Gita Rahasya -Tilak 562

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

CHAPTER XV CONCLUSION I have shown in the previous chapters that (i) although the Materialistic view is indifferent about Release which is the Metaphysical ideal, yet, that view is insufficient even for definitely deciding the elementary principles of Ethics; that (ii) that point of view cannot satisfactorily answer the moot questions of Freedom of Will, or the permanence of ethical principles, or the inherent desire in the human mind to attain immortality ; and that (iii) one has ultimately to necessarily enter into the question of the Atman and the Non-Atman. But the province of Metaphysics does not end there. And it must be borne in mind that the Materialistic theory of Happiness does not explain what the most perfect- state of a human being is, as satisfactorily as it is explained by the science of Metaphysics, since the funda mental basis of Righteous Action (sadacarana) is the change, which takes place in the character or the nature of a man, as a result of the particular Peace (santi) which is acquired by the- human Atman by the continual worship and direct Realisation of that Immortal Substance which is at the root of the world. Because, pure bodily pleasures are the ideal only of animals, and they can never fully satisfy the intelligence of an intelligent human being ; and, it has already been fully explained in previous chapters, that Happiness and Unhappiness are transient, and that Duty is permanent. Looking at the matter from this point of view, it will be seen that (i) this most advanced religion of the Gita will never be found inferior to the purely Materialistic philosophy, which considers human actions from the point of view that man is only a superior kind of animal, since the religion relating to the life after death and the Ethics preached in the Gita, have both been explained with reference to the permanent and immortal World-Substance; that (ii) this our Gita religion is a permanent, undauntable religion; and that (iii) the Blessed Lord has not left the necessity for Hindus to rely on any other book, or religion, or opinion in this matter. Nay, the words "abhayam. vai prapto'si", i.e., " Now, you have nothing to fear " , which were addressed by Yajnavalkya to Janaka, after the entire Knowledge of the Brahman had been explained to him (Janaka), may literally and in several meanings, be applied to the religion of the Gita.