances of the Sun and the Moon etc. — one will always need the knowledge of the Name-d and Form-ed visible world ; and in order to carry on this worldly activity more and more skilfully, one must undoubtedly study the Material sciences deeper and deeper. But that is not the subject-matter of the Gita. The chief object of the Gita is to explain which is the most excellent state of man from the Metaphysical point of -view, and to decide the fundamental principles of Ethics as regards the Doable and the Not-Doable on that basis.